Analysis of Stand Up Performances

“I think that when you get dressed in the morning, sometimes you’re really making a decision about your behavior for the day. Like if you put on flipflops, you’re saying: ‘Hope I don’t get chased today.’ ‘Be nice to people in sneakers.'”

“Employee of the month is a good example of how somebody can be both a winner and a loser at the same time.”

“The worst time to have a heart attack is during a game of charades.”

And the comedian is Demetri Martin.

Demetri Martin

I classify Martin almost as a sneakily hysterical comedian. He walks on stage looking like a third grader who was just dressed by his mom before heading off to school. He first speaks and his voice is soft and timid. He does not force himself onto the audience or forcefully will them into laughter with energy. He is subdued and relies on his material for laughter… and it works.

Below is the first of his skits I would like to share with you.

“Batteries are so dramatic… they die… If you are a battery you are either working or you are dead. That’s a shit life.”

Like I said, he just sides back with his slow strumming guitar and rattles off his jokes. Also, his jokes are certainly more intellectual that other comedians. The whole joke about the woman being named Jill only if he needs help took me a couple of listens to understand. Now when I hear it I laugh out loud. Demetri Martin is not on stage hit on the hard topics. He is not Sarah Silverman or Anthony Jeselnik. He is more related to Jim Gaffigan and uses clean humor.

Here is the next clip to enjoy.

“I don’t have a ten I have a nine. Great, cause when you were in the back, my toes were severed off… given my very recent accident you are right on.” Great representation of relatable comedy. Just over Winter break I was shoe shopping at Dick’s Sporting Goods and I asked the guy if he had a certain pair of Nike’s in a 12. He came back and said I have them in a 9 1/2 and a 13. I had to hold back laughter in the moment. When he said he had a 9 1/2 I immediately thought of Demetri’s skit. Also, I was about to enter hysterical giggles with my brother because the guy actually brought the 9 1/2’s out from the back. I know I’m not the tallest guy around but come on, I’ve moved on from the 9 shoe size.

Comedy Reviews does a nice job at putting Martin’s Stand-Up techniques into words. It reads, “These topics aren’t approached from a cocky or brash point of view but instead they come from someone who questions only because he sincerely wants an answer. What is the best way to compliment someone on their face without sounding like a jerk? Why do we continue to insist on making birdhouses, a structure for an animal that already builds its own home? Is anyone monitoring the sudden invasion of wizards in the online vacation-themed clerical world? And seriously, is it rude for a deaf person to talk with food in their hands?”

Demetri Martin is a likable and humble comedian who will easily win over your ears and heart. Give him a listen, you won’t regret it.

“I have never taken the high road, but I tell other people to ’cause then there’s more room for me on the low road.”

“Well, MTV isn’t really my cup of tea… mainly because I hate huge pieces of shit in my tea.”

“I’m kind of obsessed with food. I like to eat.”

Anddddddd……… Aziz Ansari everybody.

Aziz Ansari

Aziz Ansari has become a popular stand up comedian recently and also stars on the hit NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. Aziz’s comedy is original and addicting to listen to. He jokes about a very wide range of topics compared to other comedians. For example, within the same special, he will go from joking about the thread count in his bed sheets to porn at his local doughnut shop. Because of this, he draws in a very wide and diverse audience.

Here is one of my favorite bits from Aziz about a meal he is sharing with his friend at a restaurant.

50 Cent said the greatest thing someone could every say when they see a grapefruit sodea… “Why ain’t this purple?”… Oh My God 50 Cent doesn’t know what a grapefruit. Aziz uses great descriptions in his comedy to really paint a vivid picture that puts you, the listener, into the moment. He also easily gets worked up on stage which excites the audience and gives them energy throughout his special. The website Comedy Reviews notes, “At times it seems Ansari relies less on finding the right punchline and more on shocking the crowd into laughter by seeing just how detailed he can get with his NC-17-rated descriptions.”

Aziz sees his comedy still as self-deprecating. He says, “”I play up the underconfidence … a little bit. With stand-up, it’s more interesting to hear about people’s failures than their successes. You don’t want to hear a story, like, ‘I went up to this hot girl and everything worked out fantastic. We’re dating. Everything worked out great. Good night!’ … People would be like, ‘I hate that guy.’ It’s much more endearing to hear someone going through the same struggles we’ve all gone through.”

Aziz has not limited himself to the stage though, he has put his own touch on his Character, Tom.Tom Haverford  on the T.V. show Parks and Recreation has many different nicknames for food. Now I know this is a fictional show, but some of these nicknames are “Legen- hope you are still reading this blog and haven’t found something better to do- dary” (credit to Barney Stinson). Here’s the quick list that will make you laugh and and give you a few new catchphrases in your rotation.

