Poker Media Mid Life Crisis

[DaveShoelace]

When I was at Uni I worked at the Just The Tonic Comedy Club in Nottingham. When I was young I was obsessed with stand up comedy, I really wanted to be one. However working in a comedy club showed me what a tough and sometimes lonely life travelling comedians had, and it put me off.

It wasn't all bad, we had lock ins with the comedians all the time, including Johny Vegas, Al Murray, Ross Noble and Peter Kay - all before they were famous.

Anyway, my desire to be a comedian faded, but my love of the craft never did. How stand up comedians do what they do is one of the most fascinating things in the world to me. In particular the likes of Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock are particularly masterful in what they do behind the scenes. This New York Times article sums it up perfectly:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/magazine/jerry-seinfeld-intends-to-die-standing-up.html?hp&_r=2&

Also watching comedians talk about comedy with other comedians is a joy to watch for me. This web show where Jerry Seinfeld does just that is amazing:

http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/chris-rock-kids-need-bullying
http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/ricky-gervais-mad-man-in-a-death-machine
http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/larry-david-larry-eats-a-pancake

This was also great viewing. Gervais ruined it for me. Although I love his work as a writer, he is an ok comedian at best. Meanwhile Rock, C.K. and Seinfeld are in my opinion the best three stand ups of all time.



All worth checking out if you find comedy fascinating. I presume Tal has seen them all already.

[Tal]

Such a dick, Shoelace. Such a dick.



Chris Rock's Never Scared is a masterpiece but I haven't seen much else of him. Probably kind of frightened his other stuff wouldn't be as good.

Seinfeld is a hugely underrated comedian over here. So much of what people like about stand up was brought together by him. I'm saying this like the guy who happened to find an old Sabbath album and tell his friends he's far more knowledgeable about music than they. I stumbled across Seinfeld and realised this is a special comic.

Stand up is, queerly, a mutual love. I've spoken elsewhere about my love of Stewart Lee and Lee Evans (proper spectrum, that).

Who's the most underrated comedian? Completely agree about Gervais.

What do you make of these:

Steven Wright
Steve Martin
Jerry Sadowicz?

Have you ever seen The Aristocrats?

[DaveShoelace]

Chris Rock's Never Scared is a masterpiece but I haven't seen much else of him. Probably kind of frightened his other stuff wouldn't be as good.

Please watch his other stuff, it is just as good if not better. I'm reading a book about how much work goes into his shows atm and he really could be the greatest of all time.

Seinfeld is a hugely underrated comedian over here. So much of what people like about stand up was brought together by him. I'm saying this like the guy who happened to find an old Sabbath album and tell his friends he's far more knowledgeable about music than they. I stumbled across Seinfeld and realised this is a special comic.

There is something distinctly rock n roll about US comedians. They are very much artists, and the best ones are the best in the world. UK comedians are much blander as a rule, but they are usually a lot better making jokes up on the spot. I prefer the US comedians, but they are terrible at dealing with hecklers, whereas UK comedians are much better at getting laughs from them.

Stand up is, queerly, a mutual love. I've spoken elsewhere about my love of Stewart Lee and Lee Evans (proper spectrum, that).

Not a fan of Lee Evans at all I'm afraid.

Who's the most underrated comedian? Completely agree about Gervais.

There is a now deceased American chap called Patrice O'Neil who probably should have been much bigger. In this country, although he was very popular, in terms of respect from his peers I would say Jasper Carrot is the most underrated. He pioneered a style of observational comedy way before anyone else was doing it. Billy Connoly and Dave Allen get the respect for that, but Carrot was equally important. I'd also say the same about Victoria Wood.

Steven Wright.

Genius. Very influential genius.

Steve Martin.

Genius before he got really big. Loved his early stand up and Planes Trains is one of my all time faves.

Jerry Sadowicz?.

