Demeaning and horrible - I know many women that have inexplicably put up with that for periods of time.
Facetiousness (from me) aside, I also know a number of people, not all of them women, who have done the same. Usually because they a) kid themselves that the other person will eventually change for the better or b) have such low self-worth that they believe they deserve no better. It's a shame, and can be very frustrating to see.
Facetiousness (from me) aside, I also know a number of people, not all of them women, who have done the same.
Bearing in mind that we are talking in sweeping generalisations here I would say that men are willing to put up with quite a lot until something else becomes a realistic possibility. Even going out with girls they don't even like that much for periods of time.
Women on the other hand seem much more prone to clinging onto hope that bad boyfriends will change and only when they abandon this hope do they become ruthlessly efficient regardless of any "replacement".
I have agreed with many posters with their examples of woman who are indeed funny, including yours above. But, I think the "highly scientific consensus" of this forum, is that, while woman CAN be funny, GENERALLY they are just not AS funny as men (as perceived by men).
Seriously, while this thread has mostly been opinionated BS, I continue to wonder if real studies have already been done to quantify this notion.
9 to 5 What's Up, Doc?
I agree, they're funny. What's Up, Doc?, maybe in my top ten.
I hope I have not appeared as a misogynist with this thread. I love women. Why, even my mother is one.
But, I think the "highly scientific consensus" of this forum, is that, while woman CAN be funny, GENERALLY they are just not AS funny as men (as perceived by men).
I, being one of those that doesn't consider them funny, am not saying women can't act in comedic roles. I have said they aren't funny, as in stand up comedy funny. Improv, sketch and acting, in my opinion, don't require someone to be funny per se, they just have to be able to play characters well and deliver - (case in point, Ben Stiller. Who has said many times that he personally is not funny. So does Mike Myers. Both of them admittedly consider themself not to be funny people.)
Stand up on the other hand is solely one's ability to create funny without the aid of anything or anyone else.
Burnett and Ball were great at playing characters and had excellent timing and delivery. Neither of them did stand up. In that world, women fail to be as humorous as men. They lack the ability for some reason to delivery good quality, funny, stand up sets.
Stand up on the other hand is solely one's ability to create funny without the aid of anything or anyone else.
The ability to comedically act is indeed not the same as the ability to be stand-up funny.
My question to you (because I am not sure of the answer, not because I am making a point) is - Do you think the ability to be stand-up funny is the same as the ability to be socially entertaining in the pub kinda funny?
My guess is that it is pretty darn similar but not necessarily identical. But I will bow to your professional judgement on that.
In social situations are you expected to (pressured into being maybe?) the source of funniness because of your profession? Do people expect you to be relentlessly amusing and does it get on your tits when they do?
Stand up on the other hand is solely one's ability to create funny without the aid of anything or anyone else.
But don't SOME comics hone their act over time so expertly that their act doesn't vary from one venue to another? Isn't this also just rote, or merely acting a role? If this is true, then it seems we cannot use just "stand-up" comic as the ONLY litmus test of being funny, correct?
Burnett and Ball were great at playing characters and had excellent timing and delivery. Neither of them did stand up.
Hmm. It seems to me you might be down-playing the importance of timing and delivery in comedy too much. But as a non-comic, I'll acquiesce to your judgement.
FWIW, didn't Burnett do "funny" improv with her television audience before the TV show started?
Bottom line, for this subject, we are nearly in full agreement. But I look forward to the eventual day when we do find ourselves at opposite spectrums and joust. And when that day comes, . . . you're a dead man Oni, . . . a dead man!
Do you think the ability to be stand-up funny is the same as the ability to be socially entertaining in the pub kinda funny?
No not at all. I know lots of great socially inept stand up comics. I myself have social axiety disorder.
Myself personally, I can talk to a thousand people in an audience, but put me in a small group at a party, especially one that I don't know anyone except maybe the person that brought me, and I'm quiet and not very conversational - but I am observing and studying people and their interaction with one another. I consider myself more of an observer of normal life than a part of it.
I'll say this, with that comfort that you personally talk to your friends at a pub with, and have no fear of making a joke about anything (esp. with really close friends) is the level of comfort a stand up comic must eventually find on stage. Its called "finding your voice." Which simply means, find yourself. Your true "you" that you are and deliver your written material in that manner. It takes time to find it because we can't be ourselves when we're nervous or thinking about our set on stage.
But when it does happen...wow. Even the comic is shocked at his perfomance at that point. I just got there last year.
The best stand up comics (aside from having brilliant material) are the ones you find very natural on stage IMO.
My guess is that it is pretty darn similar but not necessarily identical. But I will bow to your professional judgement on that.
