OT: The Avalounge: Steamed Hams, despite the fact they are obviously grilled

[Bubba Thudd]

Might have to make this my avatar...

 

[UncleRisto]

He changed it a tiny bit but what I remember:

4×5 trap bar deadlifts
3 × 15 box jump
4 x 7 pistol squat (the worst)
3 × 12 single leg reverse lunge
1 or 2 Sled pushes to end

Made me feel like i was going to do great things in life. Then i did not do great things in life

Yeah, no thanks. I'm way too lazy to do difficult exercises with light weights hard.

I'd do two pistol squats/single leg reverse lunges and go "ehh, f*** this".

 

[Ceremony]

Ricky Gervais ****ing murdered last night, it was glorious.

If I hadn't watched the news already today you would have just got me very excited for nothing.

 

[McMetal]

Ricky Gervais ****ing murdered last night, it was glorious.

Gervais used to brilliantly toe the line between being dangerously edgy and just plain offensive and mean. These days, though, I feel like he crosses over that line a little too often. It's a really hard act to pull off, there's a reason so few comedians find success with it in the first place.

I can't tell you how many open mic comics I've seen try and fail to replicate that style. I learned pretty quickly that it almost always doesn't work and shifted my style to avoid getting too close to that line.

 

[BaconNater]

Yeah, no thanks. I'm way too lazy to do difficult exercises with light weights hard.

I'd do two pistol squats/single leg reverse lunges and go "ehh, **** this".

Haha i know the feel, time to get some pre workout powder the life changing supplement!

 

[UncleRisto]

Haha i know the feel, time to get some pre workout powder the life changing supplement!

You mean how my life always changes to completely dependent on PWO after I start taking doubles?

 

[BaconNater]

You mean how my life always changes to completely dependent on PWO after I start taking doubles?

Oh man so youve been down that road already eh? The way i got out of that funk was i found one that tasted awesome and had good ingredients that wouldnt kill me. Then they changed the formula and started putting sugar alcohols in which destroys my stomach. So moved on again

Ended up finding one now which works good and pair that with watching Rocky montages and im ready to rock

 

[UncleRisto]

Oh man so youve been down that road already eh? The way i got out of that funk was i found one that tasted awesome and had good ingredients that wouldnt kill me. Then they changed the formula and started putting sugar alcohols in which destroys my stomach. So moved on again

Ended up finding one now which works good and pair that with watching Rocky montages and im ready to rock

Yep, and with energy drinks as well. But when I'm not already living on caffeine I try to limit PWO caffeine to the times that I'm actually tired. When you start taking caffeine before every workout, it really hikes up your tolerance, to no one's surprise.

 

[SaltySkywalker]

Couldn't find the right thread, but does anyone know which side the Avs are going to be shooting on for the stadium series game this year? It doesn't show it on the map to buy tickets and trying to buy some soon.

 

[Foppberg]

Gervais used to brilliantly toe the line between being dangerously edgy and just plain offensive and mean. These days, though, I feel like he crosses over that line a little too often. It's a really hard act to pull off, there's a reason so few comedians find success with it in the first place.

I can't tell you how many open mic comics I've seen try and fail to replicate that style. I learned pretty quickly that it almost always doesn't work and shifted my style to avoid getting too close to that line.

I don't follow him super close so maybe true. He was on fire for that award show though.

 

[UncleRisto]

I don't know what the Gervais thing is about at all, and I feel pretty happy about that. It didn't reach my bubble.

 

[Foppberg]

I don't know what the Gervais thing is about at all, and I feel pretty happy about that. It didn't reach my bubble.

shocking

 

[Pokecheque]

It gets rather tiresome--ratings-strapped awards show hires "edgy" host, then people get their undies all in a bunch when edgy host says edgy things.

Gervais doesn't strike me as the most pleasant guy around but I did like that he didn't spare the rod with Hollywood.

 

[McMetal]

I mean, it's pretty much impossible to be seen as punching down when you're going after impossibly rich celebrities, but even so, some of those jokes bordered on tasteless. Like, is it anybody's business if Leonardo DiCaprio dates younger women? And then following it up with a reference to a suspected pedophile, conflating that with Leo dating a 25 year old...