Apps- appetizers
Zerts- desserts
Tray Trays- entrees
Sammies or Sandoozles- sandwiches
Long Ass Rice- noodles
Fry Fry Chicky Chick- fried chicken
Chicky Chicky Parm Parm- chicken parmesan
Chicky Catch- chicken caciatore
Pre-Birds or Future Birds- eggs
Super Water- root beer
Bean Blankets- tortillas
Food Rakes- forks

Next time you are at Redifer, don’t be afraid to break one of these out. Maybe it gives you a laugh to share with friends. Maybe it helps break the ice with the girl or guy you like but don’t yet have the courage to ask them out. Don’t be afraid to realize the real powers of comedy.

“Ever read a book that changed your life? Me neither.”
“You know what it’s like having five kids? Imagine you’re drowning. And someone hands you a baby.”

And this week’s comedian is… Jim Gaffigan!

Sorry if you could not see the image above, he is a little pale. Hopefully here is a better one.

Jim Gaffigan

Jim Gaffigan is personally one of my favorite comedians. He is the first comedian I ever listened to religiously and searched the ends of the internet to find all his clips and jokes. Jim Gaffigan is the best comedian to ever make a living out of basically making fun of himself. Self Deprecation is the name of the pale game here. Did I mention he’s white? You know, I share a lot in common with Gaffigan. As he would say, our “Parents were polar bears” and that we have to start putting on sunscreen the week before the beach if we don’t want to die from the burning sun. Jim Gaffigan has done an amazing job at making us laugh at everyday things from the size of ketchup packets, to fast food and to Disney. The man can conjure a joke from anything.

Here is a clip from his stand-up special King Baby

“Camping was a tradition in everyone’s family until we came up with the house.”

“You have to pay to sleep outside… that has to be insulting to the homeless people.”

For four solid minutes he makes fun of the usual annual camping tradition of many families. I hope you picked up on the short line he said in this clip. It occurs at 2:05. At that time he says in a higher, softer voice, “He ruined camping for me.” This negative outlook voice has skyrocketed Gaffigan into fandom, in my opinion. He uses it often in all his stand-up specials. The voice is meant to be someone in the audience who is usually “mad” at what he is saying or making fun of. In the next clip, you will hear it and understand it much better.

For a straight minute he uses this “audience voice.” It gets a lot of laughs and the crowd loves it. This is some of the most original humor I have ever heard. On stage Gaffigan is not just a comedian but an actor.

Sean McCarthy of the Huffington Posts tries to answer the question of what makes Jim Gaffigan’s comedy so well like by so many different people. He writes, “A night enjoying Gaffigan is akin to a night spent with yummy comfort foods, and as a bonus, you’ll also get to hear Gaffigan make joke after joke about your favorite guilty pleasure comfort foods. It’s comfort comedy, is what it is. He says it’s about being lazy — taking on topics such as bowling, escalators, moving sidewalks, camping, hammocks, the snooze button, futons, bean bags, pillows, bacon, meats, and fast food. But it’s also about how we as human have strived to make our lives as comfortable as possible, and suddenly these mundane topics aren’t quite as mundane and simplistic as they had seemed.”

Jim Gaffigan adds to this theory. He says, “My whole comic persona is that of a guy who explores the id: I romanticize gluttony, I romanticize laziness, and people identify with that.” We have all had a bad experience camping. We all haven’t wanted people we know see us waiting in line at McDonald’s. You and me have both gone to the gym and have been intimidated by the body builders who look like they “live here.” When we are listening to Jim Gaffigan make fun of the world, we are too.

Be sure to check out his specials King Baby, Beyond the Pale, Obsessed and many more.

“Your inability to see yourself clearly is what’s keeping you alive.”

“Summer camp: the second worst camp for Jews.”

“But I think you can make fun of anything as long as it’s funny enough.”

This week I will be talking about a comedian who is quite revolutionary in her trade. Comedy is a genre that is very concentrated with male voices, actors and jokes. This comedian finally has the chance to “turn the tables” and represent females in the comedy sphere. And her name is…. drum roll please… Sarah Silverman!

Sarah Silverman

Sarah Silverman has an illustrious Hollywood career, appearing in films, on television, and on the stage. She began her career in comedy by joining SNL in 1993 as a writer and performed in the actual shows occasionally. Her first stand up performance came in 2006 with  Jesus is Magic. In which, Sarah is not afraid to talk about the edgy topics and believes in her quotes, “You can make fun of anything as long as it’s funny enough.”

