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pen_gruntI love stand-up comedy. There's something magical about seeing a really great, tightly-crafted, solidly written set. I also loved the spontaneous comedy I'd see on shows like @Midnight; which showcased all the mental agility that goes into *funny*. I'd like to think that it makes me better at my job, but really it's just pleasurable and relaxing.
So I watch a lot of stand-up. It's not for everyone.
Here are things I've watched lately with grades!
Ali Wong: Hard Knock Wife: B+
This grade should probably be higher, and Ali Wong is SUPER funny, but I'd also kinda-sorta heard a lot of the material before in different ways from different comics and articles. Ali Wong has great, intense delivery.
Content: Being a wife and mother and subverting roles and expectations therein. Personal comedy.
Cameron Esposito: Rape Jokes: A
I have loved Cameron Esposito since her appearance on @Midnight and then I sought out every thing she's ever done because she has such masterful use of her physical self in comedy; her voice modulation is great. So. I'm a bit partial. I saw her at the airport once and left her the hell alone because I'm Minnesotan and that's how we do. Anyway, this special is not on Netflix (it streams for free on her website and she asks for a donation to RAINN).
Content: Navigating the world/society as a woman. MeToo. LGBTQ+. Current events. PC Culture. Rape jokes. (It gets powerful.)
Tig Notaro: Happy to be Here: A-
I love Tig Notaro's delivery. She's so dry and understated. It's brilliant. This special is NOT her cancer jokes special (which is more...whoa). There's an extended bit at the end with a fun payoff, but it gets a bit dull for me in the meantime.
Content: LGBTQ+. Quirkiness. Marriage and kids. Gender.
John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous: B
I like John Mulaney, but TBH I'm a bit burnt out on straight white male comics and John Mulaney definitely has a typical schtick. I'm struggling to remember anything of note, but I remember being left with a favorable, pleasant impression?
Content: Progressivism. Personal comedy. Situational comedy.
Jerry Seinfeld: Jerry Before Seinfeld: C-
Seinfeld is not my thing, I guess. *shrug* Even with fresh stuff mixed in with old stuff (this special is kind of like a retrospective mixed with new material), it all feels really dated. It's the TYPE of comedy. It's very 90s. Which was great and fresh at the time, but comedy just doesn't keep, y'know?
Content: Observational comedy. Personal comedy.
Donald Glover: Weirdo: A-
Donald Glover I know from his writing on 30 Rock--which puts him in a very specific sort of comedic quirkiness basket that I really enjoy. This was a bit divergent from that style and was more straight-up situational/personal comedy, but his delivery is really great.
Content: Situational and personal comedy. Current events. Race/racism.
Hari Kondabolu: Warn Your Relatives: A
I didn't know what to expect going into this; I'd followed Hari Kondabolu on Twitter b/c he's smart and funny (and people, oddly, keep saying "If you like Kumail Nanjiani [--which oh yes, I do so much--] you'll like Hari Kondabolu"). I don't really get the comparisons, but this comedy special sort of meanders between super funny anecdotes and spitfire progressivism. I'm here for it.
Content: Race/racism. Progressivism. Current events. Immigrant experience.
Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King: C+
This probably merits a slightly higher score except for three things: 1. It starts off with a very tired "it's such a bummer to be married now foreeeevvveeeerrrr" trope joke. Blech. Wrong way to start with me. Dear guys who feel this way: your wives probably don't think it's so great to be married to you either. 2. It feels rough/unpolished--which makes sense b/c Hasan Minhaj is pretty young. 3. It feels like a keynote speech at an event! A particularly GOOD keynote speech, actually--wavering between joke and serious life point, joke and serious life point...but in a way that feels...very keynote speechy.
It did get better after the initial misstep, and had some high points, but it needed some tightening.
Content: Race/racism. Immigrant experience. Situational/personal comedy.
Leslie Jones: Problem Child: C+
Leslie Jones (of Ghostbusters and SNL), I've found out...just isn't my thing in terms of delivery style for stand-up. I don't particularly like intensive audience-work because--though it's clear the audience is enjoying the discomfort of it--I don't personally like that sort of discomfort on display. She's great at what she does...but it's just not my thing.
Content: Personal comedy.
[The Standups] Joe List: C
This is totally unmemorable to me. So ... C, I guess? I think he talked about his own awkwardness and romantic history. I don't know. You see why I'm getting burnt out on straight white guys doing comedy. I mean, I remember being amused at times?
Content: Personal comedy.
