Netflix, humoristes du monde : NICK SWARDSON : TOO MANY SMELLS, un bijou.

Coup de coeur pour le special de Nick Swardson sur Netflix, j’ai ri, seul, pour de vrai. C’est rare.

Je veux pas faire le connard mais si je rie à haute voix à du stand up, qui plus est à un special que je regarde sur l’ordi, alors je considère que c’est de l’or.

Et là j’ai beaucoup ri en 30 minutes... Un excellent show

Note : 8,5/10 

Et je tape après son nom sur google et réalise qu’il s’agit de l’acteur qui joue Terry dans Reno 911, l’un des personnages les plus drôles de la série :

Toujours arqué sur des patins à roulettes, il joue un homosexuel qui a tendance à vendre ses services et sa bouche un peu partout autour de la ville et nie en bloc toute accusation avant de tenter en vain de fuir en mini short et patins à roulettes. Best of

Merci Terry, merci Nick, what a grat fucking special ! 

PS : J’ai du appuyer sur pause à la fin de ce special tellement je rais.
Sur pause les gens ! Sur Pause…
Un bijou. 

——————————

Greatest special I’ve seen on Netflix Comedians of the world yet.

Amy Schumer : Growing is dope. - (read in ENG & FR)

After not liking Iliza : Elder Millennial (7.2 on imdb), I just loved Amy Schumer: Growing (5.3 on imdb)

This makes no sense with the rest of the IMDB population but I almost prefer it like that.
American people are some of the dumbest on earth so I’ll happily disagree with your comedy tastes. AH !

Amy is amazing in this 2019 special, raw, honest, in love and still the same, that was a really good surprise to me as I’m not an hardcore fan of hers. I just laughed out loud watching this special, which is something I rarely do now that I’ve been watching stand up like a freak for the last 5 years.

GOLD. My score 8/10

———FR———

Après avoir détesté le special de Iliza Elder Millennial qui obtient 7.2 sur IMDB, je viens de prendre un plaisir fou à mater celui de Amy Schumer Growing qui lui s’en sort avec une note de 5.3 sur IMDB…

ça n’a pas de sense et ne s’aligne pas du tout avec la communauté imdb mais je préfère. Je considère encore les ricains comme les imbéciles du globe. (cf. Donald T à leur tête) donc je suis très heureux d’être en désaccord avec eux. AH !

Amy est incroyable, honnête, brute et toujours la même. Je suis le premier surpris d’avoir adoré car je ne suis pas un fan inconditionnel mais j’avais trouvé sa série Inside Amy S… vraiment bonne.
J’ai ris de vive voix en regardant ce special, chose qui n’arrive que très rarement après avoir passé tellement de temps à mater du Stand Up ces 5 dernières années.

OR. Je donne 8/10

Iliza Shlesinger : Elder Millennial, Political correctness is not good in stand up.

This is a personal critic of why I didn’t like this Netflix special. It’s me, not you…

Apparently the world disagree with me and that’s what’s good in the world :

Score is 7.2 on https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8697266/

I watch too much stand up not to know what I like in comedy now and here is 3 reasons i didn’t like Iliza Shlesinger : Elder Millennial special on Netflix.

FR/
3 bonnes raisons de ne pas regarder le comedy special de Iliza Shlesinger : Elder Millennial sur Netflix

1 - Don’t put hashtags on your comedy special, please don’t.

2 - Please don’t push Political Correctness to the limits. This ending is too much.
This look and this talk captured in the same picture is what i call Irony. But I’m not sure what’s irony.

I’m getting so fed up of these parts of comedy specials when everyone claps and cheers how much they agree with what you believe, especially when what you say is so dull and obvious.

Smash an open door is the french expression for that. “Enfoncer une porte ouverte” :-)

You : “Yeah, being an asshole is bad !”

Your audience : Woooooh yeah ! She’s right !

Oh what courage it took you to say that. Check Bill Hicks for PC please.

There is a fine line between stand up and saying things everyone agrees with.

FR/ On ne peut pas faire plus consensuelle que Ilina sur ce screenshot.

3 - Don’t hold the mic like a rapper, you are doing stand up.

Also this bit below is amazing and you are a great comedian obviously, I just didn’t like your special and didn’t appreciate your style of comedy.

Love.

FR/ Tiens pas le mic comme Eminem. Ce passage là ci dessous est fantastique.

Comedians in cars getting coffee

I like this show, because I have a fascination for comedy, stand up and the people who make it. 

But this program is frustrating to me. They never go deep in the conversation, each time a good question is asked by Seinfeld, the guest replies with a joke and it’s cut to another scene, shot of the car on the road and on to another question, an easier one. 

I guess it’s how most of them works, a question that is hard to answer, too personal, will be dodged with a joke. 

Great show because of the host and the guests, cars are nice as well, but I don’t really care for cars. 