Misunderstood genius. He had a great quote about offensive comedy which was 'being offended is the tax you pay for laughing at other people being made fun of'

Have you ever seen The Aristocrats?

Loved it, saw it at the cinema. Sarah Silvermans retelling was the best.

[DaveShoelace]

23 July: 14st 11lb
1 August: 14st 8lb

Not getting excited yet as I will be stuffing my face in Gibraltar next week.

[Tal]

I feel compelled to explain this.

There's an in-joke amongst comedians that seems to have passed down the generations. The basic premise is a family turn up for a talent contest. When asked what they do, this family perform all manner of disgusting, degrading and illegal acts upon themselves and each other, before finishing with a "ta da!" Appalled, the judge finally musters "what do you call yourselves?", to which the response is..."The Aristocrats!"

The in-joke is that comedians fill in the blanks; they decide what the family does and how, going into horrific detail in some cases that lead to the joke taking hours, just to culminate in the punchline known by the entire audience.

It is as varied when told as there could ever be and the documentary sees Penn Gillette from off of Penn and Teller go around asking various comedians to tell it their way.

Now you know what the point is, you can see just how off the wall Silverman's version is.

[Tal]

By definition, this stuff is just about the most offensive material you'll ever hear. That's kind of the point. The more disgusting the act is, the greater the joke of them being The Aristocrats is.

I loved the Gilbert Gottfried version tbh, if only in audio. This is another odd version, but with magic. Gotta love magic.

***again, this content is very much not suitable for littl'uns or the easily offended***

[RED-DOG]

I think that the Aristocrats, as with many fashionable/cult things, gets it's status from an 'Emperor's New Clothes' type mentality.

I could quote you a dozen examples of things that are absolute crap, but are regarded as cool because it is cool to do so.

IMHO of course.  

[VBlue]

Great post Barry.  Will follow those links intently.

Did my ever stand-up gig this year and loved it, but not sure I will pursue it beyond that one gig.  

I watched a great documentary recently about life as a stand-up and the art itself - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Comic.  Very good watch.

Love Sarah Silverman.

[DaveShoelace]

Great post Barry.  Will follow those links intently.

Did my ever stand-up gig this year and loved it, but not sure I will pursue it beyond that one gig.  

I watched a great documentary recently about life as a stand-up and the art itself - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_Comic.  Very good watch.

Love Sarah Silverman.

I'll check that out.

Seinfeld did a documentary called Comedian which was very interesting too.

Please tell us more about your stand up gig

[Tal]

I think that the Aristocrats, as with many fashionable/cult things, gets it's status from an 'Emperor's New Clothes' type mentality.

I could quote you a dozen examples of things that are absolute crap, but are regarded as cool because it is cool to do so.

IMHO of course.  

I like the idea that there is a joke comedians tell other comedians, because they must have heard just about every joke there is to hear a dozen times over.

On your point, though, I've never cared for Abba or The Rolling Stones, I watched 15 minutes of The Empire Strikes Back and fell asleep, never watching another minute of Star Wars and I get very angry when I hear some people reviewing modern art pieces with things like "It wasn't that they weren't dancing; it was that they had the potential to dance".

Interestingly, I think one of the most stylish men in the world (apart from Lord Becks obv and Sir George of Lamb) is David Walliams. He just does my proverbials in.

[DaveShoelace]

I think that the Aristocrats, as with many fashionable/cult things, gets it's status from an 'Emperor's New Clothes' type mentality.

I could quote you a dozen examples of things that are absolute crap, but are regarded as cool because it is cool to do so.

IMHO of course.  

Completely agree. My fave thing about the Aristocrats was the aforementioned thing I love about watching comedians interact with each other.

A lot of comedy is built around confidence, both in the performer and in the audience (who are confident that the comedian will be funny) - that is often the make or break criteria for comedy. As a result, sometimes you only find things funny if you were expecting to.

Reminds me of this (see what I mean about Gervais ruining it)

[DaveShoelace]

Fun stuff to do in Manchester?

