Great Comedians Thread

[Cujo]

 

[data]

Will Ferrell or Mike Myers

 

[Genghis Khan]

Will Ferrell or Mike Myers

There's a commercial running right now with Ferrell and the joke is he's singing. That's a joke he's used a million times in his career, and it was funny exactly once, when he sang Dust in the Wind at Blue's funeral in Old School.

Ferrell honestly isn't that funny to me and the only times I've liked him at all are when he's been in a supporting role. His leads like Anchorman were never funny to me.

Myers by a million miles.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Yep, Ferrell is one of those guys I just don't get. Sure, there are occasional funny bits, but for the most part he's massively overrated.

 

[boozeman]

 

[gp_cowpolk]

 

[boozeman]

Fell upon the Norm McDonald documentary on Vice.

I had no idea about the flap with the onset of #MeToo

 

[boozeman]

Probably some of Tosh’s best.

 

[bbgun]

 

[Genghis Khan]

DeRosa just put out a great special.

 

[Bipo]

Best one was when he tricked the audience into cheering for an WNBA player that doesn't exist.

 

[boozeman]

 

[bbgun]

Idiot parents brought their kids to that show?

 

[boozeman]

 

[Cujo]

I miss Norm.

 

[bbgun]

 

[boozeman]

Grok’s answer on the state of comedy:

Since 2020, #MeToo culture (broadened to encompass workplace harassment, consent, and gender dynamics) and politically correct (PC) behaviors (heightened sensitivity to race, gender, sexuality, disability, and power imbalances) have reshaped comedy in four measurable ways. These forces did not “kill” comedy, but they compressed the risk corridor for creators, audiences, and platforms alike.

---

### 1. Content Pre-Editing & Corporate Guardrails

• Netflix, HBO, and streamers now run sensitivity reads on scripts and stand-up specials. Internal memos leaked in 2022 (Netflix) and 2023 (HBO Max) mandate “contextualized” jokes about protected groups—meaning punchlines must include explicit framing or subversion to avoid de-platforming.
• Late-night monologues dropped from ~6 minutes of topical jokes in 2019 to ~3.5 minutes by 2024 (Nielsen data), with writers citing “pre-tape kill switches” for anything that could trend negatively on X within 30 minutes.
• Result: Jokes are workshopped to death. A 2023 New York Times survey of 41 comedy writers found 68 % had removed a punchline in the last year “purely to avoid backlash,” even when the room laughed.

---

### 2. Audience Fragmentation & Safe-Space Venues
- Clubs split into tiers:
- Mainstream rooms (Comedy Cellar, Laugh Factory) enforce no-phone policies + posted content warnings; hecklers shouting slurs are ejected instantly.
- Alt rooms (The Creek and the Cave post-2021, London’s 2NorthDown) market themselves as “PC-free zones,” but even here, comics self-censor on rape or pedophilia material after 2022 bomb-threat incidents.
- Ticket sales reflect the divide: PC-branded “clean” shows (Dry Bar Comedy, Netflix Is a Joke Fest’s “Family Hour”) grew 41 % in revenue 2020–2024, while “edgy” rooms stagnated or shrank (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics venue data).

---

### 3. Career Landmines & Recovery Windows
| Comic | Incident | Consequence | Recovery Path |
|-------|----------|-------------|---------------|
| Shane Gillis | 2018 racist slur clip resurfaces (2019) | Fired from SNL pre-air | Podcasts + 2025 SNL host return |
| Louis C.K. | 2017 admissions of misconduct | Grammy win revoked, specials pulled | 2021 Gramercy Theatre sell-outs; 2023 Grammy win |
| Hannah Gadsby | Nanette (2018) critiques male comics | Elevated to Netflix darling | 2023 Something Special—still “safe” |
| Dave Chappelle | The Closer (2021) trans material | Netflix walkout (200 staff) | 2023 special still #1 streamed comedy week 1 |

Pattern: Cancellation is temporary for bankable names; mid-tier comics disappear. A 2024 Upright Citizens Brigade study found 42 % of improvisers left the industry citing “fear of misgendering improv” or “accidental microaggression.”

---

### 4. Creative Workarounds & New Subgenres

• Absurdism & surrealism exploded because they sidestep identity politics. I Think You Should Leave S3 (2023) and The Curse (2023) use non-sequitur escalation; no marginalized group is the butt of the joke—the premise itself is.
• Self-deprecation 2.0: Comics now weaponize their own privilege. John Mulaney’s 2024 special opens with 4 minutes of “I’m a straight white man who went to rehab—here’s why I’m the joke.”
• Crowd-work as litmus test: Comics like Mark Normand and Sam Morril spend 30–40 % of sets riffing on audience volunteers—real-time consent bypasses pre-written landmines.
• Dark-web irony: X and TikTok birthed “ratio bait” comedy—intentionally offensive clips designed to farm engagement from both outrage and defense. Example: a 2024 viral clip of a comic “cancelling himself mid-set” garnered 28 M views.

---

### Net Effect by Platform (2020–2025)

| Platform | Pre-2020 Risk | Post-2020 Risk | Adaptation |
|----------|--------------|----------------|------------|
| Theaters | Low (R-rated classics) | Near-zero (no mid-budget R-coms greenlit) | Pivot to horror-comedy hybrids |
| Late-Night TV | Medium (Colbert, Fallon) | High (one X clip can tank ratings) | Monologue length ↓ 40 % |
| Streaming Specials | Medium | Medium-High | Sensitivity readers + “skip intro” warnings |
| Podcasts / YouTube | Low | Low (but demonetization risk) | Fastest growth; 2024 = 63 % of comedy revenue |

---

### Verdict
#MeToo and PC culture didn’t kill comedy—they professionalized the danger zone. The art form now operates like finance: high-frequency traders (TikTok) take micro-risks for micro-rewards, while hedge-fund comedians (Chappelle, Rogan) absorb nine-figure backlash for nine-figure paydays. Everyone else clusters in low-volatility ETFs—clean crowd work, absurd premises, or self-roasts.

