RunningMn9 wrote:Blech. I've never found Kathy Griffin funny. She's everything that is stereotypically terrible about female comedians.
There's a stereotype?
Yes.
Edit: To expand. Female comedians can be funny. But most of them aren't, for a few reasons. Many are simply trying too hard and it comes out forced (Griffin's primary problem). Many female comics tend towards more limiting female-centric content. Then there's the "OMG look how outrageous I am!!" group (also Griffin).
That said, one of my favorite roast performances of all time was put on by Cloris Leachman. I absolutely love the comedic acting ability of Bea Arthur. I think Betty White is a damn funny human being. I will watch Julia Louis-Dreyfus in anything because she's amazing. They are the exception to the rule.
A high percentage of female comics are the absolute worst though.
And in banks across the world
Christians, Moslems, Hindus, Jews
And every other race, creed, colour, tint or hue
Get down on their knees and pray
The raccoon and the groundhog neatly
Make up bags of change
But the monkey in the corner
Well he's slowly drifting out of range
I think that's a bit unfair. Black comedians often tell "black-centric" jokes, Jewish comics often tell "Jewish-centric" jokes, Asian comics often tell "asian-centric" jokes, and a comic like Tim Allen made an entire career out of telling "male-centric" jokes. I don't agree that any should be discounted for that.
As for "trying too had", I don't get that same feeling.
But I guess this all comes down to one's tastes though. I just don't see a stereotype, myself.
Insert Group Here comics often tell "Insert Group Here-centric" jokes. Yes. Which is why it's rare for performers in those groups to break out. It's obviously limiting.
Humor is obviously subjective, and a good deal of that has to do with the audience's ability to relate. If your audience can't relate, that's generally-speaking, much harder than if they can.
Also, I can think of very few male comedians who are less funny than Tim Allen.
If you don't see "trying way too hard" with Kathy Griffin, I don't know what to say. I would encourage you to watch old stand up footage of Ellen Degeneres. Even if you don't find her stand up to be funny (many don't), her performances come across as effortless.
To each his own certainly, but Kathy Griffin is as unfunny as they come.
And in banks across the world
Christians, Moslems, Hindus, Jews
And every other race, creed, colour, tint or hue
Get down on their knees and pray
The raccoon and the groundhog neatly
Make up bags of change
But the monkey in the corner
Well he's slowly drifting out of range
I honestly had never heard of Kathy Griffin before this little episode. Is she on TV?
Comedy is hard, though, and the field is bloated with wannabes. (Maybe it seems like an easier path to celebrity than actual acting?) MOST comics are awful.
I do think there are arguments to be made that our usual model of comedy (sarcastic, ironic, aggressive) has favored men over women. But I think that's changing, and there are definitely more funny women near the top of the field than there were just a decade or two ago.
Take a listen to the Two Dope Queens podcast. It's not all spectacular, but there's a lot of funny people on there, mostly from the non cis white straight male demographic, which is great.
I can't imagine, even at my most inebriated, hearing a bouncer offering me an hour with a stripper for only $1,400 and thinking That sounds like a reasonable idea.-Two Sheds
RunningMn9 wrote:
If you don't see "trying way too hard" with Kathy Griffin, I don't know what to say. I would encourage you to watch old stand up footage of Ellen Degeneres. Even if you don't find her stand up to be funny (many don't), her performances come across as effortless.
If you'd limited it to just Kathy Griffin initially, I might agree with you. But you wrote:
Many are simply trying too hard and it comes out forced
Which means you applied that to more than just one woman comic.
Yes, I implied that it's a fault of a high percentage of female comics.
And in banks across the world
Christians, Moslems, Hindus, Jews
And every other race, creed, colour, tint or hue
Get down on their knees and pray
The raccoon and the groundhog neatly
Make up bags of change
But the monkey in the corner
Well he's slowly drifting out of range
hepcat wrote:You do know that's targeted at civilians, right? And you're also hopefully aware that militaries are usually comprised of trained soldiers?
But hey, let's pick on victims during a tragedy. That's always funny.
Yeah, that's the same training that the Department of Defense gives us in the event of an active shooter incident. The intent of the training is to get friendlies the fuck out of the way so professionals can do their goddamn jobs without you fucking it up and complicating it, making it less safe for them.
