In stand-up comedy, I strive to be as original as I can be. I’m not sure if anyone would admit to being unoriginal. Even Nickelback probably thinks they’re original at what they do, but I’ll take Modest Mouse or Brand New over them any day. Same as I’d rather listen to David Cross or Patton Oswalt over any of the unoriginal comics I see quite regularly on television.
That being said, I’m still pretty new at performing stand-up and I see a lot of people who are also new and learning the ropes. This does not bother me. I’m not famous, they’re not famous, I will not get on my soap box about it. Usually.
The other day I was on a show and heard the most hack piece of material I’d ever heard. It was so bad that I wrote it down. It was so terrible that I wanted to remember it forever. It was so awful that I feel it necessary to share with the world and hope that others realize just how horrid it was and maybe inform some people about the difference between good comedy and bad comedy. Here it is:
Comic (to the crowd): Anybody else here married?
Audience member nods his head
Comic: How long are you in for?
Audience chuckles
Comic: Nice.
END JOKE.
Do you see that? At best, this a joke your dad tells at a cookout trying to break the ice with some random young couple. At worst it’s a joke someone actually spent time and wrote and planned to be part of a set of jokes that he thought were “good” and needed to share with the world.
ARGH! Sorry for that, friends, but I needed to indulge in my anger a bit.