Gina has never been to Manchester, and although I have been to the G Casino loads of times, watched boxing at the MEN and went out with a girl from Stockport before, it has been a good 15 years since I properly went into the City Centre.

So we are probably going to do a day trip and night out next month, the GUKPT weekend so I can pop over and say hi to a few folks and call it a business trip.

Any suggestions what we can get up to?

[Tal]

At the risk of highlighting my nittiness, I went to Manchester about 18months ago to watch Skrillex in an amazing venue called The Warehouse Project, just underneath Manchester Piccadilly train station. A friend and I went from Birmingham city centre to the middle of Manchester by Megabus. Went straight there and cost us about £8 each return. Best. Thing. Ever.

[FUN4FRASER]

 

Joking aside its a real good  night and vibe down on canal street... gay or straight

http://www.manchesterbars.com/location-gayvillage.htm

[DaveShoelace]

So I picked an interesting week to go to Gibraltar

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23567982

I'm off on Wednesday for the week with the missus to visit the folks at PokerStrategy. It really is a strange - not in a bad way - place. I wonder if we will have any problems getting there after this week's news.


Gibraltar: The 'Party Is Over' Warns Spain
Spain's foreign minister says his country may bring in a border crossing fee and even close airspace to the British territory.

Britain says it is concerned by comments made by Spain's foreign minister in which he warned the "party is over" when it comes to his country's policy on Gibraltar.

Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said he was considering retaliatory measures towards the British territory, including a 50 euro border crossing fee, amid a dispute over an artificial reef being created by the Gibraltarians.

He told ABC newspaper the proceeds would be used to help Spanish fisherman who have lost out because of damage to fishing grounds allegedly caused by Gibraltarian authorities.

Mr Garcia-Margallo added that tax investigations into thousands of Gibraltarians who own property in Spain could also be launched.

Spain is also considering closing airspace to planes heading to Gibraltar airport, he added, as well as changing rules to increase tax revenue from online gaming companies based on "the Rock".

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: "We are concerned by today's comments on Gibraltar, which we are looking into further.

"As we have said, we will not compromise on our sovereignty over Gibraltar, nor our commitment to its people. We continue to use all necessary measures to safeguard British sovereignty."

The comments come after "disproportionate checks" at the border have increased tensions between Britain and Spain.
Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo Mr Garcia-Margallo says airspace could even be closed

The Spanish ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office last week to explain why people crossing the border were having to wait up to seven hours in sweltering heat.

Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire said the delays were "as a result of wholly disproportionate checks introduced by the Spanish authorities on vehicles both leaving and entering Gibraltar".

Foreign Secretary William Hague also called Mr Garcia-Margallo to express concern over the delays.

Britain has held sovereignty over Gibraltar for three centuries and its 2.6 square miles is home to 30,000 people, with an economy dominated by off-shore banking, internet gambling operations and tourism.

However, ownership of the territory has long been a point of contention between Spain and Britain.

The latest tensions began 10 days ago after Gibraltarian boats began dumping blocks of concrete into the sea near the territory.

The British territory said it was creating an artificial reef that would foster fish populations, but Spain said the reef would block its fishing boats and ramped up border checks.

Gibraltar has complained to the European Commission, saying the checks violate EU rules on free circulation.

Spain's previous government took a softer line on Gibraltar and did not discuss the issue of sovereignty, but Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who was elected in November 2011, has taken a harder line regarding his country's claim on the territory.

The UK has made clear that it will not negotiate over sovereignty as long as Gibraltar's people want to remain British.

An FCO statement added: "Our differences with Spain on Gibraltar will be resolved by political means through our relationship as EU partners, not through disproportionate measures such as the border delays we have seen over the past week.

"We have many common interests with Spain and wish to continue to have a strong relationship at every level with the Government of Spain.

"In the meantime, we will be seeking an explanation from Spain following reports that the Spanish government might target Gibraltar with further measures."