And in banks across the world
Christians, Moslems, Hindus, Jews
And every other race, creed, colour, tint or hue
Get down on their knees and pray
The raccoon and the groundhog neatly
Make up bags of change
But the monkey in the corner
Well he's slowly drifting out of range
hepcat wrote:You do know that's targeted at civilians, right? And you're also hopefully aware that militaries are usually comprised of trained soldiers?
But hey, let's pick on victims during a tragedy. That's always funny.
Also keep in mind that majority of UK police are NOT ARMED. There's a separate armed police unit that responds to such incidents.
My game FAQs | Playing: She Will Punish Them, Sunrider: Mask of Arcadius, The Outer Worlds
Cowards like this guy and Trump tend to do things like this when confronted with danger. Real heroes step up and go at the source instead of going after innocent people. Conservative snowflakes are going to ruin this country. "Ooooh....we need to lock ourselves in a closet and avoid contact with anything that might be dangerous." Oooh, people are protesting me because I don't agree with them."
"The world is suffering more today from the good people who want to mind other men's business than it is from the bad people who are willing to let everybody look after their own individual affairs." - Clarence Darrow
Didn't seem like a good use of anyone's time. I would have liked a continuous stream, though. There were lots of cuts that made me wonder whether there was some actual discussion in those periods. I hope so.
Didn't seem like a good use of anyone's time. I would have liked a continuous stream, though. There were lots of cuts that made me wonder whether there was some actual discussion in those periods. I hope so.
They seldom are a good use of time these days. They should start calling them trollhalls.
edit: nm. you have to watch the clip. I'm not sure I would call it racism though.
Black Lives Matter
"To wield Grond, the mighty hammer of the Federal Government, is to be intoxicated with power beyond what you and I can reckon (though I figure we can ball park it pretty good with computers and maths). Need to tunnel through a mountain? Grond. Kill a mighty ogre? Grond. Hangnail? Grond. Spider? Grond (actually, that's a legit use, moreso than the rest)." - Peacedog
Holman wrote:Seriously. Citizens should quit distracting their elected representatives with their concerns.
I mean.. it was just a lot of incoherent yelling. At least in the part of the video released, it was literally impossible for anyone to be heard, including the Congressperson, except for a few small exceptions.
Holman wrote:Seriously. Citizens should quit distracting their elected representatives with their concerns.
I mean.. it was just a lot of incoherent yelling. At least in the part of the video released, it was literally impossible for anyone to be heard, including the Congressperson, except for a few small exceptions.
I've seen many clips this year of representatives being asked hard questions and expected to give serious answers. People are turning out in record numbers because they want to ask those questions and get those answers.
To dismiss all that because there are periods of yelling forgets what representation means.
edit: nm. you have to watch the clip. I'm not sure I would call it racism though.
Sure, because every bright young American uses Sanskrit instead of the Latin alphabet.
Most immigrant parents (and while I'm assuming her parents are immigrants, she has an accent) teach their children their tongue of heritage. I don't think it's racism to assume that. There's plenty of ignorance though to use "Sanskrit" instead of "Hindi."
Black Lives Matter
"To wield Grond, the mighty hammer of the Federal Government, is to be intoxicated with power beyond what you and I can reckon (though I figure we can ball park it pretty good with computers and maths). Need to tunnel through a mountain? Grond. Kill a mighty ogre? Grond. Hangnail? Grond. Spider? Grond (actually, that's a legit use, moreso than the rest)." - Peacedog
edit: nm. you have to watch the clip. I'm not sure I would call it racism though.
Sure, because every bright young American uses Sanskrit instead of the Latin alphabet.
Most immigrant parents (and while I'm assuming her parents are immigrants, she has an accent) teach their children their tongue of heritage. I don't think it's racism to assume that. There's plenty of ignorance though to use "Sanskrit" instead of "Hindi."
Assuming she's more used to a language that is used by a tiny fraction of Indians instead the language in which she is the national spelling champion, purely because of her appearance and her name, is a textbook example of racism (and, fundamentally, ignorance). If the kid was blonde and named Ingrid, would it have been normal for the anchor to assume she was more comfortable speaking Swedish than English?
"What? What?What?" -- The 14th Doctor
It's not enough to be a good player... you also have to play well. -- Siegbert Tarrasch
Holman wrote:
I've seen many clips this year of representatives being asked hard questions and expected to give serious answers. People are turning out in record numbers because they want to ask those questions and get those answers.
To dismiss all that because there are periods of yelling forgets what representation means.