Below is a video clip from her first special Jesus is Magic.

Well. Looking at the thumbnail, did you expect the words that came out of heA.O. Scott of the New York Times puts it well saying, “Ms. Silverman’s comedy is built, to a large extent, on the discrepancies between her appearance and her material. It’s not just that she is reasonably pretty. She also comes across, at least at first, as nice, smart and responsible – the kind of girl (never mind that she is almost 35) your parents would encourage you to be friends with or to take to the prom, more teacher’s pet than Heather. But then she opens her mouth, and the vilest, filthiest things you’ve ever heard come pouring out of it. Scatology! Baby killing! Masturbation!”

I would like to compare her for a second to Anthony Jeselnik, a previous comedian we looked at. Both are not afraid to joke about the difficult issues. Personally, I believe Sarah Silverman’s joke about blaming “the blacks” for the death of Christ and not her people, the jews, is pure comedy gold. You aren’t expecting it. She is joking about religion, culture and human rights issues all in one joke. Personally, I love jokes that come out of nowhere and you are least expecting them. I like jokes when you are saying “OHHHH” because you are a little shocked but still laughing at the same time.” But back to Jeselnik. He is more of the one liners that catch the audience off guard throughout the show and then laughter ensues. Sarah Silverman is different. She is more laid back. She talks slowing and can even mumble at times. I know we have yet to cover him, but she reminds me of a raunchy, edgy female Jim Gaffigan. Gaffigan, like Silverman, is not afraid to belittle himself to get laughter. Self-deprecation is an extremely popular form of comedy.

Here is the next part of the sketch.

“Every time you get tagged, an angel gets AIDS.” Proving my point. Hysterical? Yes. Vulgar? Yes.  A joke that blindsided the audience? Yes.

Sarah Silverman is an amazing comedian who I encourage you to look up and appreciate. I recommend you watch her bits on Comedy Central Roasts. She is easily the best roaster and is not afraid to go after anything about someone’s appearance or character. My personal favorite is her roast of James Franco which I will leave below. Enjoy your week.

Let’s Play a Game. Can you find the next comedian of the week in this video? Good Luck!

If you guessed the recurring Hobo, then you are correct! Give yourself a pat on the back or treat yourself to a warm West chocolate chip cookie and a large glass of Creamery Milk because you did a great job. His name is Hannibal Buress.

Hannibal Buress

Now I would introduce Hannibal, but he sort of takes care of that right here…

“Your color schemes are excellent. Your attention to detail, second to none… can I get another glass of Merlot please.” This is usually the part of the blog where I write a little bit about the background of the comedian into a short little bio. Hannibal Buress has his own website and on it, he has a short bio for himself. He writes, “Hannibal Buress is a comedian, actor, writer, musician, magician, and poker dealer from Chicago.

He’s appeared on television a lot. At least 10 times. Actually it’s way more than that. He’s the cohost of The Eric Andre Show on Adult Swim. He’s a cast member on Broad City on Comedy Central. He’s had failed tv show deals of his own. He tours regularly doing stand up comedy. There’s other stuff on google that you can find. Have a nice day.” Genius. He incorporates comedy into his own, informal bio. He does a great job at owning his profession. Here is an example to explain the point I am trying to get across. Business cards is a great way for businesses and people to creatively market themselves. Below is an image for a bakery.

YUM!

Notice how they incorporate a bite mark to stress the eating aspect of their business. Quite the neat idea. Now a comedian usually doesn’t have business cards to distribute. So, how does he market himself as a comedian on his website? He includes his profession, comedy into it, resulting in laughter which ultimately sells him.

Now let’s talk about his comedy style. He definitely leans toward the storytelling side, away from the one-liners. He keeps to a single topic but has various stories/jokes under the umbrella of the topic. This keeps the audience satisfied and hopefully you, the readers, as well (I noticed not many of you (the three of you) appreciate Bo Burnham jumping around to different topics rapidly). Also, Hannibal is likable. Hermione Hoby of the Guardian writes, “If there’s one thing that makes Hannibal Buress so damn likable – so likable that an audience is laughing within seconds of him being on stage simply because he pronounced the name of the venue with gusto – it’s his lack of self-righteousness.”

“Make it sound like the first time, Every Time.” “In New Orleans, for $300, you can F*** Up Traffic on a days notice.” A very funny sketch, no doubt. He keeps to the format I mentioned above. Broad Topic: New Orleans. Subtopics: Bars, Restaurants/Rats, Bachelor Parties and Parades. His format works extremely well.

