(no subject)

[unbibium]

Hey, remember a while back when I posted that I wasn't impressed by Carlos Mencia?

Neither is Joe Rogan.

Includes lots of audio.

A lot of comics accuse him of being a joke thief, which I can understand.

Though ripping on him for having a stage name is probably a little out of bounds. Jamie Foxx's real name is Eric Bishop; I wonder which name is printed on the Oscar?

But I knew there was something vacuous about his act. Any skepticism I have about his joke-stealing ways is due to the utter lack of jokes in his act. He'd just do some exaggerated stereotype voice, and when nobody laughed he would accuse the audience of being stuck-up.

Comments

[pentomino.livejournal.com]

The name Jamie Foxx was created because, on open mic nights, female-sounding names were more likely to get called. He apparently used other pseudonyms, but this was the one that stuck, so I suppose it worked. This may also be why there are two successful male comedians named Dana. Also, how many black people call themselves Eric?

In any case, Mencia does gloss over that German half, but isn't shy about the Honduran part. I think he mentions it when he's going through the standard bit about how white people can't tell Latino nationalities apart, and often assume one to be Mexican in the southwest, Cuban in Florida, et al.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Joe Rogan is a hater. He hates Denis Leary because he thinks Leary ripped Bill Hicks off. I think he has a point, except i think Leary is funny and Hicks isn't (i know, i'm insane).

[pentomino.livejournal.com]

Well, as I recall, those jokes came from the late 80's and early 90's when comedy was still kind of a clusterfuck.

What's more, Bill Hicks was just a bitter bastard. It took him five years to get as burned-out as George Carlin got in forty years. He was kind of funny, but he fell back on that "sucking Satan's cock" sound effect way too often, and I think conspiracy theorists are more likely to steal from Hicks than comedians. Don't believe me? Watch the Penn & Teller's Bullshit episode on conspiracy theories. Some weenie with a beret recites his act verbatim, and in earnest. I'm surprised they didn't bust him for that.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Bill Hicks was just a bitter bastard. It took him five years to get as burned-out as George Carlin got in forty years.

Dude, you have no idea just how hard i'm agreeing with you here. My neck is sore from nodding.

[jakesbrain.livejournal.com]

The problem Bill Hicks had was that he cared WAY too much about his fellow man, and a genuine love for humanity - when combined with cynicism and pessimism about humanity's future - can make for a pretty lethal cocktail. Especially for someone as emotionally wide-open as Hicks seems to have been.

The problem George Carlin has is that he doesn't care at all, except about people who think he's kidding when he says he doesn't care.

[pentomino.livejournal.com]

I didn't expand far enough on the 80's/90's comedy atmosphere... I'm saying that I think it may be possible that Leary and Hicks wrote the same jokes independently, born of a similar hatred of non-smokers, and when a fitness guru drops dead in his prime, unfit people find out about it right away. But we've all had nights where we heard two late-night talk show hosts use the same exact joke in their respective monologues.

If I'm ever a stand-up, and get accused of stealing a joke, here's how I'll handle it: I'll ask someone to produce tape.

If they can find one comic with the same joke, and it's someone I remember, then I probably forgot I heard it and thought I invented it, and thus will retire the joke out of respect.

If they can find two comics, then it's probably just a common pattern, and can keep using it.

If they can find three, then it's a hack bit, and I'd better retire it anyway.

But I'll never become a comic, so whatever.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

I recommend reading internebbish for his input on comedy.