“Where are the jokes, you pricks?”
This entry was posted on 5/31/2009 5:08 PM and is filed under Comedy.
You can go to
this YouTube clip and enjoy the brilliantly subversive humor of Neil Hamburger (with the important political content being cited at the 1:29 mark). Or you can read about that same content being discussed in
my recent interview with Hamburger. Or maybe it’s just easiest to reprint the most vital exchange from that Q&A—so here it is:
…you made a very brave appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! The audience applauded when you asked, "Is it just me, or is George Bush the worst president in the history of the United States?"—and then you got jeered when you added, "which makes it all the harder to understand why his son, George W. Bush, is, in fact, the best president we've ever had.”
Oh, I'd been doing that for a while. There are a lot of comedians around—I won't name any names—who only come out to an audience that's sympathetic to their politics. They aren't even telling jokes. They just say something, and add, "Am I right?" That's how they get applause. That's their act. You need to work some jokes in there, fellows. This new breed of stand-up comedy is stinking up the place. It's like taking candy from a baby. "Newt Gingrich is an asshole." That'll get you a standing ovation. Where are the jokes, you pricks? What happened to Laurel and Hardy pushing a piano up the stairs and watching the piano come back down and knock them on their asses? That took work.For anyone who’s still wondering, the story of Neil Hamburger is pretty well summed up in the opening of that excerpted article. And if you like him, there’s
plenty more Hamburger to be had.