If you would like to listen to more Hannibal Buress, which I strongly suggest, he has three specials: My Name is Hannibal, Animal Furnace and Hannibal Buress: Live from Chicago. I recommend each one, all are hilarious. Give them a listen over spring break!

“If I had a dime for every time a homeless guy asked me for change, I’d still say no.”

“I actually wrestled in high school. I was only in one match, and I lost… my virginity.”

Welcome to the comedy of 24-year old Bo Burnham. Looking back at the past few weeks, every comedian we have done, regardless of their styles, used the same materials to perform comedy. Their voice and a single mic. Bo Burnham is quite different. He relies heavily on instruments such as the piano and guitar and chimes etc. He does this because his specials are heavily influenced from his beginnings. Bo got his start in comedy by filming himself playing the piano or guitar while singing a comedic song in his bedroom.

Below is the first clip I will be showing you. This is one of his original songs from his bedroom. He was in high school at the time of writing this and I have great respect for him. Before watching this clip I have a little advice for you. Bo can sing extremely quickly sometimes and you may miss his crafty wordplay on first listen. So listen with a very careful ear and don’t be afraid to give it a second listen. Each time I listen to one of his songs I hear different jokes that I had previously missed.

Different yet still equally hysterical. He is no Birbiglia or Mulaney. He isn’t a story teller. You could make an argument that he is Jeselnik-like with vocals and instruments. There is an argument in the comedy community (sounds official, doesn’t it? HA) about whether Bo Burnham is a comedian or is he just a comedic performer, like a hip Weird Al’ Yankovic. Let’s get technical for a moment. Merriam-Webster defines a comedian as “a person who performs in front of an audience and makes people laugh by telling jokes or funny stories or by acting in a way that is funny.” Bo makes an audience laugh, so he is in fact a comedian, plain and simple. We can know throw this argument out the window.

Now Bo Burnham is not just all songs. In his most recent special “What”, he does more traditional stand-up like bits.

Raw and hysterical stuff. Something that Bo Burnham doesn’t utilize in his acts is a nice progression. He really jumps around without harping on a topic for an extended period of time. Even Jeselnik, who uses mostly one-liners, still stayed within a category for a certain time period> Burnham keeps the audience guessing what is coming next. There are positives and negatives to this style. A positive is that it is difficult to lost the audience’s attention because you keep them on the edge of their seats. A negative is that the audience can easily miss jokes because they are not in the correct mindset prior to the jokes.

Mark Monahan of the Telegraph write, “How he has acquired such wit, wisdom and complete mastery of his art after just 22 years on earth, who knows – but he has. Despite perhaps owing an excessive debt to Tim Minchin in the air-keyboard close, this is a royal straight flush of a show, a triumph of conception and execution, its comic strike-rate as high as its IQ. It is, in fact, plain unmissable, that’s What.”

If you want to listen to more Bo Burnham, listen to his songs “I’m Bo Yo”, “My Whole Family”,  “Bo Fo Sho”, “Klan Cookout”, and his entire special “What”. Bo Burnham at 24 is extremely young in the comedy game and will no doubt become a household name.

Until Next Week. Enjoy THON, FTK!
Live. Love. Laugh

“About a month ago some kids in my neighborhood were playing hide-and-go-seek and one of them ended up in an abandoned refrigerator. It’s all anybody talked about for weeks. I said, ‘Who cares? How many kids you know get to die a winner?’”

“Like a couple of nights ago, we (he and his girlfriend) go to a party and get trashed and we wake up in bed the next morning, completely hungover… I roll over and say ‘listen baby don’t get mad but I think your mom tried to have sex with me last night’ and she hit the roof and said ‘Anthony that’s impossible.’ And I said, ‘Oh, in that case, you should always wear makeup.”

And the comic is… Anthony Jeselnik

Anthony Jeselnik

I am definitely going to mix it up this week with Anthony Jeselnik, one of my favorite comedians. If you haven’t figured it out yet, he is much different compared to Mike Birbiglia and John Mulaney in both his style and content. Jeselnik rarely tells long stories with jokes sprinkled throughout. Jeselnik sets up each joke with a one or two sentence lead up followed by an unexpected punch line. Jeselnik has mastered the art of Punch Line humor. Listen to this different technique in the following clip.

Chivalry isn’t dead, you’re thinking of your mother. Great stuff. Comedic gold. Even though each joke is unique and they don’t exactly flow compared to a story- telling style, he keeps each joke related to a certain category. In this case, it was all about girlfriends he has had. In this way, he doesn’t keep the audience questioning what each joke will be vaguely about.

