"Life is a tragedy to those who feel and a comedy to those who think"
- Molière
A small collection of the stand-up dvd's I own. The three books are My Booky Wooky 1 & 2 by Russell Brand and Handstands In The Dark by Janey Godley. The two tickets are Dylan Moran live at Thebarton Theatre and my pass to The Comedy Store in L.A.
Comedy? In a music blog?
Deal with it...
I’ve always had a fascination with stand up comedy, and comedy in general. The ability of captivating storytelling is a gift. The ability to take a mundane situation and turn it into something magical is just that... magical.
My earliest memory of being captivated by stand-up is listening to a cassette of ‘Utterly Utterly Live! Comic Relief 1986”. I was young, under 10 I’d say. Probably too young to be listening to it but hey, what are ya gonna do? I remember being in the car with my family, we were going somewhere for a holiday (Mt. Remarkable possibly?). I recall driving along with my three siblings in the back asleep, or at least dozing off. The Garth Brooks cassette we were listening too had finished so mum put on her ‘Utterly Utterly Live! Comic Relief’ tape. I think she was half trying to have a grown-up moment with me and half her assuming I wouldn’t understand half the stuff the comics were saying. My favourite routines were The Young Ones singing ‘Living Doll’ with Cliff Richards, Rowan Atkinson and Kate Bush’s duet of ‘Do bears?’, Rowan Atkinson’s ‘Fatal Beatings’ and Billy Connolly’s set.
Speaking of Rowan Atkinson, mum also had his stand-up VHS ‘Rowan Atkinson Live’. That was probably the first full-length set I watched. He’s a remarkable comic, one of the best to have done it. His physical comedy is second to only Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson. If you only know him as Mr Bean, I implore you to watch his live stuff, He is a master.
At some point, I started to become infatuated with how jokes were formed. I started to try and deconstruct jokes the same way I would deconstruct music. Instead of asking why the drummer did a certain fill in this section, I’d ask, why did they use that word instead of this word? You start seeing patterns emerge in the language. You learn what a callback is, and how they are used in their routines as a way of building rapport with the audience. Depending on the type of comic, they manage to write a monologue disguised as dialogue. They appear to speak to their audience, helping to establish a mutual relationship based on being an “every-man/woman”. You start noticing subtly dropped hints and words to help set you up. They build tension with these words and phrases, and you start realising the power that language and words can have. Patrice O’Neil speaks about this for a moment on an episode of ‘Tough Crowd’. He explains why one word in one of his jokes is used over another because “hard consonants are funny!”
As I grew older I kept watching as much stand-up as I could. I’d always watch the Melbourne Comedy Festival and the Montreal Comedy Festival when it was on TV. Although I like most types of comedy, I started gravitating towards the Dark/black, Blue (yes there’s blue!), Surreal, Alternative and Anti-comedy. I also started to have a great appreciation for those who could go from a serious critique of society to a dick joke in the space of a minute and it all makes sense. Bill Hicks was brilliant at this. He was the first comedian who changed my perception of what comedy could be. He was dangerous and intelligent. His stinging critiques of the American Dream was more aligned with someone guest writing articles for a national publication. Large chunks of his set weren’t “comedy” but he would find the connections to make you laugh. He also had plenty of dick jokes!
He became a rock icon to me, and also made me consider trying stand-up. It was possibly the first time I started making connections between music and comedy also. Apart from the obvious connections of live performing, there are arguments to be made in the way songs and jokes are structured being quite similar. The build and release of tension for example. The way a certain word can make you feel a certain way, setting you up for the punchline.
The constraints I thought existed in the comedy world weren’t there, in fact, they never were. I realised that you could have more layers than just being funny. You could make an audience feel other emotions, sadness, anger... the field is wide open. Sure, it’s a fine and hard line to walk, but those who do are the outlaw comics I look up to. I’m lucky to have witnessed this kind of set live.
It was in L.A at the world-famous Comedy Store. I managed to convince my partner we should go without knowing who was performing. The first comedian I recall seeing that night was Bobby Lee. He was a tornado of energy, he whipped the crowd up into a frenzied state. He was climbing on the stool and table, speaking so fast it was like he was possessed. He was all observational, aiming for maximum laughs per minute. After about 8 or so hyperactive minutes the crowd started to calm down. He was still getting laughs but we were exhausted. He thanked the crowd and took his exit. I later overheard him speaking to another comic, the other guy complimented his set. Bobby told him he was losing us (the crowd) and that he was pissed at himself for doing so, so he bailed before he lost us completely. I remember sitting there thinking how the fuck could he think that? I guess it’s comparable to watching a band, they’re brilliant for 6 songs then they play that one song which doesn’t sit right in the atmosphere and everyone goes and gets drinks. It’s not that they’re playing bad, they just didn’t read the room. Next up was Neal Brennan. I had no idea who he was. They introduced him as “The other guy from the Chappelle show”. This pricked my ears up instantly as Chapelle show was a favourite of mine. His observational set was slick. It is what you’d call a more traditional kind of routine. He spoke about Chapelle bailing on the tv show and how it affected his life. I became a fan and wondered why I had never heard of him before then. His newest special “Three Mics” on Netflix is one of the greatest specials ever made, I highly recommend watching it. He selves deep into his personal life while still being hilarious. Next was the headliner Dov Davidoff. He strutted onto the stage in a black leather biker jacket, black tee, jeans and crew cut to kick. He looked like a rockstar. He had a thick New Jersey accent which just made him cooler in my eyes. He sat slouched on the stool and proceeded to unload his problems onto the audience. He was self-deprecating, he seemed homicidal... or maybe suicidal I couldn’t decide. He was honest and raw, and most importantly, he was funny. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. He didn’t get the laughs per minute like the comics who proceeded him, but he hit a nerve. He had the audience in the palm of his hand. It was dead quiet when he spoke. You could feel the thickness of the air. Then he’d say a punchline and the room would explode. This night was full of comedy at the highest level and it was completely inspiring.
