"Are new stand-up specials "less good" then the old ones?"
I like comedy and stand up , but lately I haven't really enjoyed a lot of 1 hour specials. Is it me, or could it be that the quality is waning? (I agree - it *could* jsut be me.)
I think there are more 1 hour specials now than ever before - and that maybe the comedians don't have the time to hone the jokes to be "hour long special level" anymore.
In the past they'd have been a segment on Def Comedy Jam, or Young Comedian Special, or Evening at The Improv btu would get a full hour.
HBO and CC used to have both 30 minute and 1 hour specials - but lately everyone has a full hour - and often a full hour every 12-18 months.
I think Carlin even took 2 years between shows - and several a couple of his later show were not funny at all - but I think he was clinically depressed at that point.
Examples of comedians where I like their first hour specials - but not their most recent special(s):
David Cross John Mulaney Amy Schumer Louis CK Patton Oswalt Hannibal Burress Mike Birgiblia Jimmy Carr Marc Maron Jim Jefferies Kyle Kinane
And some that I never enjoyed but have new hour pretty often: Craig Fergeson Aziz Ansari Chelsea Peretti Ali Wong Anthony Jeslnik
I did like these recently (look at it - all super white.) Nate Bargatze Paul F Tompkins Eugene Mirman (although it was "thin")
This is just IMHO and I'm curious if anyone else is feeling the same way.
1. "There's a few reasons for it." In response to Reply # 0
First is that it's a comedy boom and everyone wants their hour special. There's more outlets for these specials than ever before - and places like Netflix are making tons of them because they need original content. To put it simply, "specials" are less special than they used to be. It's not necessarily bad, but it can dilute the quality.
I also think people are just more savvy than they used to be...the omnipresence of comedy is creating really smart comedy fans, and so people aren't as impressed with some specials. You probably have fond memories of specials you saw as a kid and those specials probably aren't that good, just like movies.
Still - plenty of good stand up specials out there for sure. You noted a bunch of them, but there's tons.
7. "This is it right here." In response to Reply # 1
>To put it simply, >"specials" are less special than they used to be. It's not >necessarily bad, but it can dilute the quality.
Back in the day they weren't going to be able to do specials every year like some people are currently doing. Noone was gonna fund it and it was a big deal to get one. So if they did a special - it was SPECIAL...they would test material out for a year and get it all honed down to the best ish and have all the best timing and the best crowd interaction. Now it isn't special though - there are so many outlets to release something that it isn't as risky to put something out. So you have people releasing stuff that isn't as vetted and honed in.
2. "Its just people who go around saying people old shit is better" In response to Reply # 0
because their earlier shit was a "Secret" that they had over other people. Its hard to really get past peoples opinion versus their "old news" mentality.
Everything is amazing...till the rest of the world finds out about it.
4. "I don't think that's the case for me (but it could be)" In response to Reply # 2
>because their earlier shit was a "Secret" that they had over >other people. Its hard to really get past peoples opinion >versus their "old news" mentality. > >Everything is amazing...till the rest of the world finds out >about it.
Comedy was never secret - or not after 1984. Once Letterman hit we all talked about comedy at school.
I lived through the 80's comedy boom but there were not nearly as many HOUR long specials.
I'm think less hour long specials and more 15 minute sets on hour long shows would be better.
Are there any more shows like that now? Last one I can recall is the John Oliver one.
3. "yea I just saw the new Louie one on Netflix last night. let down" In response to Reply # 0
there was some good stuff but half of it was sex jokes and I'm not coming to Louie for sex jokes, let alone 30 minutes of them. at one point my girlfriend said "what is this, trying new material? why is this public?"
it was doubly disappointing because we'd just seen him August 3rd and dude CRUSHED it. the set he's touring on right now is up there with any of his best sets I've seen on film but the shit in the Comedy Store special is borderline garbage at times.