Like I said, it's not easy to make wealthy, out-of-touch actors look like the victims, but Gervais seemed really determined to try.

 

[The Abusement Park]

It was more of a roast than a monologue really. But I mean Hollywood could use a little roasting imo.

 

[Foppberg]

I mean, it's pretty much impossible to be seen as punching down when you're going after impossibly rich celebrities, but even so, some of those jokes bordered on tasteless. Like, is it anybody's business if Leonardo DiCaprio dates younger women? And then following it up with a reference to a suspected pedophile, conflating that with Leo dating a 25 year old...

Like I said, it's not easy to make wealthy, out-of-touch actors look like the victims, but Gervais seemed really determined to try.

Victims? Lol he ripped into them for being superficial hypocrites, which most of them are. Seems like comedians today are the only ones with the balls to say the truth that nobody will talk about in public.

 

[McMetal]

Victims? Lol he ripped into them for being superficial hypocrites, which most of them are. Seems like comedians today are the only ones with the balls to say the truth that nobody will talk about in public.

I mean, yes, he did do that (the part about speechifying while accepting an award was a solid zinger), but that wasn't the whole thing. Like I said, comparing a guy to a pedophile for dating a younger woman is a pretty low blow, it's hard to defend that.

 

[ABasin]

Yeah, no thanks. I'm way too lazy to do difficult exercises with light weights hard.

I'd do two pistol squats/single leg reverse lunges and go "ehh, **** this".

Someone who works out regularly here...but what is a pistol squat?

 

[Foppberg]

I mean, yes, he did do that (the part about speechifying while accepting an award was a solid zinger), but that wasn't the whole thing. Like I said, comparing a guy to a pedophile for dating a younger woman is a pretty low blow, it's hard to defend that.

Meh, Leo found it pretty funny. His job is to tell jokes after all.

 

[S E P H]

Hollywood is the biggest echo-chamber rehashed dribble in the world, anyone putting them in their place always gets a thumb up from me. Didn't watch it nor plan to, but if McMetal says is true and Gervias makes jokes about Leo dating a younger women...that is just not funny at all.

 

[McMetal]

Meh, Leo found it pretty funny. His job is to tell jokes after all.

Yeah, but a lot of the audience didn't, and there is 100% a difference between "making a joke" and just being shitty.

The difference, usually, is found in the comedy writing concept of not "punching down". The idea is, if you're making a joke at the expense of someone who can't fight back (such as making a racist/sexist comment, or making fun of the handicapped) nobody is going to feel good about laughing at what you said. But if they're seen as powerful, then they can't be harmed by a joke, and it's easier to laugh, which is why political comedy is so easy. Nobody feels sympathetic to the people who literally run the country.

Now, there's a counter principle to that, where people will laugh because of the transgressive aspect of what you say. Bill Burr, Daniel Tosh, Frankie Boyle, Jimmy Carr, and Gervais all do this. Some call it "shock comedy", but IMO that makes it sound cheap and easy to do, which is why I've had to sit through so many open mic sets where some white kid gets up and says a bunch of edgy shit to a cringing audience for the sake of being controversial. It's actually incredibly hard to do, making a career out of it requires a constant balancing act between pushing the audience's sensibilities and going so far as to offend them outright.

Gervais, lately, has been crossing that line a little too much. And even when you are "punching" at somebody who seemingly has all the power in the world, you can still be so tasteless and crass that you miss the mark on your transgressive jokes.

IMO, Gervais missed the mark on his set because the primary job of a comedian is to get laughs. Not make a statement, not take somebody down a peg who needs it, it is to make your audience laugh. You can do that while also accomplishing something else, which is what separates great comedians from merely good ones, but Gervais was so determined to stick it to the celebs that he didn't put enough effort into rule #1, and the result was a pretty uneven monologue.

