1031: Wordplay

[myq]

Originally Posted by Junkenstein

Stanhope's a good example. Apparently he's a very nice and mellow person off-stage but he often has some bitterness towards stand-up. Zak Galifianakis, in interviews, complained a lot about feeling "stuck" in the stand-up scene before getting his hollywood break with "Hangover". Jim Norton called it a "horrid Back-stabbing businness". Another guy that comes to my mind is Robert Kelly, who has the most angry and spiteful opinions about comedians, stand-up and other audiences, that i've ever heard (but probably he's just sort of an ass).

I guess somehow it's part of the act.

You know what? Maybe not.

Standup DOES take a lot of work, there CAN be a lot of shitty audiences, you can be great and deserve more than you've received and that MUST be frustrating.

I'm not saying these people aren't speaking their truths.
But there's also a difference between their attitudes about "standup in general," "the business of standup," "standup audiences," and their specific experiences with their OWN audiences and careers...

Like, Norton might think the business is horrid, but he's got massive quantities of people who love him coming to see him wherever he goes. If he's not happy about that, well, he could just be a miserable person.

Like I said, there certainly are miserable people, in standup and out of it. Not that all these people are, necessarily. (Robert Kelly is actually a nice dude, from my times performing with him and interactions with him and other folks I know who have worked with him also. And who isn't "sort of an ass"? But he definitely comes across to me lately, on and off stage, as a guy who's actually very comfortable with life and who his is and where he is.)

And that's what I think it comes down to--who you are as a person to begin with. Not that experiences can't change you, and maybe the happiest person can get beat down by life over time, Job-style (did Job get sad when he lost everything or not? not a big Bible afficionado, but I know it's potentially relevant). I'll let you know what happens to me.

For now, I might be seeing this through my optimistic-colored life glasses.
I always see the glass as half-empty of misery. (That's optimistic, right?)

I just dislike generalizations that may or may not be true... I think these specific examples you've named are good, but aren't necessarily representative of even MOST comedians. You just don't hear as many soundbites from the happy successful people about how happy they are... but they exist.
Patton Oswalt just had a kid and seems like a good dude and a happy guy.
And sure, he's super successful.
But I know plenty of people you've never heard of who are happy as well.
And some who are miserable.

So, what were we talking about?

A note came to mi mind, about growing up as a stand-up fan here. A national comic hero in Italy is Daniele Luttazzi, a guy who makes a living by translating routines by Hicks, Carlin, Louie CK.. in italian and selling the as his own material. Joke theft on another level. That pissed me off incredibly when i was younger, as i seemed to be the only one who knew it, and no one seemed to care. Rough.

That's crazy. He's doing their acts but not referencing them at all? Just acting like he's come up with it all? Do people know he's doing it?
Is he still doing it? Does he have a website or any online presence? That's nuts.
I care.

This makes me unhappy. So I guess it's true. Comedians are unhappy.

[Junkenstein]

Originally Posted by myq

That's crazy. He's doing their acts but not referencing them at all? Just acting like he's come up with it all? Do people know he's doing it?
Is he still doing it? Does he have a website or any online presence? That's nuts.
I care.

This makes me unhappy. So I guess it's true. Comedians are unhappy.

He started as a satyrical writes and tv show host. He basically does a good 70% of translated stuff and a 30% of pseudo-satyre. He is some sort of cultural icon in Italy, because he was one of the first television persons to badmouth our prime minister (translating Hicks' "Rush Limbaugh is a scat muncher" bit).

In the beginning nobody knew, i guess. Lately i've read the italian wiki on Hicks and the translation was quoted as a "homage". A very sad thing, indeed.

By the way. Oswalt new special is hilarious. Proves that having a kid doesnt mean you have to neuter your comedy (See, Jim Breuer? Right, low blow, but true. And he's less funny than Myq in those pizza hut commercials)

[myq]

Originally Posted by Junkenstein

In the beginning nobody knew, i guess. Lately i've read the italian wiki on Hicks and the translation was quoted as a "homage". A very sad thing, indeed.

I've never heard anyone in America talk about it. I wonder if people know. Like, the people whose material is being taken. Hicks probably doesn't. But maybe the ones who are alive...

It does seem at least slightly different than stealing in the same language, because how was Louis CK going to reach an only-Italian-speaking audience?

Though it's not like you can translate a book into a new language, sell it, and not give anything to the creators by calling it an "homage."

Let's start getting mad, everyone! (But in a way that doesn't take up too much of our time and energy, because it's best to focus on our own projects and positive motivations.)

By the way. Oswalt new special is hilarious. Proves that having a kid doesnt mean you have to neuter your comedy (See, Jim Breuer? Right, low blow, but true. And he's less funny than Myq in those pizza hut commercials)

Thanks, word, etc.
Oswalt's new stuff is great. I saw him doing it live a week before he taped it and it was great then. So I imagine it was exactly as great one week later, no better, no worse.

[standardman]

Originally Posted by truetimer

This Brad guy that was talking trash about KATG not been on pod cast alleys top 10 has gotta be eating his words, just checked and they are already 3rd.. Found it hilarious....

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOOOOOOOOOOOOOU and welcome to the forums, I can see the image in your sig from space.

[CORTESNYC]

this was a great vid. lol

Originally Posted by rasput

Everyone's probably seen this vid, but the talk about different trailers portraying the same movie completely differently reminded me of it.
YouTube - The Shining Recut

[Junkenstein]

Originally Posted by myq

I've never heard anyone in America talk about it. I wonder if people know. Like, the people whose material is being taken. Hicks probably doesn't. But maybe the ones who are alive...

People know about the Hicks part in Italy, apparently. I just found a back to back video. He's the first guy in the video, he tells the bit word by word, changing the names.

He did stuff by connolly and lewis black too. Some comedy loving italians are writing about it but it's going over a lot of people heads as "people do not know these comedians" (i do!)

[myq]

Originally Posted by Junkenstein

He did stuff by connolly and lewis black too. Some comedy loving italians are writing about it but it's going over a lot of people heads as "people do not know these comedians" (i do!)

Well, that's the same basic story with the known comedy thieveries within America as well...
Robin Williams is beloved, wins an Oscar, makes gigantic amounts of money doing movies, etc., so who cares that he famously also took gigantic amounts of jokes from people? (Answer: comedy nerds only?)

[cushion142]

I would just like to say that cockney rhyming slang is meant to be incomprehensible. It was made by thieves so nobody could understand what they say. Now it's just used as a joke, nobody takes it seriously. So keith's seeming resentment towards the UK is unfounded in this example. He may have a lot of ammunition against us but this doesn't count. We're still badass/