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Crowd work has ruined standup comedy

Posted on 4/23/24 at 12:13 pm
Posted by Bonkers119
Baton Rouge
Member since Dec 2015
10243 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 12:13 pm
Every clip I see on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok is just some person doing an awful job at crowd work.

There are few comedians who are actually good at and incorporate it well in their routines, ie Sam Morril or Stavros Halkias, but for the most part it’s just bad.

What happened to actually writing and telling funny jokes?
Posted by hubertcumberdale
Member since Nov 2009
6562 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 12:14 pm to
Matt Rife is a pretty good example of this. His act is almost entirely 100% crowd work and its pretty godawful. Really not sure how that guy got famous
Posted by Oilfieldbiology
Member since Nov 2016
37646 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 12:14 pm to
People got offended and many comedians are afraid of being cancelled
Posted by MrSpock
Member since Sep 2015
4375 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 12:15 pm to
quote:

Every clip I see on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok is just some person doing an awful job at crowd work.


It is very difficult for a comedian to come up with an original 30-1 hr set. If they showed their actual jokes on these social media clips there is no incentive for folks to attend the shows.
Posted by GumboPot
Member since Mar 2009
119226 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 12:15 pm to
quote:

What happened to actually writing and telling funny jokes?


The bad one probably get ChatGPT to write their jokes.
Posted by lsurulz1515
Member since Mar 2007
5960 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 12:16 pm to
A lot of crowd work is fantastic. You mentioned Morril and Halkias, but lesser names like Dan Soder and Big Jay Oakerson have fantastic stand-alone crowd work sets out there.
And I know I'll get shite on for this, but people who say Matt Rife is bad at crowd work have not seen truly awful crowd work
Posted by bad93ex
Walnut Cove
Member since Sep 2018
27487 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 12:17 pm to
I don’t know why but I want to blame Dane Cook.
Posted by frequent flyer
USA
Member since Jul 2021
2999 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 12:17 pm to
quote:

Crowd work has ruined standup comedy



Political Correctness and Totalitarian Progressivism ruined comedy.
Posted by Willie Stroker
Member since Sep 2008
13064 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 12:30 pm to
quote:

Crowd work has ruined standup comedy

I disagree. Standup comedy is not ruined. This is probably the best era of standup comedy, and crowd work has its audience who love that shite.

The only thing that hasn’t changed is female comedians still suck.
Posted by LSBoosie
Member since Jun 2020
8253 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 12:34 pm to
No, you just don’t know how stand up comedy works. You need to watch the actual specials. They do crowd work because that’s how they get new clips to post. Their actual act is just being repeated every city they go to so they can workshop it for an eventual special. If they were posting their actual act, you would just be seeing the same jokes over and over again, and no one would have any reason to watch their special because they have already heard the entire routine.

Go watch an actual special instead of 30 second clips on tik tok.
This post was edited on 4/23/24 at 12:39 pm
Posted by Camp Randall
The Shadow of the Valley of Death
Member since Nov 2005
15610 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 12:37 pm to
Who is the dyslexic guy? I remember the crowd work but not the name.
Posted by LegendInMyMind
Member since Apr 2019
55164 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 12:38 pm to
quote:

Facebook

quote:

Instagram

quote:

TikTok

And I will add......
YouTube Shorts have all had a terrible impact on standup.

The editing required for a stupid one minute video squashes all but the most basic jokes, so you're left with a heavily edited "joke" with all laugh and timing removed, or this bullshite crowdwork from comedians who aren't all that great at crowd work.

I just don't bother with watching the short format for standup comedy.

This post was edited on 4/23/24 at 12:39 pm
Posted by TheDeathValley
New Orleans, LA
Member since Sep 2010
17241 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 12:39 pm to
think there is varying degrees of crowd work

You have traditional comedians like Pryor and Carlin.

You have some that did some crowd work like Jimmy Carr.

And you have some that only work the crowd like Matt Rife.

Think it just depends on your preference.

Posted by The Mick
Member since Oct 2010
43293 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 12:43 pm to
A lot of comedians have scripted crowd work with a planted heckler.
Posted by nealnan8
Atlanta
Member since Oct 2016
1727 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 12:46 pm to
Dave Attell will slaughter a crowd...and he writes great jokes.
Posted by CatfishJohn
Member since Jun 2020
13978 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 12:49 pm to
Mark Normand getting topics from the crowd and making a joke on the spot is pretty hilarious.

Plus he's Nola guy.
Posted by Eighteen
Member since Dec 2006
34076 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 12:54 pm to
Crowd work is unique to each show so it gives them unlimited content for social media to promote themselves.

They can’t show their actual jokes because those are copyrighted and no one would attend if you knew all the jokes of a tour beforehand…so without these crowd work clips it would just be recycled jokes from previous specials only which would get old quick

It hasn’t ruined anything, social media has just allowed a platform for crowd work to be seen. If anything, the real issue is now people in the crowd are more obnoxious with heckling because of it
This post was edited on 4/23/24 at 12:57 pm
Posted by grizzlylongcut
Member since Sep 2021
9718 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 1:05 pm to
All I know is Shane Gillis’ special “Beautiful Dogs” is one of the funniest specials I’ve ever seen.
Posted by rowbear1922
Lake Chuck, LA
Member since Oct 2008
15188 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 1:15 pm to
They don’t want to burn material for clips so crowd work is easy to post.

It’s just supposed to get your attention so you go see them live or watch their actual act when a special comes out
Posted by holmesbr
Baton Rouge, La.
Member since Feb 2012
3049 posts
Posted on 4/23/24 at 1:34 pm to
Jimmy Pardo said on his podcast one time that the late night talent bookers didn't give him a regular shot because he didn't have an act. He has an album I think of all crowd work.
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