Where Are We Going?

Tags: comedy, Saskatoon, Saskatoon comedians, stand up comedy, The Stand-Up Diaries, Trevor Dean comedian, trevor dean saskatoon

The comedy scene in Saskatoon has changed dramatically from when I started over 5 1/2 years ago.  The new comedians into comedy recently are signalling a change as well, and that isn’t for the best.

I will just come out and say it.  It used to be the comedians of yesteryear (did I even spell that right?) got into comedy out of a need or lack.  A lack of love, lack of attention, needing acceptance, etc.  Back then, if you watched a comic enough, you’d see the inadequacies within their life, what they weren’t confident about.

It seems the majority of comics who get into comedy today have two distinct differences.  Make that three.

1. Women are entering comedy and actually sticking with it.
2. New comedians seem more confident and self-assured in their life onstage, at least that’s the appearance they give.
3. The majority of material that new comics deliver is lazy.

huh?

Yup.  Lazy.  I’ll get to that in a bit.  We will tackle these points in order.

Women tend to get judged more than their male counterparts when it comes to stand-up comedy.  There is the belief that women can’t be funny, but that’s not true. If you take a look at the male comedians today, you can probably find some that are very similar in their comedic persona or in the type of material they do.  Thankfully, if you look across the comedic spectrum of women today, you will find each one stands alone as a unique entity.

The three women that do comedy in Saskatoon are these unique entities that I speak of.  They not only deliver their material, it’s material that makes you think.

The new comics don’t seem to have that air of needing to be liked either.  They seem successful and confident.

Now, we will get to the third point.  The majority of them are lazy, disgusting and repulsive.

If you go to an open mic you will find the majority of comics are fairly new.  Also, they seem to talk about two subjects and that’s it.  Weed, and pussy.

First, let’s tackle the weed issue.  How are you, as a new comedian, supposed to stand out from the rest when all you do is talk about the same topic the last comedian did? Here’s a newsflash.  There is only one comedian in Saskatoon that can consistently pull off material about weed, and that’s Wulfgang (yes, another Wulfgang compliment).  He was doing it before the rest of the newbies, and he pulls it off with authenticity.  He is a likeable character and I believe the audience wants to root for him as well.  So, to the rest of the new comedians yeah, you smoke weed.  We get it. Who gives a shit?  Aren’t you smart enough to figure out week to week that just about everyone talks about weed, so maybe you need to stop being lazy and actually sit down and think about what makes you different from the previous comedian? Talk about your life, your struggles.  Stop wasting the audience’s time and put some fucking effort into it.

If you are a new comedian and not smart enough to think about something other than weed, let me help you.  You can talk about the following:  politics, family, job, school, relationships, traveling, The USA, sports, economy, history, social media, police, terrorism, fashion, God, religion, popular culture, your childhood, your friends, exercise, values, role models……you see what I mean?  Grab a fucking brain and get on board with the rest of society.  Nobody gives a shit that you smoke weed.  Get your head out of your ass and tell us what defines you.  Give the audience a reason to want to follow you.

Remember what I said in the past?  I had a set at The Laugh Shop where it was a guest spot and it started with a solid joke that got laughs right at the start.  Those laughs were consistent throughout and gave the audience a reason to follow me.  I could have went in any direction, hell I could have told knock knock jokes or little johnny jokes and they would have willingly followed me.  I not only gave the audience a reason to follow me, I gave them a reason to root for me, wanting me to succeed in the end, as most of the material in that set revolved around my failed relationship and my parents.

The other topic is about pussy.  Sorry for being gross, but it is what it is.  If listening to every comic talk about weed bores me, having most comics talk about this stuff makes me want to leave.  I find these people narrow minded and not worth talking to.  They disgust me, to be quite honest.

Being vulgar, disgusting and offensive might get the occasional laugh, but that’s about it.  What does being that disgusting with your material tell the audience about you as a comedian?  It tells me that you aren’t that bright because you don’t have the ability to think past the end of your nose.  Scraping the bottom of the barrel like that for material is lazy, especially when there are things the audience wants to know about you and your life.  You’re a disgusting pig?  So what?  Most men are, so tell me about what makes you different from the next guy.  

When all you do are the same disgusting jokes all the time, it lacks creativity and makes you look like a lazy comedian.  Think about it.  Writing comedy takes a work ethic that most comedians do not have.  To crank out material takes a lot of work, and it’s not just writing something down and taking the stage with it.  It’s taking an idea, writing it down in its simplest form, then editing it daily until it becomes stage ready.  At least, that’s the way it should be.

Not only do I tune these comics out, I also don’t see a need to talk to them either. They disgust me and really have nothing to offer in ways of conversation.  The key is to develop clean material, because that’s where the career can be made, unless you think comedy is just a joke that you don’t need to take seriously.

If you can’t think of anything to say that isn’t related to weed or sex (being vulgar and disgusting), then go home and come up with some ideas for decent material. How well do you think that disgusting, boring crap will play out in comedy clubs? Stage time isn’t a right, it’s a privilege.  You’re insulting the audiences intelligence and disrespecting the stage by saying the same shit other comics do.

Granted, I’m not perfect by any means.  However, most of my sets are always new material, and in the next few weeks I will be doing exclusively some of the 30 pages of material I have written this year.

I would go so far as to say if I ran an open mic that was popular and every comic wanted to be on, I’d refuse to put certain comedians on stage until they could show me they are capable of writing an intelligent thought that could turn into a joke.