After the discovery of Hicks, I delved deeper into deconstructing comedy. I started looking back at the ones I already loved, Connolly, Atkinson, Young Ones and Bottom, Monty Python’s, Tripod, Chapelle, while discovering new favourites like Jerrod Carmichael, Russell Brand, Patrice O’Neil, Bo Burnham, Rory Scovel, Anthony Jeselnik, James Acaster, Andy Kaufman and Tim Minchin.
As you can see from that list, there’s a wide variety of comedic styles to choose from, and each has their nuances. Russell Brand is a lover of language, James Acaster is intelligent yet surreal, Rick Mayall and Ade Edmondson (Young ones/Bottom) were physical comedy extraordinaire’s and Tim Minchin is a stupidly talented musician.
Tim Minchin's 9 minute beat poem, Storm.
Recently, with streaming services handing out specials like tic-tacs, there’s been a lot of output of crap (Brendan Schaub, anyone?), that said, there have been few instances where the comedian had used the element of film and videography to further push their views. The aforementioned 3 Mics by Neal Brennan showcases a unique format of stand up. Bo Burnham’s use of camera angles brings you in through the screen and sits you one-on-one with him. Burnham also directed Jerrod Carmichael’s special, 8, in which he explores this method of filming stand up even further, almost refusing the conventional angles and edits. This is all completely new to me and has once again re-ignited my admiration for this art form.
I started to see comedy as potentially a more fitting way for me to unleash my creativity. When I was pondering this I wasn’t in a band and therefore, I wasn’t drumming. I could do stand up on my own, my own way, and push my social and philosophical views to people through this art form. I could use it to cathartically purge my emotions. I also tossed the idea to a close friend about doing a duo, but nothing eventuated. I then again got the urge about 3 years ago, when I came up with the idea for a podcast. I would give myself a certain amount of time (2-3 months), to write my first 10 minutes stand up set and perform it at a comedy club open mic. I’d interview comedians for tips and just basically document it. As luck would have it, I discovered this exact podcast had been done already... and by an Australian no less! Unfortunately, it’s not up on any streaming services anymore, but it was called Am I Funny? It even won some awards. Bastard.
I accidentaly became obssessed with Tim Minchin starting in 2009ish. This isnt even all my Minchin stuff!
I have a special connection with comedy, and it’s equal to my musical connection, hence why I’ve decided to include it in this blog. Further down the line, I may write an essay deconstructing one of my favourite comedians, as I find it fascinating how comedians think. Still to this day I get the urge to start stand up. I keep ideas in a journal, and I still take notes on how comedians craft their work. I may make the jump one day... There’s an old saying that every comedian wants to be a musician, and every musician wants to be a comedian, and for this little drummer boy, that statement couldn’t be any truer.
“Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration, that we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no such thing as death, life is only a dream, and we are the imagination of ourselves. Here's Tom with the Weather.”
― Bill Hicks
Bonus Stuff!
Here is a list of Stand-up shows, Documentaries or TV series I highly recommend. There's too many to name, so if you make way through this, hit me up for more suggestions!
Tim Minchin - Ready For This (Stand-up)
Rock 'n' Roll Nerd: The Tim Minchin Story (Doco)
Monster Live: Dylan Moran (Stand-up)
Snuff Box (TV series)
Bottom: The big number 2 show Live (Stand-up)
The Mighty Boosh On Tour: Journey of the Childmen (Doco)
American: The Bill Hicks Story (Doco)
Bill Hicks: Revelations (Stand-up)
Man On The Moon (Biographical film)
Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones (Stand-up)
Bo Burnham: what (Stand-up)
Jerrod Carmichael: 8 (Stand-up)
Neal Brennan: 3 Mics (Stand-up)
Patrice O'neal: Elephant in the Room (Stand-Up)
James Acaster: Repertoire (Stand-up)
Anthony Jeselnick: Thoughts and Prayers (Stand-up)
Rory Scovel Tries Stand-up For The First Time (Stand-up)
Tripod: Pod August Night (Stand-up)
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