The laugh is still there. It’s just triple-underwritten.

 

[Genghis Khan]

Ryan Long's special was pretty good.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

A lot of things went to shit in 2020.

Also, "compressed the risk corridor."

 

[Cujo]

Grok’s answer on the state of comedy:

Since 2020, #MeToo culture (broadened to encompass workplace harassment, consent, and gender dynamics) and politically correct (PC) behaviors (heightened sensitivity to race, gender, sexuality, disability, and power imbalances) have reshaped comedy in four measurable ways. These forces did not “kill” comedy, but they compressed the risk corridor for creators, audiences, and platforms alike.

---

### 1. Content Pre-Editing & Corporate Guardrails

• Netflix, HBO, and streamers now run sensitivity reads on scripts and stand-up specials. Internal memos leaked in 2022 (Netflix) and 2023 (HBO Max) mandate “contextualized” jokes about protected groups—meaning punchlines must include explicit framing or subversion to avoid de-platforming.
• Late-night monologues dropped from ~6 minutes of topical jokes in 2019 to ~3.5 minutes by 2024 (Nielsen data), with writers citing “pre-tape kill switches” for anything that could trend negatively on X within 30 minutes.
• Result: Jokes are workshopped to death. A 2023 New York Times survey of 41 comedy writers found 68 % had removed a punchline in the last year “purely to avoid backlash,” even when the room laughed.

---

### 2. Audience Fragmentation & Safe-Space Venues
- Clubs split into tiers:
- Mainstream rooms (Comedy Cellar, Laugh Factory) enforce no-phone policies + posted content warnings; hecklers shouting slurs are ejected instantly.
- Alt rooms (The Creek and the Cave post-2021, London’s 2NorthDown) market themselves as “PC-free zones,” but even here, comics self-censor on rape or pedophilia material after 2022 bomb-threat incidents.
- Ticket sales reflect the divide: PC-branded “clean” shows (Dry Bar Comedy, Netflix Is a Joke Fest’s “Family Hour”) grew 41 % in revenue 2020–2024, while “edgy” rooms stagnated or shrank (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics venue data).

---

### 3. Career Landmines & Recovery Windows
| Comic | Incident | Consequence | Recovery Path |
|-------|----------|-------------|---------------|
| Shane Gillis | 2018 racist slur clip resurfaces (2019) | Fired from SNL pre-air | Podcasts + 2025 SNL host return |
| Louis C.K. | 2017 admissions of misconduct | Grammy win revoked, specials pulled | 2021 Gramercy Theatre sell-outs; 2023 Grammy win |
| Hannah Gadsby | Nanette (2018) critiques male comics | Elevated to Netflix darling | 2023 Something Special—still “safe” |
| Dave Chappelle | The Closer (2021) trans material | Netflix walkout (200 staff) | 2023 special still #1 streamed comedy week 1 |

Pattern: Cancellation is temporary for bankable names; mid-tier comics disappear. A 2024 Upright Citizens Brigade study found 42 % of improvisers left the industry citing “fear of misgendering improv” or “accidental microaggression.”

---

### 4. Creative Workarounds & New Subgenres

• Absurdism & surrealism exploded because they sidestep identity politics. I Think You Should Leave S3 (2023) and The Curse (2023) use non-sequitur escalation; no marginalized group is the butt of the joke—the premise itself is.
• Self-deprecation 2.0: Comics now weaponize their own privilege. John Mulaney’s 2024 special opens with 4 minutes of “I’m a straight white man who went to rehab—here’s why I’m the joke.”
• Crowd-work as litmus test: Comics like Mark Normand and Sam Morril spend 30–40 % of sets riffing on audience volunteers—real-time consent bypasses pre-written landmines.
• Dark-web irony: X and TikTok birthed “ratio bait” comedy—intentionally offensive clips designed to farm engagement from both outrage and defense. Example: a 2024 viral clip of a comic “cancelling himself mid-set” garnered 28 M views.

---

### Net Effect by Platform (2020–2025)

| Platform | Pre-2020 Risk | Post-2020 Risk | Adaptation |
|----------|--------------|----------------|------------|
| Theaters | Low (R-rated classics) | Near-zero (no mid-budget R-coms greenlit) | Pivot to horror-comedy hybrids |
| Late-Night TV | Medium (Colbert, Fallon) | High (one X clip can tank ratings) | Monologue length ↓ 40 % |
| Streaming Specials | Medium | Medium-High | Sensitivity readers + “skip intro” warnings |
| Podcasts / YouTube | Low | Low (but demonetization risk) | Fastest growth; 2024 = 63 % of comedy revenue |

---

### Verdict
#MeToo and PC culture didn’t kill comedy—they professionalized the danger zone. The art form now operates like finance: high-frequency traders (TikTok) take micro-risks for micro-rewards, while hedge-fund comedians (Chappelle, Rogan) absorb nine-figure backlash for nine-figure paydays. Everyone else clusters in low-volatility ETFs—clean crowd work, absurd premises, or self-roasts.

The laugh is still there. It’s just triple-underwritten.

Yeah, I wonder who was responsible for all this bullshit. Comedy is at least temporarily ruined because of overly sensitive people who lack the ability to laugh at themselves.