Ohh, I'm with you about the value of town halls, in general, but this particular (Youtube cut of a) town hall did not look productive.
Holman wrote:
I've seen many clips this year of representatives being asked hard questions and expected to give serious answers. People are turning out in record numbers because they want to ask those questions and get those answers.
To dismiss all that because there are periods of yelling forgets what representation means.
Ohh, I'm with you about the value of town halls, in general, but this particular (Youtube cut of a) town hall did not look productive.
Holman wrote:
I've seen many clips this year of representatives being asked hard questions and expected to give serious answers. People are turning out in record numbers because they want to ask those questions and get those answers.
To dismiss all that because there are periods of yelling forgets what representation means.
Ohh, I'm with you about the value of town halls, in general, but this particular (Youtube cut of a) town hall did not look productive.
Right. But Rip said all town halls were a waste.
No I didn't, I said:
They seldom are a good use of time these days.
Which would translate to most townhalls are a waste. I stand behind it.
I am quite comfortable saying that more than 50% of the townhalls for Congressman/Senators turn into pretty much this. Disruptive trolling by the parties opposed to them are practically becoming a national pastime. On both sides.
Max Peck wrote:
Assuming she's more used to a language that is used by a tiny fraction of Indians instead the language in which she is the national spelling champion, purely because of her appearance and her name, is a textbook example of racism (and, fundamentally, ignorance). If the kid was blonde and named Ingrid, would it have been normal for the anchor to assume she was more comfortable speaking Swedish than English?
Maybe? Does she have an accent? Is she constantly identified as a Swedish-American?
I live in Houston and typically assume that latinos with an accent speak Spanish. That doesn't mean I think they are here illegally, that they are naturalized, or they don't speak English. It means that I recognize their heritage and assume (incorrectly at times) they speak Spanish. Is that racist?
Saying Sanskrit was stupid. Stupid and racist are not the same thing.
Black Lives Matter
"To wield Grond, the mighty hammer of the Federal Government, is to be intoxicated with power beyond what you and I can reckon (though I figure we can ball park it pretty good with computers and maths). Need to tunnel through a mountain? Grond. Kill a mighty ogre? Grond. Hangnail? Grond. Spider? Grond (actually, that's a legit use, moreso than the rest)." - Peacedog
Rip wrote:Which would translate to most townhalls are a waste. I stand behind it.
I am quite comfortable saying that more than 50% of the townhalls for Congressman/Senators turn into pretty much this. Disruptive trolling by the parties opposed to them are practically becoming a national pastime. On both sides.
What ratio of chaotic expression (which still, of course, sends a message) to orderly Q&A would be enough to absolve representatives of their most fundamental and most important responsibility in our democracy?
Rip wrote:Which would translate to most townhalls are a waste. I stand behind it.
I am quite comfortable saying that more than 50% of the townhalls for Congressman/Senators turn into pretty much this. Disruptive trolling by the parties opposed to them are practically becoming a national pastime. On both sides.
What ratio of chaotic expression (which still, of course, sends a message) to orderly Q&A would be enough to absolve representatives of their most fundamental and most important responsibility in our democracy?
I don't know that anyone is collecting statistics but you would have to be living under a rock to not read the press coverage talking about it.
The town hall meeting essentially ended before it started — a victim of an out-of-control audience.
People screamed and waved signs. They wouldn’t let the congressman on stage talk. He couldn’t get through more than a word or two of an answer without his voice being drowned. Within an hour, he had left the stage, needing a police escort to get safely to his car.
No, this was not the meeting Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, hosted at Brighton High School earlier this month. It was a meeting hosted by Rep. Tim Bishop, a Long Island Democrat, and it took place in June 2009, only a few months after he had won re-election by 16 percentage points.
He wasn’t alone. The rise of the tea party a few months before had energized many followers to confront Democratic lawmakers with noise and commotion, protesting Obamacare and bailouts.
At the time, Politico.com made this observation: “… welcome to the new town hall-style meeting, the once-staid forum that is rapidly turning into a house of horrors for members of Congress.” That now seems prescient.
It may be a truism in American politics that once one side unleashes a successful new weapon of incivility, the other side will retaliate in-kind at the first opportunity. Whether it’s the ratification of a Supreme Court justice or the use of executive orders to circumvent real discussion and compromise, politics never seems to retreat to a more civilized time. Folks upset with the nation’s direction seldom look to score points by rising in favor of civil discussion and a meaningful search for common ground.
Meanwhile
