It's Just a Bar
June 23, 2009 7:20 PM Subscribe
I like it when it veers into mockumentary -- the dude who thinks his social life is held back by his joke about being a virgin.
The comments on the comedy career system seem right but are things everyone knows (and hey, at least we didn't have to watch these guys standing on the street all day, trying to sell comedy club tickets to pedestrians who don't care).
I guess I just don't think This American Life is very ambitious. They're going to show us a slice of life that we kind knew about already, that maybe makes us a little sad.
posted by grobstein at 7:30 PM on June 23, 2009
The comments on the comedy career system seem right but are things everyone knows (and hey, at least we didn't have to watch these guys standing on the street all day, trying to sell comedy club tickets to pedestrians who don't care).
I guess I just don't think This American Life is very ambitious. They're going to show us a slice of life that we kind knew about already, that maybe makes us a little sad.
posted by grobstein at 7:30 PM on June 23, 2009
Wait, I'm only starting to watch the video and I'm already all kinds of confused. YouTube has HQ video on standard URLs now?
And,
How about a (SLYT) warning for us iPhone users?
We don't really do that, do we?
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 7:59 PM on June 23, 2009 [2 favorites]
And,
How about a (SLYT) warning for us iPhone users?
We don't really do that, do we?
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 7:59 PM on June 23, 2009 [2 favorites]
Wow, virgin boy is the bastard gay lovechild of Jack Black and Jay Bennett (rest his soul).
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:03 PM on June 23, 2009
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:03 PM on June 23, 2009
That's Ira Glass! I have not seen the TV show. I don't know what it is but he captures it. The texture in the video is awesome...sort of like those long quiet spaces in the radio show.
The video is gorgeous. Editing superb. Camera work very nice.
As grobstein said, "They're going to show us a slice of life that we kind knew about already, that maybe makes us a little sad."
This American Life always makes me feel like that.
posted by Xoebe at 8:06 PM on June 23, 2009 [1 favorite]
The video is gorgeous. Editing superb. Camera work very nice.
As grobstein said, "They're going to show us a slice of life that we kind knew about already, that maybe makes us a little sad."
This American Life always makes me feel like that.
posted by Xoebe at 8:06 PM on June 23, 2009 [1 favorite]
The video is gorgeous. Editing superb. Camera work very nice.
Absolutely. I was grabbed immediately and watched the whole thing, despite my total indifference to its content. I appreciated the bar shots and the faces of the drunks -- numbed and stunned by life.
posted by Faze at 8:49 PM on June 23, 2009
Absolutely. I was grabbed immediately and watched the whole thing, despite my total indifference to its content. I appreciated the bar shots and the faces of the drunks -- numbed and stunned by life.
posted by Faze at 8:49 PM on June 23, 2009
It's some kind of nasty co-dependent thing. The comedians keep coming back until they make it out of there, and the drunks keep showing up even though they're aware that Tuesday is comedy night. Everybody wants to be there.
posted by Kevin Street at 9:04 PM on June 23, 2009
posted by Kevin Street at 9:04 PM on June 23, 2009
The dweeby guy in the sweater who tries to tell the podiatrist joke is Doug Lussenhop (a.k.a. DJ Doug Pound), who is a writer, actor, sound and effects guy on Tom Goes to the Mayor and Tim & Eric's Awesome Show Great Job.
For more context, see Tim Heidecker's stand up routine. DJ Doug Pound introduces Tim Heidecker & Eric Wareheim's live performances when they tour for Adult Swim. Here's one of Doug's stand-up acts at the Comedy Garage.
I think this scene may be a bit of a put-on by some secretly successful L.A. area comedians.
posted by dosterm at 9:20 PM on June 23, 2009 [1 favorite]
For more context, see Tim Heidecker's stand up routine. DJ Doug Pound introduces Tim Heidecker & Eric Wareheim's live performances when they tour for Adult Swim. Here's one of Doug's stand-up acts at the Comedy Garage.
I think this scene may be a bit of a put-on by some secretly successful L.A. area comedians.
posted by dosterm at 9:20 PM on June 23, 2009 [1 favorite]
Dosterm, that's really interesting. I thought I recognised one or two people there.
I've been working on a project for the last few months about the open mic scene in stand-up, poetry, music, etc, and while some of the stereotypes and things you'd expect as an outsider are true, there are also a lot of surprising, inspiring things too. Many stand-up open mics, even open gong shows, feel more like kooky support groups than bearpits. A lot of venues are keen to tout their 'tough room' status as a kind of badge of honour, yet when you turn up there they're often nothing of the sort. Also, knowing that open mic stand-up is often tough, is very different than going out and discovering that it's tough, and meeting the people who drive all over the country to do it five nights a week, and discovering that they've often got very different reasons for doing so.
Watching someone's first time on stage is weirdly intimate, and often very intense. The feedback loop between their emotions and your emotions is tight, and you're sort of caught in this three-legged race where the prize isn't just their self-esteem, but, on some level, their whole projected future career.
