[lbo-talk] Asshole

[dano]

At 9:56 AM -0400 6/30/04, Dennis Perrin wrote:
>  > >If his show tanks, he can be a reg on Colin Quinn's hate-filled
>  > >"Tough Crowd" -- a show that beautifully reveals the bile & stench
>  > >of stand-up comedy.
>  >
>  > I gotta say that show makes me laugh a lot, but it's really
>  > disturbing too - naked ids overflowing with aggression. Is that the
>  > way comics are?
>  >
>  > Doug
>
>All too often. Some of the angriest, darkest, nastiest people I've ever met
>were stand-ups -- myself included -- which is why I got out of it and into
>(hold your laughter!) lefty politics. (Though after my little triumph the
>other night, the wife wants me to go back in.)
>
>Sometimes the anger can be righteous -- look at Bill Hicks, who also showed
>a lot of tenderness and humanity in his act. Richard Pryor at his best
>infused his work with pathos and a touch of humility. There are others. But
>in the main, at least in my travels, stand-ups are just fucking pissed off.

I saw Bill Maher awhile back when he was on book tour (BevHills Pub 
Library - you shoulda seen the matron groupies!) and he was one angry 
guy.