[The Standups] Aparna Nancherla: B+
Aparna Nanchaerla was another hilarious comic on @midnight. I love her awkwardness. Her set dragged a bit toward the end for me, though, when she went into visual aids. I thought it could have been punched up a bit. Like it's 96% there and just needs a bit of umph. And I don't love emoji-based humor (though this was a category on @midnight and she was great at that so...it stands to reason she would play in that space).
Content: Observational comedy. Awkwardness. Family. Visual aids.
[The Standups] Gina Yashere: B+
British, black, gay woman doing on-point current event comedy? Yeah, I'm here for that. Unfortunately I can't remember a specific stand-out moment so the grade was lowered. Enjoyable, though.
Content: LGBTQ+. Current events.
[The Standups] Rachel Feinstein: B+
Great delivery but kinda done in the Amy Schumer/Iliza Shlesinger mold of "this is what young women are doing and here is our relationship with our parents" mold of comedy. So her set was solid party-girl kinda stuff.
Content: Family. Situational comedy.
[The Standups] Kyle Kinane: A-
I enjoy Kyle Kinane way more than I feel I should. But he's consistently subversive and progressive in a nice way. This set was mostly about the weirdness of the KKK and eating at ethnic restaurants which feels...particularly timely. His delivery is kinda shouty-white-dude, though.
Content: Racism/Race.
Hannah Gadsby: Nanette: A+
Go watch this right now. I cried. Is a comedy special supposed to make you cry? I don't know. The delivery is so...so good. She's so low-key and dryly funny; dropping little bits of charming humor and then taking big huge swings at big huge issues and it's just SO on fire and gutting and born from a place of deep pain and recovery. It builds off of itself in a lot of nice ways and callbacks. The last ~12 minutes I cried. Not because I was sad, but because it was so "fuck yes". I could not imagine a smarter, better-crafted piece than that last few minutes. It's a fucking powerhouse piece.
Content: Feminism/patriarchy. LGBTQ+. Gender. Comedy. Observational comedy.
So I watch a lot of stand-up. It's not for everyone.
Here are things I've watched lately with grades!
Ali Wong: Hard Knock Wife: B+
This grade should probably be higher, and Ali Wong is SUPER funny, but I'd also kinda-sorta heard a lot of the material before in different ways from different comics and articles. Ali Wong has great, intense delivery.
Content: Being a wife and mother and subverting roles and expectations therein. Personal comedy.
Cameron Esposito: Rape Jokes: A
I have loved Cameron Esposito since her appearance on @Midnight and then I sought out every thing she's ever done because she has such masterful use of her physical self in comedy; her voice modulation is great. So. I'm a bit partial. I saw her at the airport once and left her the hell alone because I'm Minnesotan and that's how we do. Anyway, this special is not on Netflix (it streams for free on her website and she asks for a donation to RAINN).
Content: Navigating the world/society as a woman. MeToo. LGBTQ+. Current events. PC Culture. Rape jokes. (It gets powerful.)
Tig Notaro: Happy to be Here: A-
I love Tig Notaro's delivery. She's so dry and understated. It's brilliant. This special is NOT her cancer jokes special (which is more...whoa). There's an extended bit at the end with a fun payoff, but it gets a bit dull for me in the meantime.
Content: LGBTQ+. Quirkiness. Marriage and kids. Gender.
John Mulaney: Kid Gorgeous: B
I like John Mulaney, but TBH I'm a bit burnt out on straight white male comics and John Mulaney definitely has a typical schtick. I'm struggling to remember anything of note, but I remember being left with a favorable, pleasant impression?
Content: Progressivism. Personal comedy. Situational comedy.
Jerry Seinfeld: Jerry Before Seinfeld: C-
Seinfeld is not my thing, I guess. *shrug* Even with fresh stuff mixed in with old stuff (this special is kind of like a retrospective mixed with new material), it all feels really dated. It's the TYPE of comedy. It's very 90s. Which was great and fresh at the time, but comedy just doesn't keep, y'know?
Content: Observational comedy. Personal comedy.
Donald Glover: Weirdo: A-
Donald Glover I know from his writing on 30 Rock--which puts him in a very specific sort of comedic quirkiness basket that I really enjoy. This was a bit divergent from that style and was more straight-up situational/personal comedy, but his delivery is really great.
Content: Situational and personal comedy. Current events. Race/racism.