The particularly tricky, sometimes heartbreaking thing, is meeting people who've been working at it for years and years and years, who, in all likelihood, will never get booked for a paid gig, let alone make a career out of it. Of course, there are also people who claim to be hobbyists, but while I'm sure this is true for some of them, I expect some of them also say they wouldn't want to do it as a job as a way of protecting themselves. This narrative of stand-ups starting out at open mics, being poor at first but slowly earning their chops then progressing up the ladder in some sort of linear way is more the exception than the rule. There's a massive asymmetry between supply and demand.
posted by RokkitNite at 10:53 PM on June 23, 2009
I've been working on a project for the last few months about the open mic scene in stand-up, poetry, music, etc, and while some of the stereotypes and things you'd expect as an outsider are true, there are also a lot of surprising, inspiring things too. Many stand-up open mics, even open gong shows, feel more like kooky support groups than bearpits. A lot of venues are keen to tout their 'tough room' status as a kind of badge of honour, yet when you turn up there they're often nothing of the sort. Also, knowing that open mic stand-up is often tough, is very different than going out and discovering that it's tough, and meeting the people who drive all over the country to do it five nights a week, and discovering that they've often got very different reasons for doing so.
Watching someone's first time on stage is weirdly intimate, and often very intense. The feedback loop between their emotions and your emotions is tight, and you're sort of caught in this three-legged race where the prize isn't just their self-esteem, but, on some level, their whole projected future career.
The particularly tricky, sometimes heartbreaking thing, is meeting people who've been working at it for years and years and years, who, in all likelihood, will never get booked for a paid gig, let alone make a career out of it. Of course, there are also people who claim to be hobbyists, but while I'm sure this is true for some of them, I expect some of them also say they wouldn't want to do it as a job as a way of protecting themselves. This narrative of stand-ups starting out at open mics, being poor at first but slowly earning their chops then progressing up the ladder in some sort of linear way is more the exception than the rule. There's a massive asymmetry between supply and demand.
posted by RokkitNite at 10:53 PM on June 23, 2009
I think this scene may be a bit of a put-on by some secretly successful L.A. area comedians.
I doubt it. I mean, the "fighting" between the hosts may well be put on, virgin boy seemed a bit obvious, and the fumbling with the mic was clearly part of that guy's act, but the indifference of an open mic crowd to even successful comics? Nothing unusual there. I've seen many TV-successful comics munch at gigs like these.
posted by msalt at 11:16 PM on June 23, 2009
I doubt it. I mean, the "fighting" between the hosts may well be put on, virgin boy seemed a bit obvious, and the fumbling with the mic was clearly part of that guy's act, but the indifference of an open mic crowd to even successful comics? Nothing unusual there. I've seen many TV-successful comics munch at gigs like these.
posted by msalt at 11:16 PM on June 23, 2009
Here's some reviews of the joint.
Review Number One
Review Number Two
posted by Xoebe at 11:48 PM on June 23, 2009
Review Number One
Review Number Two
posted by Xoebe at 11:48 PM on June 23, 2009
I'm one of the people who's out four or five nights a week doing this. After you've done it a while bad rooms aren't so bad. Not only is your skin thicker but you're able to calibrate your expectations. You learn what a 'good' reaction is when four people are paying attention. I certainly claim that it's a hobby. Obviously I would like to being legitimately successful at it but all but a handful of working comics, relatively famous comics even, don't have an easy go of it. You're sort of homeless and you have very little stability and you make very little money in the great scheme of things. Most of the paying audiences aren't terribly appreciative especially on weekdays. Most of the audience isn't coming out because they're fans of you but because they want to see comedy in general and if you don't meet their expectations they'll turn on you. So there is a legitimate approach avoidance thing with this whole business.
posted by I Foody at 4:54 AM on June 24, 2009
posted by I Foody at 4:54 AM on June 24, 2009
MetaFilter: Nobody really cares. You're not funny or insightful but your skin is thicker. The only people who make money are the bar owners.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:44 AM on June 24, 2009
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:44 AM on June 24, 2009
I've actually done stand-up at the Big Fish. I work just up the street and that bar has been a favorite for years. It is a bit rough, but I can always count on someone to buy me a drink.
Doing comedy at the Fish is... challenging. For those who think this is a secret hangout for big talent, think again. The comics before me were terrible- fumbling for words, looking through notecards. It took a full minute (and a minute on stage can be a very, very long time) to get the attention of the crowd. My friends helped shut people up because they wanted to hear my act, so that helped. When I got off stage, random people sent me drinks and came over to meet me. Most people just ignored me, though, so I stuck around with my friends.
I've been back to the bar dozens of times, but haven't done comedy there again. The guy in the video that said that people didn't want a comedy night there were right. The crowd there is just looking to play darts and pool and talk to their buddies. I guess I just never felt like interrupting that again.
posted by kamikazegopher at 8:15 AM on June 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
Doing comedy at the Fish is... challenging. For those who think this is a secret hangout for big talent, think again. The comics before me were terrible- fumbling for words, looking through notecards. It took a full minute (and a minute on stage can be a very, very long time) to get the attention of the crowd. My friends helped shut people up because they wanted to hear my act, so that helped. When I got off stage, random people sent me drinks and came over to meet me. Most people just ignored me, though, so I stuck around with my friends.
I've been back to the bar dozens of times, but haven't done comedy there again. The guy in the video that said that people didn't want a comedy night there were right. The crowd there is just looking to play darts and pool and talk to their buddies. I guess I just never felt like interrupting that again.
posted by kamikazegopher at 8:15 AM on June 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
« Older He works odd jobs just to make ends meet | T Swizzle bakes and knits sweaters with T. Pizzle Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by bpm140 at 7:25 PM on June 23, 2009