"I Know You Are, But What Am I?"
Strike season feels even sadder without Paul Reubens (Pee-wee Herman) now
I mean… “I know you are, but what am I?” may have been Pee-wee Herman’s comebacker, but it certainly sounds like the putting-the-stale-into-stalemate refrain from the AMPTP in not negotiating with either the striking writers or actors this summer, doesn’t it?!
Paul Reubens died Sunday at 70, after keeping his cancer diagnosis private for the last six years of his life. But the six years before that? A magical, graceful second life for Reubens and the character that multiple generations came to know and love.
I was lucky enough to see his Pee-wee up close twice in that time — first in 2011, at the HBO taping of his Broadway finale of “The Pee-wee Herman Show” (interestingly, today on Max you can find the original 1981 HBO production of The Pee-wee Herman Show, but not the Broadway edition from 30 years later. In 2016, I saw Reubens and company at SXSW introduce the world premiere of Pee-wee’s Big Holiday. He made only a few guest-starring appearances in other roles after that. But his legacy, his impact, remains.
Further reading: Appreciations from… (gifted links where appropriate)
X-Communicomedy
The platform formerly known as Twitter offered up a real humdinger of engagement bait last week, as comedian Alice Hamilton received more than 700 quote-replies and millions of views for posting a set of eyeballs 👀 with the question “What’s a comedy opinion that will have you like this?” on a meme of Patrick Star from SpongeBob’s Bikini Bottom Jail handcuffed to a barrel.
But it also serves as an open call on the State of the Comedy Industry in 2023. Here were some of my favorite replies for your further consideration…
Chase Mitchell: “The best working standup comedian right now is a middle-aged southern white guy who doesn’t curse” (Nate Bargatze pictured)
Sean O’Connor: “A comedian should only do three specials in their lifetime. The hour a year model has led to a lot of half baked shit that has ruined the art form.”
big honkin caboose: “A lot of people who do comedy don’t have any jokes they just want the opportunity to say horrific shit into a microphone unchallenged and they’ll cry about how ‘you can’t say anything anymore’ while refusing to book women who talk about sex bc they’re ‘too blue’”
Julia Claire: “Every “anti-woke”/“you can’t say anything anymore” comedian just can’t write good jokes and wants to do the most hack shit you’ve ever heard in your life.”
Unruly Heather Marulli: “Comedians are supposed to be people who speak truth to power and challenge societal institutions. In reality, a lot of comedians are corporate bootlickers and cowards.”
big shelley: “If your whole set is “what do you do for work?” or “Who’s single?” you’re not a comedian you’re a census worker”
seynique: “most crowd work is annoying and tedious especially when comics don’t watch each other’s sets and end up calling out the same audience members over and over again. we get it, that white guy in the vest is the most generic looking white guy you’ve ever seen, please move onnnnn”
SCOTT stands with unions and against X: “Comedy is not an excuse to be gross and weird, it's a beautiful reason for saying something funny about how everyone is gross and weird.”
Charles J. Moore: “Comics who bitch about cancel culture should learn how to write better jokes.”
Kelsey: “Men who assault their coworkers shouldn’t get to work that job anymore”
Kate Willett: “Comedy isn’t activism, and this distinction got so annoyingly blurred during the Trump administration. But even if you’re a comedian, it’s ok to care about other stuff even very earnestly. You’re still a person that lives in community w/ people, on a planet worth saving.”
Plenty of folks criticized specific comedians, particularly the most famous and popular ones. There was a lot of talk about Dave Chappelle in the, er, threads. Many of those who commented suggested he hasn’t been great since Chappelle’s Show.
Drew Landry: “Chappelle was gonna go down as the GOAT but all the “he’s the GOAT” talk got to his head and now his obsession with trans people is ruining his legacy”
Nikki Star TV: “It’s not dark humor. You’re just a racist & misogynistic unwell being. No woman, child or corpse should be left alone in a room with you.”
ashley ray is on vacay: “so much of that alt comedy some of y’all do is not funny at all and i wish you ever had to perform in front of black audiences so you could realize that”
Brazley (.eth/.sol): “It would be way easier for the average black comic to make an all white audience laugh than it would be for the average white comic to make an all black audience laugh.”
Jeremy: “the reels/video podcast/youtube special business model is helping good comedians find success without traditional industry bullshit, but it's also making them less funny”
Bron dot com: “Too many comedians act entitled to the audience's time/attention instead of recognizing audiences are made up of people who could be doing anything else and are being generous by giving you their time - be nice to them!”
emily cohen: “When a comedy club staff member stops what they are doing even for a minute to enjoy a comedians set, take note. It's rare and a great sign. It should matter as much as an agents opinion in some respects. They're jaded, busy & hear the same sets repeatedly, sometimes 5x a night.”
Don Hasan: “Comedy ages the poorest and the fastest of nearly all entertainment mediums, and we must be accepting of this fact. Unfortunately, most comedians are not accepting of this fact.”
Ⓥ Joyboy, Planet Express Shareholder Tw!tter: “Most people who say they like “dark humor” are just bullies. Dark humor, AKA “gallows humor” only works if you’re the one on the gallows.”
