Comedians

I was thinking the other day that being a stand-up comedian has got to be one of the most difficult careers to break into. Here in San Francisco, there are many bars and clubs that no-name bands can play at in hopes of making it big, but I think there are only 2 comedy clubs where a comedian can perform, and usually they are booked with touring performers (I'm sure there's some small bars that hold stand-up nights, but they certainly aren't advertised well).

I guess the reason that there's such limited opportunity for stand-ups is probably because there's actually very few good and unique comedy routines. Most of what you see is just not that funny, or is a rehash of someone else's material. But every once in awhile a gem comes through that gets the crowd laughing.

I think Chris Rock is pretty funny, as is Adam Sandler and Dave Chapelle. I thought Dane Cook's first SNL performance was horrible, but after a friend made me listen to some of his CDs, I've changed my opinion about him because I laughed a lot during his CDs.

I would say that my favorite comedian is currently Mitch Hedberg. Like too many other creative-types, Mitch died young and didn't reach his full potential (he died right before filming an HBO comedy special). I had the opportunity to see him twice. The first time was a free show at Stanford where Pauly Shore was the headliner. Mitch was so funny and Pauly so unfunny that half way through Pauly's set he commented on how he needs to get a mediocre opening act to make himself seem funnier. The second time I saw Mitch was at the Punchline in San Francisco. Like all comedians, his humor isn't for everyone. A lot of his jokes are transcribed here, but if you can't hear his delivery style in your head while you read them, they might not come off as that funny. The joke I always remember him telling on Dave Letterman is 'This guy asked me if I wanted a frozen banana and I said, "No ... but I would like a regular banana later, so ... yeah."'... his delivery of the lines was perfect.