It is, like I said, in the sense that you're trying to find that Straggler that talks to his friends at a pub, and bring him to the stage to deliver the material you came up with.
You can't get on stage and tell the story the way you tell it to your friends though. There is a structure that comics follow and that jokes work in.
In social situations are you expected to (pressured into being maybe?) the source of funniness because of your profession?
My closest friends who I hang with all the time are comics. So in that situation its a free for all of punchlines and trying to one-up each other. Which works out great because we come up with material for each other.
When I hang out with "squares" - if they know I do comedy then sometimes I'm guilded to it in conversation. I can feel people pressuring me to be funny by feeding me a line they want me to do a joke about. Or if not they say "don't do this in your act." As if thier stroy was that important where I'm going to talk about it on stage and add it to my material. It usually isn't.
But man do I pick up chick with this comedy crap, dude. Because whenever I want to I can turn up the "funny" volume and be funnier than the other douchbags trying to hit on them. Win for me!
Yes, I'm ashamed by it, but I use my powers for evil.
quote:Improv, sketch and acting, in my opinion, don't require someone to be funny per se, they just have to be able to play characters well and deliver - (case in point, Ben Stiller. Who has said many times that he personally is not funny. So does Mike Myers. Both of them admittedly consider themself not to be funny people.)
To an extent, yes, but where do you think the material came from? Brice, Burnett, Ball, they wrote their own material. Tomlin was performing Wagner's material quite often, but she was originating it, too. Goldberg, DeGeneres, Silverman, Poundstone, Rivers, Diller, Rudner, Garafalo, Boosler, Griffin, Sykes: They're all doing their own material.
As a performer, myself, I do understand that there is a difference between the material and the performance and you need both. A good joke will die from poor delivery and a great performer cannot rescue crap.
So Tomlin is a good example to analyze. To my mind, she's one of the funniest people of all time, but she was doing it with Wagner. Is it Tomlin who's funny or is it Wagner?
Rrhain Thank you for your submission to Science. Your paper was reviewed by a jury of seventh graders so that they could look for balance and to allow them to make up their own minds. We are sorry to say that they found your paper "bogus," specifically describing the section on the laboratory work "boring." We regret that we will be unable to publish your work at this time. Minds are like parachutes. Just because you've lost yours doesn't mean you can use mine.
Yes, I'm ashamed by it, but I use my powers for evil.
Superman is flying around looking for stuck cats to pluck out of trees and generally being his goody goody two shoes self. Suddenly he spots Wonder Woman alone and naked in a field. She is laying on her back, legs akimbo and writhing around in a way that suggests she is enjoying herself immensely. Intrigued Superman looks on. He starts to get well horny. A little voice inside his head says "Go on. She won't even know. Faster than a speeding bullet. You could be in and out at the speed of light. Gooooo oooooon". Overcome with temptation and lust Supes just cannot help himself. WHOOOOOOOOOOOSHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!
A micro-second or so later Superman is back on his original flight path with a satiated smile on his face and a slightly dribbly damp patch emerging on his trunks.
Back on the ground Wonder Woman exclaims "Oh Jeez don't stop now!! Please!" as the Invisible Man dismounts and says (with a disconcerted tone to his voice) "I dunno what the fuck just happened but suddenly I am not feeling nearly so up for this".
Men are faster than women. You can come up with examples of some women that are faster than some men. But that doesn't mean the general statement 'men are faster than women' isn't true.
Hitch suggests in a casual fashion, a possible evolutionary explanation. He suggests that women are more prone to finding men more attractive if they are funny that men are prone to finding a woman more attractive if they are funny. He also points towards some parts of the female laugh ritual as being 'suggestive' in it's own right (head back, eyes closed, mouth slightly open repetitive vocalisation and breathlessness) as food for thought.
To an extent, yes, but where do you think the material came from? Brice, Burnett, Ball, they wrote their own material.
They did so with a team of other writers too. With that said, sure, writing funny sketch, plays, movies, sitcoms, etc., does require one to have a comedic sense. Myers and Stiller are writers too.
Writing stand up is different.
Goldberg, DeGeneres, Silverman, Poundstone, Rivers, Diller, Rudner, Garafalo, Boosler, Griffin, Sykes: They're all doing their own material.
And except for Silverman, the rest are NOT funny. Their stand up, not them specifically. Poundstone blows, Griffin should be shot, Sykes buys material, Garafalo was funny in the 80's. Ellen I found funny once or twice but not anymore. Boosler I didn't like. Rivers and Dillers, other than being icons in the business, where before my time and what I have seen...not funny.
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