Cancel Cultural Attache: “There's world class talent out there you'll never hear or see because the local scene shuts them out, they don't live in LA/NYC, or won't sell their soul to get ahead.”
“Its Pronounced Ky•Ree” available now: “Networks and streaming are giving out hour specials to comics that only have about 25-30ish minutes of material”
Bloodymarytyme: “Not having real critics in comedy like they do in Music and Film is why we have so many generically bad but popular comics.”
HEY NOW!?!?!
Industry News and Notes
RIP Lou Alexander, an agent whose former life included stand-up comedy, including multiple TV performances in the 1960s. He was 91.
Also RIP to Tom Sobel, who opened Louisville’s first full-time comedy club in 1982, and was the main man behind the Comedy Caravan and its associated booking tours. Sobel was 72. His funeral will take place Aug. 20 in Louisville.
Mel Brooks remains alive and well, and here he is talking about how movie studios are now run by content creation companies now?!?!
Sarah Silverman wanted to know why it’s OK for so many independent productions to keep going this summer, even if they’re agreeing to the WGA/SAG demands, since that’s just helping the AMPTP delay negotiations?!
What else is new?
The “creative consultants” for Ridiculousness have asked to unionize with the WGA since they’ve effectively been writing MTV’s programming for years now.
Comedian D.J. Demers has begun production in Toronto on his CBC sitcom, One More Time, where he stars as the manager of a sporting goods store.
Hulu has ordered a reality series following Wayne Brady and his family, with eight episodes to start.
AXS has acquired the Canadian version of Cash Cab, hosted by comedian and licensed cab driver Adam Growe, with broadcasts of more than 100 episodes starting tonight.
Underdeveloped, a mockumentary from Brian A. Metcalf, starring Thomas Ian Nicholas, Tom Arnold, Mark Pellegrino, Samm Levine, David Koechner and more, will premiere on Tubi in September.
Despite the third-season finale feeling like a fitting series finale, HBO has renewed The Righteous Gemstones for a fourth season
Hulu, on the other hand, has canceled musical comedy series Up Here after only one season.
Brad Williams announced a 44-city tour, with tickets going on sale tomorrow
Whenever the strikes end, Donald Glover and brother Stephen will develop the Lando Calrissian series Lando for Lucasfilm and Disney+
Bart Coleman has left Moment to become head of comedy for Veeps
Last Week’s Specials
New on Amazon Prime
July 25 — Jim Gaffigan: Dark Pale (my review)
New on Netflix
July 25 — Mark Normand: Soup to Nuts (my review)
New on Dry Bar
July 25 — Gordon Douglas: Someone Pinch Me
July 27 — Myles Weber: Dad Lifts
New on YouTube
July 25 — Josh Nelson: Living The Dream
July 25 — Brandon Vestal: Positively Pessimistic (via 800 Pound Gorilla Media)
July 27 — Jamal Guichon: Down To Clown (via Four by Three)
July 28 — Prince Askew at Tony Roney’s Comic Vib
July 29 — Trixx: Po’ Boy (via Laugh After Dark)
July 31 — Lenny Schmidt: Live With It
July 31 — John Cabaza: Toys For Sale
July 31 — Ali Woods: The Afters
July 31 — Sir Alex Mwaura: Humour Therapy KENYA
Also the free version of Sean McLaughlin: So Be It from 800pgm, and a posthumous half-hour from Donnie Baker posted to the Bob and Tom Show’s channel.
THIS WEEK: 13
LAST WEEK: 13
THIS MONTH (JULY): 35+13=48
RUNNING TOTAL for 2023: 397+13=410
Fun Things To Do In NYC
This weekend’s show I’m plugging in The New York Times: Ali Wong has a mini-residency at the Beacon Theatre, this Tuesday-Sunday!
Lincoln Center hosts free comedy this Wednesday.
Steve Way (Ramy) headlines at Caveat on Thursday with his show, “Make Another Wish.”
Aizzah Fatima and Atheer Yacoub created the webseries Muslim Girls DTF: Discuss Their Faith to dismantle Islamophobia and talk about culturally taboo subjects like dating, sex, and body hair. Their live stage show Friday at Caveat (also livestreaming) also features stand-up from Hoodo Hersi, Nina Kharoufeh, and Negin Farsad.
Jeff Hiller plays two sold-out shows Friday at Joe’s Pub.
Jena Friedman workshops her new hour “Not Funny” Saturday at Union Hall.
The Comedy Cellar will beam live stand-up comedy from New York City into 48 Regal Cinemas locations this Saturday (Aug. 5, at 8 and 10 p.m. Eastern). Rich Aronovitch will host, with Yamaneika Saunders, Jared Freid, Pat Burtscher, John Bishop, Ethan Simmons-Patterson, and Zarna Garg.
Gary Gulman workshops his new tour, this coming Sunday-Monday at QED Astoria
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Thanks for reading!
dear sean,
thank you for this thoughtful and thorough coverage as always!
i love everything you shared that comedians shared, and i'd love to highlight this one in particular...
Bron dot com: “Too many comedians act entitled to the audience's time/attention instead of recognizing audiences are made up of people who could be doing anything else and are being generous by giving you their time - be nice to them!”
thank YOU for being so generous with YOUR time here.
love,
myq