Stand Up Comedians

[bleedblue1223]

I've always felt generally that it's not so much that it's wrong for a celebrity to chime in. As a person subject to first amendment protections anyone has the right to speak. The thing is that what comes with celebrity is reach and influence, and many celebrities seem to think they have a duty to use this reach and influence to affect the political opinions of others.

I think when you get into a self imposed or imagined "duty" and media outlets turn to you trying to illicit a political opinion or you give it freely then I think the question becomes, "why are you qualified to stand on a podium and preach to me?" there are political scholars who have absolutely draconian and damaging policy opinions. Why should we be preached to by people with less expertise than that? Idk. If I were in a position of celebrity, I'd feel awfully disingenuous if I tried to preach about things I don't have expertise in.

But then again, most people who engaged in political discourse these days think they're 100% right about everything they believe in without a fleeting thought of considering why opposition views may exist.

Agreed. I'll also add that I feel similar about celebrities as I do many "political analysts" out there. Those tv and youtube types that don't really have expertise in anything, but stick to talking points and just want to dunk on the opposition.

 

[Neutrinos]

For a thread about standup comedians, you people sure are sucking all the fun out of it

 

[David Dennison]

For a thread about standup comedians, you people sure are sucking all the fun out of it

No political board anymore because ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, so now it bleeds thru into topic that is politics-adjacent.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Not that I find Hollywood celebrities insightful, but I've never gotten the whole thing about celebrities shouldn't be talking about politics yet your average joe should be able to talk about it consistently. There was nothing insightful about Gervais' monologue either. It's what he regularly does and his jokes were just kind of basic anyways. I don't see how either side comes out looking good or particularly bad here. We've heard these platitudes a million times.

The praise for Gervais is a little silly IMO. This is the 5th time he's hosted the show. His schtick is so well known now that I can't give him any points for "sticking it to elites" or however one wants to phrase it. They INVITED him there. They KNOW what's coming. Really takes the edge off when they very people you're trying to burn have effectively asked you to do just that. Yes, technically the HFPA invited him, but they're by far the most star-chasing and appeasing awards body so I find it very hard to believe they'd invite Gervais back if they thought it'd be a problem for the attendees.

My biggest laughs came from this bingo card — — posted hours before the actual show that pretty much nailed 90% of Gervais' act.

He's predictable and tired. The edge he once had departed long ago and has been replaced with this performative martyrdom. He fends off criticism by accusing people of being too PC or overly sensitive but the actual reality is he hasn't had good, clever jokes in a long time. He's a parody of what he once was, which is a criticism he'd probably take offense too, ironically enough.

 

[bleedblue1223]

That bingo card is pretty damn funny.

 

[Beau Knows]

He's predictable and tired. The edge he once had departed long ago and has been replaced with this performative martyrdom. He fends off criticism by accusing people of being too PC or overly sensitive but the actual reality is he hasn't had good, clever jokes in a long time. He's a parody of what he once was, which is a criticism he'd probably take offense too, ironically enough.

I thought his jokes were pretty good here, not amazing, but funny enough. But his most recent special on Netflix is exactly what you describe, he spent most of his time complaining about not being able to say what he wants, while saying what he wants and getting paid a fortune for it. These star comedians complaining about that stuff just doesn't resonate.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I thought his jokes were pretty good here, not amazing, but funny enough. But his most recent special on Netflix is exactly what you describe, he spent most of his time complaining about not being able to say what he wants, while saying what he wants and getting paid a fortune for it. These star comedians complaining about that stuff just doesn't resonate.

Yeah, I'd agree that people that make those statements and jokes should actually be people that had that happen to them.

 

[Shareefruck]

I think a bunch of this is fair, and I leave it with this final point. I don't think it's quite white-collar (Hollywood) vs blue-collar lifestyle, it's the fact that the vast majority of them are at least millionaires that at this point in their life do not have a worry about their financial situation or at least shouldn't. I have similar problems when I've been around partners or executives from companies that I've worked for or with. When you live in significantly different lifestyles, it's almost like you live in different worlds, so political lectures tend to miss the mark.

I think you edited that blue-collar point, so I think we do agree. We see similar issues in our political arena with class and establishment vs non-establishment.

To be honest, the whole "it's about disingenuous hypocrisy" angle seemed like a bit of a non-sequitur in retrospect (which is where a lot of the confusion probably came from). I would assume that most people took it as more of a straight-forward "I don't relate to you, so don't preach to me" or "You're out of touch, so your opinions on the matter are meaningless to me" argument, which is what we seem to be back to and what was originally objected to.

Again, personally, while I get the impulse, I don't find it that rational or compelling. I care about the validity of the point itself, not whether or not I respect, care about, or relate to the background/circumstances/qualifications of the person making it.

 

[bleedblue1223]

To be honest, the whole "it's about disingenuous hypocrisy" angle seemed like a bit of a non-sequitur in retrospect (which is where a lot of the confusion probably came from). I would assume that most people took it as more of a straight-forward "I don't relate to you, so don't preach to me" or "You're out of touch, so your opinions on the matter are meaningless to me" argument, which is what we seem to be back to and what was originally objected to.