Frank Longo Member since Nov 18th 2003 86672 posts
Fri Aug-19-16 04:22 PM
5. "Bo Burnham's new special, though." In response to Reply # 0
A great special is still great. There are just more specials out there, either from good comics that aren't great or from great comics trying to put a new special out there when it could've used a bit more honing.
6. "RE: Are new stand-up specials "less good" then the old ones?" In response to Reply # 0
Recently watched Bill Burr's last one and Gaffigan's Obsessed, both were 2014 I think but new to me. I really was laughing at some of the stuff. I tried Louis CK's latest too and didn't make it far, usually find him hilarious too.
11. "I'm gonna blame the internet/cell phone camera" In response to Reply # 0
Sarcastically, but with a hint of truth.
I think comedians are too quick to the specials. I think they don't road test and refine the acts enough to make stellar specials. And I don't think it's out of laziness. I think it's because they're trying to get the material out there before it's reviewed/spoiled/uploaded to youtube/etc. I also think the lack of showcase shows hurts as well. Used to be you see a guy give a solid 5-10 on a show and you'd seem him on a bunch of different shows and you'd pull for him and hope that he'd get a special. And doing those shows like that, they'd mold and craft those jokes into perfection. Now, Louie's got everyone throwing out their hour the minute it airs and writing a new one, and most of these dudes and ladies don't have a strong enough hour to begin with.
Frank Longo Member since Nov 18th 2003 86672 posts
Tue Sep-20-16 03:18 PM
14. "Pharaoh is absolutely a Frank Caliendo." In response to Reply # 13
Except Frank Caliendo's material is funnier.
Like, Pharaoh's voices are *perfect.* But his material, whether in stand-up or at some awards show, is always *painfully* unfunny to me. Even on SNL, when the whole sketch is centered around one of his impressions, they're so rarely funny.
His material is YouTube perfect. Say like two or three lines, move to the next awesome impression, two or three more lines. When he dwells on an impression, he starts doing "material," and that almost never works for me.
19. "I think we become accustomed to comedians also" In response to Reply # 0
We see so much of these comedians now, like the first reply about specials being less special.
I've seen Louis CK so many times in so many places. It's really hard for him to still come on stage and make me amazed.
When we first discovered these standups we love we fall in love with their style, delivery, ways they address issues and topics in new ways when we've seen them covered 50 times already etc...
After a while we get used to them doing that and they don't feel new or fresh anymore. Comedy isn't like music where you can just reinvent yourself on a new album and blow people away with a new sound. Comedians are who they are.
23. "I thought that specials aren't as good as they used to be, but..." In response to Reply # 0 Wed Sep-21-16 08:02 PM by obsidianchrysalis
I think the reason is that comedy is so much more diverse and there are so many more styles that comics have to cater to more narrow audiences which means their jokes often don't cross over.
Maybe my description isn't very precise, but what may seem as a fall off in quality is more a reflection of jokes not intending to be funny to a wide segment of the comedy audience like Cosby or Pryor wanted to reach.
In other words, it may not be the comics, but the differences in tastes between sub-segments of audiences that exist and can be reached.
31. "Todd Barry - the Crowd Work Tour is AMAZINGLY HILARIOUS" In response to Reply # 0
I don't lol much at recorded stand-up but this is truly amazingly funny. I think it's probably still on Netflix. You don't need to hone material for years for it to be great. Though he has honed his crowd working abilities thoroughly.
32. "Content is King" In response to Reply # 0 Sat Sep-24-16 08:21 PM by Jasper T. Reddbone
"Its hard to stop making money to be funny" - Richard Pryor
Comedians tryna get this paper like everybody else mayne and right now the game says pump out as much content as possible (specials, movies, tv, web series, podcast, etc) Quality be damned
So I empathize with comedians for these reasons Cats gotta spread themselves thin now & the standup suffers But alotta comics are eating good from it
So youre damned if you do comedically & damned if you don't financially
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