Now you have probably noticed Jeselnik lacks something in his comedy… and that’s a filter. And I love this about him. I believe you should be able to joke about anything, whether it’s religion, race, violence, death, etc. Key and Peele fairly recently wrote an article in Time Magazine called “Make Fun of Everything”. I encourage you to check it out, it’s a short article (a few paragraphs) and in it, they discuss that if you don’t joke about a certain group of people, you are actually bullying that group by leaving them out of the comedy arena. I thought this was a very interesting take on political correctness and I share their beliefs.

This next clip from Jeselnik’s sketch Caligula tackles nearly every “boundary” of comedy.

Autism, abortion, child fatality, molestation, the Holocaust and racism. Arguably no one would view these words and consider them as ingredients for a comedic recipe. Yet, Jeselnik successfully creates a bit that entails each of these and keeps the audience laughing. I like him because he is not afraid to challenge society’s “norms” and perform comedy in a free setting.

Daniel Berkowitx of Spit Take cleverly points out, “Consistent crowd work can be a crutch, a way to get through a bad set—a means to an end. This tactic is especially uncalled for on an album or a special, where the comedy needs to translate to the listener after the fact, not solely resonate with the audience members in the present. Jeselnik’s crowd work, however, is part of the show. On stage, he’s a character, by no means himself. The constant addresses to the audience therefore reinforce the qualities we despise yet laud in his character: mean, offensive, downright evil behavior.”

If you want to hear more from Anthony Jeselnik (come on, I know you do) his two big shows are Shakespeare and Caligula. He did have his own show on comedy central for a few years but it was eventually cancelled. Take my word and don’t bother with the show. Like Mulaney, it was not as successful as his stand-up. Keep to the two sketches I mentioned above and I’ll see you next week with a new comedian.

Live. Love. Laugh

“What I really need is a woman who loves me for my money but doesn’t understand math.”

Welcome to my first comedian post about… Mike Birbiglia!! I noticed he wasn’t mentioned in any of your comments so I figured this would be a great place to start.

Mike Birbiglia is personally one of my favorite comedians. Birbiglia’s standup is unique in that he really doesn’t fabricate any of his material. He doesn’t have to because his “material” for his shows are basically stories that have actually happened to him. He once said, “Every comedian comes to a fork in the road where they have to decide if they’re going to make jokes about other people or make jokes about themselves. I chose myself.” From finding a tumor in his bladder, to sleepwalking out of his hotel window, to confronting a bear while fly fishing in Alaska, Birbiglia has plenty of stories he can manipulate into comedy.

Let’s take a look at a piece of his Stand Up Special Sleepwalk With Me. Within this clip, you will encounter how he takes a terrifying experience and twists it to create comedy.

Hysterical clip? I totally agree. “For a week in my life I thought I might die, which is an incredible experience if you ever get the chance”…Laughter. Really funny stuff. Birbiglia to me is an amazing story teller. He is not only funny but extremely engaging. The audiences indeed laughs but they are also listening intently, wanting to know what happens next. He does not stray away from the truth of his situations either but lightens his tale with jokes and comments to ease the audience. For example, he learns he has a tumor and might die. That is a life-shattering statement and the audience goes silent. Birbiglia goes on to discuss how he dealt with such knews such as looking for a God that he didn’t even know existed. But he adds  the jokes of not being “brand-loyal” to Jesus or “Load up the station wagon, we’re going to pray for me again” and laughter ensues. If you listen to other to his other stand up acts, I like to describe them as “comedic memoir.”

Now of course Mike Birbiglia discusses other topics other than just his stories in his stand ups. This Hip-Hop Animosity Clip is easily one of my favorite skits.

Mike birbiglia has gone beyond the stage and into theater  and film. He wrote, directed, and starred in his film Sleepwalk With Me which was received extremely well. It received an 84% on Rotten Tomatoes and was a hit at most movie festivals, including Sundance. If you have Netflix (sadly I still do not. I have Amazon Prime which I like to call Netflix’s little, unintelligent brother) you can watch the movie right on your laptop. The film was very well done and really demonstrated Birbiglia’s path onto the comedy scene. Stephen Holden of the New York Times says, “It is the kind of unvarnished portrait of the kill-or-be-killed stand-up comedy world’s lower echelon, in which paying dues means driving from gig to gig for meager wages in places that are nearly empty or are hoe to crowds that subject the performer to brutal heckling.”

Hopefully you have enjoyed the clips. I encourage you to listen to more of his performances and watch his film if you enjoyed this blog. I’ll see you all next week with another comedian.

(A signed playbill from when I saw him live in Philadelphia)

Live Love Laugh