I had been in quite a drought in terms of coming up with new stand up material. I attributed this to the shock of finding out that my partner in arms – and in many cases, the motivating force in my work, and the coiner of many of my best punch lines – Mike would no longer be performing stand up. Instead he is shifting his focus entirely to writing, and he attributes this mostly to the unpleasantness of booking shows and having bum audiences. Dragging out loved ones to see bad comedian after bad comedian was not his thing.
Fortunately, I’m not as caring for my loved ones and will continue to drag them about.
Anyways, that drought was broken recently, and I attribute that to two things. Firstly, my old friend Dan’s visit. He has a way of challenging you to think about everything. Secondly, I have been watching a bunch of new stand up comedy lately. The two in particular that I’ve been watching are Ted Alexandro (who actually performed at my first show, and now has a special on comedy central) and Louis CK. I recommend them to anybody who isn’t easily offended.
What about the Dane Cook I’ve been hearing the young folks talk about? I never noticed he has no punchlines before, mostly because I studiously avoid him.
But seriously, Louis CK is great. I haven’t heard Ted Alexandro but will check him out.
By: Lee on 1 February, 2008
at 12:31 pm
Dane Cook I feel like has suffered from his popularity. The audiences go nuts for him no matter what he does at this point, so I feel like he has no way of editing. I admire his ability to stretch a ton of material out of a brief moment, but at the same time, he’s kind of a one trick pony, and there are lots of accusations of him stealing from (incidentally) Louis CK.
Lee, I also wanted to thank you again for the Stevie Ray Vaughn CD you got me at Christmas. I’ve been listening to it quite a bit, and had a transcendent moment on the 29 Bus listening to his Little Wing Cover. Really good stuff, and a style I haven’t heard much of.
By: nschaef on 1 February, 2008
at 2:59 pm
I hope you will continue to invite us to your shows, Nick–partly because we love your performances, but also because then we know you’re not talking about us! Actually, I think we’d be pretty good sports about being ribbed for our eccentricities. Well, Dad would be anyway. I’d swallow it, though, if it would give you some new material you liked.
If you do perform in London, I hope we’ll be there for an April gig. How cool would that be?
Mike is a very talented writer. So, even though it’s a real loss if he gives up performing, at least his sensibility will still be out at work in our culture, making everyone just a little crazier.
By: Mary Jane Schaefer on 1 February, 2008
at 5:20 pm