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Post by funnybones on Mar 23, 2014 19:00:48 GMT
After finishing Zoglin's book I have to wonder: has any new type or form of standup comedy come along after the 1970's? Is all current standup just variations on the genres that Zoglin writes about? Most comics I see are doing autobiographical mixed with observational (with various degrees of shock and vulgarity). Nothing really new or original. Has it all been done? Is all that is left is to do 'My Take' on Me? Have you seen any modern comedians doing anything you think is groundbreaking or super original? Seriously! Who is at the cutting edge of comedy these days? Is there even an edge sharp enough to cut? My mind has gone blank and all I can think of is how every comic I hear is just derivative. Any thoughts on where stand up might be going somewhere new?
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Post by Admin on Mar 30, 2014 5:00:17 GMT
Bill Hicks said it best: If you can be yourself on stage nobody else can be you and you have the law of supply and demand covered. It's his first principle of comedy. It hasn't all been done because you haven't done it yet. Comedy has always been about "my take" on things. It has never been a truly original art form unless you go way back to the Mark Twain era. He is one of the pioneering stand-up comedians. (I'm paraphrasing all this from Ritch Shydner) Before Mark Twain, entertainment was lectures. Like go and learn about a topic lectures with very little jokes in them. They were overall serious. Mark Twain (I think there may have only been one before, but Twain was the biggen) was one of the first to get in front of a group of people for the sole purpose of making them laugh. People hated it. They didn't learn anything and they were mad.
Most of the cutting edge comedians of our day you will never hear of for another 20 years. This is because they are not giving people what they want, they are giving people what they need.
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