Hari Kondabolu: Warn Your Relatives: A
I didn't know what to expect going into this; I'd followed Hari Kondabolu on Twitter b/c he's smart and funny (and people, oddly, keep saying "If you like Kumail Nanjiani [--which oh yes, I do so much--] you'll like Hari Kondabolu"). I don't really get the comparisons, but this comedy special sort of meanders between super funny anecdotes and spitfire progressivism. I'm here for it.
Content: Race/racism. Progressivism. Current events. Immigrant experience.
Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King: C+
This probably merits a slightly higher score except for three things: 1. It starts off with a very tired "it's such a bummer to be married now foreeeevvveeeerrrr" trope joke. Blech. Wrong way to start with me. Dear guys who feel this way: your wives probably don't think it's so great to be married to you either. 2. It feels rough/unpolished--which makes sense b/c Hasan Minhaj is pretty young. 3. It feels like a keynote speech at an event! A particularly GOOD keynote speech, actually--wavering between joke and serious life point, joke and serious life point...but in a way that feels...very keynote speechy.
It did get better after the initial misstep, and had some high points, but it needed some tightening.
Content: Race/racism. Immigrant experience. Situational/personal comedy.
Leslie Jones: Problem Child: C+
Leslie Jones (of Ghostbusters and SNL), I've found out...just isn't my thing in terms of delivery style for stand-up. I don't particularly like intensive audience-work because--though it's clear the audience is enjoying the discomfort of it--I don't personally like that sort of discomfort on display. She's great at what she does...but it's just not my thing.
Content: Personal comedy.
[The Standups] Joe List: C
This is totally unmemorable to me. So ... C, I guess? I think he talked about his own awkwardness and romantic history. I don't know. You see why I'm getting burnt out on straight white guys doing comedy. I mean, I remember being amused at times?
Content: Personal comedy.
[The Standups] Aparna Nancherla: B+
Aparna Nanchaerla was another hilarious comic on @midnight. I love her awkwardness. Her set dragged a bit toward the end for me, though, when she went into visual aids. I thought it could have been punched up a bit. Like it's 96% there and just needs a bit of umph. And I don't love emoji-based humor (though this was a category on @midnight and she was great at that so...it stands to reason she would play in that space).
Content: Observational comedy. Awkwardness. Family. Visual aids.
[The Standups] Gina Yashere: B+
British, black, gay woman doing on-point current event comedy? Yeah, I'm here for that. Unfortunately I can't remember a specific stand-out moment so the grade was lowered. Enjoyable, though.
Content: LGBTQ+. Current events.
[The Standups] Rachel Feinstein: B+
Great delivery but kinda done in the Amy Schumer/Iliza Shlesinger mold of "this is what young women are doing and here is our relationship with our parents" mold of comedy. So her set was solid party-girl kinda stuff.
Content: Family. Situational comedy.
[The Standups] Kyle Kinane: A-
I enjoy Kyle Kinane way more than I feel I should. But he's consistently subversive and progressive in a nice way. This set was mostly about the weirdness of the KKK and eating at ethnic restaurants which feels...particularly timely. His delivery is kinda shouty-white-dude, though.
Content: Racism/Race.
Hannah Gadsby: Nanette: A+
Go watch this right now. I cried. Is a comedy special supposed to make you cry? I don't know. The delivery is so...so good. She's so low-key and dryly funny; dropping little bits of charming humor and then taking big huge swings at big huge issues and it's just SO on fire and gutting and born from a place of deep pain and recovery. It builds off of itself in a lot of nice ways and callbacks. The last ~12 minutes I cried. Not because I was sad, but because it was so "fuck yes". I could not imagine a smarter, better-crafted piece than that last few minutes. It's a fucking powerhouse piece.
Content: Feminism/patriarchy. LGBTQ+. Gender. Comedy. Observational comedy.
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Date: 2018-06-26 05:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-06-26 05:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-06-26 05:41 pm (UTC)Wow, great list, great reviews.
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Date: 2018-06-26 05:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-06-26 06:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-06-26 06:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-06-27 06:27 am (UTC)Hannah is great and she has an interview on YouTube that's over 30 minutes from something called 730, it's very good too.
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Date: 2018-06-27 02:27 pm (UTC)Where do you see all these things?
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Date: 2018-06-27 02:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-06-27 02:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-06-28 03:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-06-28 05:11 pm (UTC)I just remember reaching the end and thinking "I enjoyed that."
And it being super weird that he talked about Toys R Us and then the next stand-up set (I think Hasan Minhaj) also had a super similar Toys R Us anecdote. Hmmmm...