pwalshj wrote:He has NO taste in music whatsoever and seems to take a perverse pride in it.

Holy shit, no kidding. They're playing The Zs, and they hate it. The Baba Booey Woodworking is really funny. The one that gets me is that Pat hump who used to be in the most terrible and atrocious Train. Fuck, I can even sit through the stupid stripers, but most of his musical guests get me to fast forward.

The improv bit is funny. I might fly out to catch the live show.

pwalshj wrote:I find the show is stronger when they have no guests and just riff on whatever bug Howard has up his ass. I've been a hardcore listener for 20 years and i sincerely feel that the last two weeks have been as compelling and listenable as anything I've heard them do in the past. WF=Billy West

I loved Billy. Miss him.

Buy yeah, I agree. I've listened for almost as long and he's doing his best radio now. Pretty impressive really.

Yeah, that reminds me; i had some Train lyrics for the 'worst lyrics ever' thread. Fuck that dude.

not crap.

Saw Artie last night at Avery Fisher Hall. Greg Fitzsimmons did a set too.

Artie didn't really tell any "jokes". It was more like "theatre of life". As in: "let's all gawk at a trainwreck."

Dr. Venkman wrote:Saw Artie last night at Avery Fisher Hall. Greg Fitzsimmons did a set too.

Artie didn't really tell any "jokes". It was more like "theatre of life". As in: "let's all gawk at a trainwreck."

Perfect. Must have been a great show. Did Gilbert do a set? I used to see Gill all over the lower east side - prolly 1889-90. Nice guy. Not funny in person.

Gilbert Gottfried was one of my favorite comedians to book when I did that sort of thing.

So grumpy.

burun wrote:Gilbert Gottfried was one of my favorite comedians to book when I did that sort of thing.

So grumpy.

Please post a story. Please?

I remember seeing an episode of his show years and years ago, in which he did Hollywood Squares with hookers and strippers, most of whom were clearly junkies. All of the questions were insulting. A friend of mine thought this shit was funny. Ha ha ha! The prostitute with track marks lining her arms doesn't know the capital of Utah! Ha ha ha!!!

There is a "kicking people while their down" element to his show that makes my stomach turn. His humor, at least on that occasion, was directed at people whose best day is 100 times worse that the shittiest day in Howard Stern's life. I don't really care if Stern compensates those victims with a warm jacket or meal, as the same rationale is used by the creators of Bumfights to justify their similar (albeit worse) shenanigans.

Perhaps other parts of his show are better, but I simply don't find anything funny about the debasement of people who have exactly zero advocates in their corner. Fuck that.

Interesting guy, interesting show.

Funny in bits, and there is an element of fearlessness in his thing that I admire.

But it makes my stomach turn also, too often. I can't really watch/listen to it.

I just don't think he's particularly charitable towards other people, and he can be quite cruel sometimes.

I don't think he's funny enough to make up for that cruelty. Some people are, but he's just not sharp enough--he works on one level when he's being mean, and that's the most basic, most cruel level.

It's kind of like COPS for me. I will think it's a good idea to partake of it for about five minutes, and then I'm watching some crackhead get dragged into a police car (or interviewed about toilet habits), and I wonder what the hell I'm doing with my life.

Wood Goblin wrote:Perhaps other parts of his show are better, but I simply don't find anything funny about the debasement of people who have exactly zero advocates in their corner. Fuck that.

That's because 'shame' is a dirty dirty thing now.

Isn't it about time we stop coddling people who have, for the most part, given up caring for themselves and expect people to care for them?

Can we maybe call someone out for having debilitating entitlement syndrome, and perhaps shame them into taking a look inside?

Busting chops is a semi-polite way of saying, "Look guy, you're smoking crack and sucking cock to keep your habit together - maybe it's time to think about getting clean."