Philosophy
Friends,
This weekend we have a theological questions for all you thoughtful Comedists. I was listening to an interview with Ron White and the interviewer framed the question in terms of the Allman Brothers, whom White and the interviewer were both fans of. When you go to see an Allman's show (and they put on great shows), you want to hear Statesboro Blues, Ramblin' Man, and the other hits during the show.
Yet, White always tours with completely new material, even if he admits openly that his first album was his best stuff so far. His argument is that comedy is not like music. Hearing a joke you loved the first time again is a completely different experience from hearing a song you loved the first time again. He says that if he were to start "Tater Salad" at a show on this tour, it would get applause for the first 30 seconds, but because it is an eight minute bit, folks would have to sit through seven and a half minutes of stuff that won't be funny in the same way anymore. Comedy has a different shelf-life than music, they are just different art forms.
There is certainly something to this. For a joke to work, you need to be blindsided by the punchline. Knowing what is coming does to some degree kill the joke. Yet, there are bits that we can all listen to over and over again. They are comedicmasterpieces that are funny every time you hear them.
So, is White right? Is comedy like music or not?
Live, love, and laugh,
Irreverend Steve
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Philosophy
Is Comedy Like Music?
Friends,
This weekend we have a theological questions for all you thoughtful Comedists. I was listening to an interview with Ron White and the interviewer framed the question in terms of the Allman Brothers, whom White and the interviewer were both fans of. When you go to see an Allman's show (and they put on great shows), you want to hear Statesboro Blues, Ramblin' Man, and the other hits during the show.
Yet, White always tours with completely new material, even if he admits openly that his first album was his best stuff so far. His argument is that comedy is not like music. Hearing a joke you loved the first time again is a completely different experience from hearing a song you loved the first time again. He says that if he were to start "Tater Salad" at a show on this tour, it would get applause for the first 30 seconds, but because it is an eight minute bit, folks would have to sit through seven and a half minutes of stuff that won't be funny in the same way anymore. Comedy has a different shelf-life than music, they are just different art forms.
There is certainly something to this. For a joke to work, you need to be blindsided by the punchline. Knowing what is coming does to some degree kill the joke. Yet, there are bits that we can all listen to over and over again. They are comedicmasterpieces that are funny every time you hear them.
So, is White right? Is comedy like music or not?
Live, love, and laugh,
Irreverend Steve
- Comic Flashes
My Fellow Comedists, This weekend is Joe Piscopo's 60th birthday. Joe Piscopo was a member of the Saturday Night Live cast in the early 80s and his comedy enjoyed a run of popularity that precipitously ended. This is not something that is unusual...
- Joke Theft
My Fellow Comedists, This weekend, I am giving a paper at the 4th annual conference of the Lighthearted Philosophers Society. My topic is joke theft. The cardinal sin amongst stand-up comics is stealing someone else's material. But to define joke...
- Happy Saint Shecky's Day
My Fellow Comedists, This is the holiest day of year for Comedists, the feast day of Saint Shecky. For those unschooled in the new religion, it all began when I was teaching an ethics class at a community college and was trying to explain the difference...
- Comic Marxists And Comic Platonists
Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere, This week was Groucho's birthday and it has led me to a place of Comedist meditation. I played an open mic at the Ragged Edge, a coffee house near campus, on Groucho's birthday Thursday...
- Happy Birthday Bob Newhart
This weekend's Comedist meditation focuses on Bob Newhart, whose birthday just past. Newhart has had a couple of very successful tv series and before that was a wonderful stand-up. Through it all, he was able to do something quite remarkable; he is...