Be Warned…. This Might Get Offensive
Tags: amateur comedians, comedy, Saskatoon, stand-up comedy, The Stand-Up Diaries, trevor deanA couple of incidents happened last week that made me come back to revisit a topic I sort of covered before.
In a previous posting, I talked about why I felt that comics “picked on” audience members. It’s more like interacting really, and a necessary part of stand-up comedy. But today I’d like to share my opinion on a couple of events from last week. It all has to do with people taking offense to what a comic says onstage.
I have a couple of things to say here. First, this is Saskatoon. The majority of comics who are from here who’ve been onstage aren’t offensive. The only two who are, are the younger ones who are just starting out. I guess they have only watched the comics of today, I’m not sure…but they can’t be that good if these guys pick comics to follow and emulate who are vulgar, disrespectful, ignorant and just plain fucking rude.
I have two points I want to make. Well, I think they are two, maybe three. The first is about a posting I made on my Facebook comedy page, where a discussion insued about Dez Reed being offensive to the point where one of my friends was with a friend of hers at his show, and this person left in tears. At the risk of alienating my friend on this one, I have been onstage for the last 10 months so I feel that I have some authority to speak on this issue.
First of all, I have gotten to know Dez pretty well. For the most part he doesn’t intentionally go out to rip somebody a new one. He seems to be a guy who really loves life and loves having fun with his friends and the audience he performs for. The only way he will carve you up like a steak is if you think you’re able to match wits with him and start beaking off to him when he says something about you. Look folks, Dez tore me a new asshole many times when I first started. I could have said something to him, but I didn’t because I know that is giving him an invitation to start a fight he’ll finish. Listen folks, Dez is a professional comedian. He does this for a living. This is Canada where we have freedom of speech. If you do not like what he says, you can get up and leave, or shut up and sit there. I think you will get more respect from him if you sit there, shut up and take it, although remember that you are asking for it if you decide to open your mouth in the first place and try to match wits with him. Don`t bother trying. You will never be able to do that no matter how funny you think you are. This is how he gets paid, and he won`t fuck around with a heckler. Besides, it`s like Jimmy Carr says “why is it you are giving me grief…this is my job…I dont go to your job and yell at you…I simply say I would like a burger and fries please.”
Sometimes the best way to shut a person up who takes offence to you is to cut them to the bone as quick as you can, that way it shuts them up the quickest. Plus, at the end of the show Dez always goes to everyone and personally thanks them for coming out to watch, showing that he has no malice in what he does, as it is all done in fun. If you cannot take his ribbing, then you obviously have issues within yourself that need correcting. We are adults here. If you honestly believe that you will go to a comedy show and not be offended or pissed at something a comic says, you need to go back and live under your rock because you obviously are dilusional and just plain dumb as a sack of hammers.
The other point I wanted to make was about the two new comics that started out last week. Both are young, and both, in my opinionare not off to rousing starts. The one guy went up and was way more vulgar, crude, rude and offensive than Dez ever could be, and this was not a result of hecklers either! This was his act! For a man of God, I was shocked to hear what he said. It was way over the top, and offensive. He mentioned he got laughs, but I think it was more a case where people were shocked that he would take his “comedy” down to that level. I would have walked out, but the good thing is that I have become real good at tuning people out. Besides, it was only five minutes, not like he was headlining.
The other guy was young as well, and did jokes that he did at Beilys the first time he went onstage. A couple of his jokes were tasteless, in my opinion and some people were pissed about it when they listened at Beilys. Well, fast foward the tape six months and I do not think he wrote any other material except for the five or six jokes he does have. I was not impressed by the fact that either of these two guys for some reason think it is good to start off stooping to that level to be that disgusting and vulgar to get laughs. If it was my club, I would not allow it, because it is pretty easy I think to come up with tasteless material just because you watch hip hop comedians. The trick is to write stuff that is actually intelligent that people can relate to.
So, if you hear something offensive, leave, or sit there and take it. It isnt the end of the world if someone pokes fun at you. You are only asking for trouble by spouting off to try and get back at the comic. That never works. Grow up and see a shrink if that is the case.
First of all, this friend needs to grow up a bit.