 

[S E P H]

The difference, usually, is found in the comedy writing concept of not "punching down". The idea is, if you're making a joke at the expense of someone who can't fight back (such as making a racist/sexist comment, or making fun of the handicapped) nobody is going to feel good about laughing at what you said

Not disagreeing because Jimmy Carr comes across as a asshole to me more often than not. However, wanting to say jokes so your audience can "feel good" is stupid territory. Maybe I am old skool, but a comedian's job is to be funny and say it how it is at the same time...like Gervais mentioning about the obituary and how not enough people of colour died so it isn't worth mentioning who did is a "class A" smoke.

Like I enjoy Gabriel Iglesias comedy, but the amount of times he says he doesn't want to "offend" anybody during his specials is so soft and stupid, sometimes be a man for once geez and play on the edge. I agree there is a "line" and sometimes people cross it, but people got offended at Chappelle's latest special and that's the soft world we live in now.

 

[McMetal]

Not disagreeing because Jimmy Carr comes across as a ******* to me more often than not. However, wanting to say jokes so your audience can "feel good" is stupid territory. Maybe I am old skool, but a comedian's job is to be funny and say it how it is at the same time...like Gervais mentioning about the obituary and how not enough people of colour died so it isn't worth mentioning who did is a "class A" smoke.

Like I enjoy Gabriel Iglesias comedy, but the amount of times he says he doesn't want to "offend" anybody during his specials is so soft and stupid, sometimes be a man for once geez and play on the edge. I agree there is a "line" and sometimes people cross it, but people got offended at Chappelle's latest special and that's the soft world we live in now.

Well, on your first paragraph, I didn't mean your job as a comedian is ALWAYS to make your audience comfortable. The thing about "feeling good about laughing" is 100% a subconscious thing for the listener. Audiences aren't supposed to notice that you're manipulating them to get them to laugh, they just laugh. Or, if you fail, they don't, but the important thing is that they don't understand fully why. Mocking a kid with Down's Syndrome just feels icky to most people, even if they've never heard of the concept of punching down. That's the domain of joke writers in the same way that sleight of hand is a concept for magicians, and the audience doesn't need to know the nuts and bolts of it to enjoy the show.

As for Iglesias, that speaks to my last point about a comedian's #1 job. Fluffy is outstanding at that, even if his jokes are ultimately harmless. He's a master at the art of crafting a joke in a way that elicits a good laugh, and even if he lacks the ambition of a guy like Carlin who set out to make a statement with his act (while never disobeying rule #1), his approach is absolutely a valid one. As long as you can obey that primary rule of keeping people entertained, you can be a good stand-up, even if nobody is going to cite you as a game-changer in 50 years.

The guy I always like to single out as an example is Tim Allen. A lot of comedians hate him, because he made easy, safe, "hacky" jokes and never tried to get particularly creative with his writing. But damn if the man wasn't a master at getting an audience on his side and keeping them rolling along. So although I generally find the content of his material to be mild, I can respect the hell out of his skills at the craft.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

As someone who has been to see Jimmy Carr live a couple of times I can attest that he whilst he may not be everyone's cup of tea, the guy is intelligent and adaptable enough to know what's too far and what is not. I remember at one of his shows paying close attention to the way he started out tame and kept increasing the "offensiveness" of his jokes until the crowd got a little uncomfortable and then he brought it back down a notch. He basically spent the first 30 minutes of his show gauging the temperature of the crowd and what he could get away with saying, and then toed that line. I actually thought it was really impressive. Now of course that line is different for everyone, my girlfriend at the time was not comfortable with a lot of what he said, but if you're going to a Jimmy carr show you shouldnt expect jokes about bunnies and rainbows. I really am a Jimmy Carr fan, but he has a punchable face and his laugh is next-level weird, but I think he is a great entertainer. Just don't watch him with your in-laws or anyone remotely prudish.

 

[UncleRisto]

If you don't like the way they tell jokes that's cool, but if you get offended at Anthony Jeselnik or Jimmy Carr chances are your communicative skills are just poor, because those guys have a shtick that's laid on so thick you can see it to the moon.

Furthermore, there's good jokes, there's bad jokes, there's even badly timed jokes, but there aren't jokes you can't make if you make them well.