Again, personally, while I get the impulse, I don't find it that rational or compelling. I care about the validity of the point itself, not whether or not I respect or relate to the background/circumstances of the person making it.

That's fair.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

I thought his jokes were pretty good here, not amazing, but funny enough. But his most recent special on Netflix is exactly what you describe, he spent most of his time complaining about not being able to say what he wants, while saying what he wants and getting paid a fortune for it. These star comedians complaining about that stuff just doesn't resonate.

To be fair, I laughed at a few as well. His standup is far worse than anything at the Golden Globes.

I just don't think he's worthy of praise given the circumstances. He acts above it and his supporters treat him like he's above it, as if he's really sticking it to the establishment when the reality is he's dancing just like everyone else. He just acts like he isn't. But he's every bit the contrived act that he accuses Hollywood people of being.

 

[Shareefruck]

I definitely don't think of Gervais as some brilliant comedic mind generally, especially in terms of stand-up, but he's fun and serviceable. I think the British version of The Office was brilliant, I like him, find his delivery solid, and I side with a lot of his views in general, but his comedy tends to just involve regurgitating what feels like existing, learned ideas that he probably didn't think up out of thin air (probably exposed to some IDW-ish personalities like Dawkins and Harris) and re-purposing it in a pretty generic joke format. He's kind of just in that Bill Maher zone, in terms of day to day comedic talent, impressiveness, and ability (or lack of ability) to be a unique voice/come up with standout material.

His friend Karl Pilkington is a lot more inspired, funny, sharp, and special, comedically.

 

[Stylizer1]

 

[John Price]

Ricky calling people out on their shit, love it. There was a segment on the Joe Rogan podcast about it

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

I don't watch award shows, but I saw the Gervais stuff on twitter, I thought he was great. He was not only talking about the hypocrisy of celebrities/company's, but it was also funny.

The funniest were people who were calling him right wing, when he's really not he's just a big proponent of jokes are jokes and people need to stop being so offended by everything.



I bet if Tim Allen won something and went up there and spewed his conservative drivel, people would throw a fit. And in the same boat if Gervais made a bunch of jokes about him or some other republican celebrity, people would love it. It's a double standard...He actually kinda did when he was talking about the old white people who run the awards being racist, but it seems that jokes getting glossed over so the "RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!" people can cry about the jokes they didn't like.


Even as a Gervais fan, that bingo card is funny though.

 

[John Price]

Gervais should host the Oscars.

 

[David Dennison]

Watching award shows to own the liberal Hollywood elite lmao.

 

[sr edler]

Hollywood people can talk about whatever they want, people will just take notice of the attitude and how the words matches their off-camera behavior.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

I get where he comes from. I am also very liberal, but it's just like with any group of people; there is a minority of people that are just plain annoying as f*** no matter what they believe.

 

[Kurtz]

Anyone see Michelle Wolf's special on Netflix? I thought it was pretty good.

 

[John Price]

What yall have to realize is that Hollywood is uptight and sanctimonious as shit

Anytime one of these comics comes up and rips them for it is great

"I came here in a limo and the license plate was 'Made by Felicity Huffman'"

 

[John Price]

I don't watch award shows, but I saw the Gervais stuff on twitter, I thought he was great. He was not only talking about the hypocrisy of celebrities/company's, but it was also funny.

The funniest were people who were calling him right wing, when he's really not he's just a big proponent of jokes are jokes and people need to stop being so offended by everything.



I bet if Tim Allen won something and went up there and spewed his conservative drivel, people would throw a fit. And in the same boat if Gervais made a bunch of jokes about him or some other republican celebrity, people would love it. It's a double standard...He actually kinda did when he was talking about the old white people who run the awards being racist, but it seems that jokes getting glossed over so the "RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!" people can cry about the jokes they didn't like.


Even as a Gervais fan, that bingo card is funny though.

Everything has to be a label now its stupid

Can't a guy rip into people these days without being criticized for it

 

[Spring in Fialta]

Everything has to be a label now its stupid

Can't a guy rip into people these days without being criticized for it

It just wasn't a particularly original and it rings particularly hollow considering he's uh...a part of em' and hosting the show.

 

[David Dennison]

Everything has to be a label now its stupid

Can't a guy rip into people these days without being criticized for it

Guy can criticize others but shouldn't be open to criticism? That's quite a stance.

Anyone see Michelle Wolf's special on Netflix? I thought it was pretty good.

I saw her stand up live a few months back, it looked to be a lot to the same material. She was very funny.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Guy can criticize others but shouldn't be open to criticism? That's quite a stance.

For me it's the type of criticism. Much of the criticism of his jokes are here was warranted and valid, but people that say he was just being anti-liberal are missing the point.

 

[David Dennison]

For me it's the type of criticism. Much of the criticism of his jokes are here was warranted and valid, but people that say he was just being anti-liberal are missing the point.

Good thing we have the criticism police to decide what is valid criticism and not valid criticism. Purely coincidentally, the criticism police's stance on what is valid criticism lines up with their politics, but that's purely coincidental and you should ignore that hypocracy because LOOK AT THOSE CELEBRITIES FLYING THEIR PRIVATE JETS AROUND (probably maybe).