A big frustration after watching more than 10 episodes, it’s really like a cup of coffee but there is no connection, no deep impact, no digging. It's quick, short and a bit silly, just a catch up.
Maybe Tea would help to settle, meditate and create a conversation, a connection, deeper...  
It’s like Seinfeld is lazy and just wants a nice little chat, no hassle. That’s what we have here, nice little jam sessions with famous funny people, but I miss the juice, the gold, some secrets, confessions, darkness. 

It’s just a stroll in a car… maybe walking would have make people more talkative. 

Try, comedians in parks taking a stroll. 

George Carlin is not funny anymore, comedy's ghosts and monsters to come.

Comedy is a beautiful craft, being able to make me laugh with the dark truth of us all, as people and society, its flaws and lows. I love the way comedians make me question us as a whole, human beings, our twisted minds, habits, and laugh at the same time, laying down the pain for everybody to look at and make fun of, sharing.
The worst is still to come though and it might not be that funny at all in the end... at least we'll be real. 
Will the future of comedy be blunt truth, not looking for laughter but just pure honesty, as it is, saying the darkest truth and having the courage of honesty ? Just a thought. 

Louis C.K. was the first to put the light on this craft for me and many aspirant comedians. I deliberately mention him and his recent fall was a big punch in the stomach but not a surprise, weirdly I did not need a lot of convincing to accept it when I learned the truth. Deep down I believe he could do shit like that, how can you make me laugh so much with such dark shit if you are clean ? Do you have to fall low in order to dig up the gold, so low that moral has disappeared? There is some darkness and twisted mind for sure there but that's where I wanna look. 
I have this question in mind:  "Can happiness make us laugh?" I tend to prefer darkness. Comedy is a martial art, turn drama into laughter. 
Latest example of bad comedy was Kevin Hart show on netflix "what now?"... Just the intro made me cringe of sadness and when he started talking about his huge house, long driveway and wealth I did not laugh, nor connected to that. He is wearing a gold chain and trying to make me sympathise with his life and "struggles", him being too successful ? Well it failed, spectacularly, with special effects, fireworks and a whole stadium... That his audience could connect to that and laugh so hard was for me mind blowing, I understood why LeBron James could though.

That's not the point here. George Carlin is. 

It's been 5 years I dig deep into comedy's whole universe, listening to WTF podcast with Marc Maron non stop, diving into the brains of guys like Robin Williams, watching specials and stand up shows, I naturally looked into George Carlin as he was referred and looked up to by many of the funny geniuses I cherished.

I watched 5 of his shows : On location, George Carlin at Phoenix (or George Carlin Again !) 1978, Carlin at Carnegie 1982, Jammin' In New York 1992, Life is worth Loosing 2005 and It's bad for Ya 2008. 
There is still a lot to watch from him but I believe it's enough to start writing about. 

The last one I just watched is On Location: GC at Phoenix (also referred as George Carlin Again !), taped in 1978. 

I DID NOT LAUGHED ONCE. And I can assure you I was on it 100%. I don't do something else, I don't watched my phone all the time (just a bit of Instagram) and I tried to be fully focused, in the present. But it was too much of the past already...
This type of observational comedy doesn't do it for me, at all, or the observations are too dated. I especially didn't like when he observes random life stuff like people asking him :

- "Do you have time ?"
- "Not one me, I don't own time !"

and then proceeds to read funny news headlines : "A 107 year old woman in Florida is reported to be pregnant. Physicians claim that because of her advanced age she will have a grown up." 

or weird stuff he thinks of like: "Do you think directors dreams end with credits ?". It's smart and witty but doesn't make a crowd die of laughter now anymore, but believe me it did back in 1978. People are loving it, he is a real rock star, slick with his blue pants and shirt. Cheers of the crowd are huge. I wanted to be on his side, stylish and smart like he was, but hell I did not enjoy it and I feel terrible for that. 

Surely it was at the time mind blowing but now it's just  "kids play" with words, puns and imagination openly expressed, funny headlines like I can see a thousand on social networks in 2017... Nothing worth a 2 hours special. And I am amazed by that, 40 years later it's becoming real useless and tasteless comedy. No one of my generation would laugh hard to these and I find it fascinating. On a positive note, his energy, anger and denunciation of everyday bullshit, politics, society and flaws is to me truly inspirational, he says it blunt and gives the finger to them all, me first. He is the perfect Conscientious Objector, and for me it's the highest and most respectable thing to be, anytime. 
For that I look up to him. He would hate me and be right to. 

You're welcome. 

On the same period, as a devil's advocate, Richard Pryor's: Live in Concert, 1979 is on my top list of comedy stand up show... The year doesn't explain everything. I remembered being in south of France and watching Live in Concert with my brother and an American guy and I was dying, he was killing me and I loved it, especially thinking of the 40 years gap, the magic still being there and strong. Gold.

At that early age of stand up, puns and observational comedy, "weird shit thought of and said out loud" was the highlight and the material. Nows it's old uncles jokes. Or if you think weird shits, you tweet it, you have to fly real high because everyone is in space now. Being funny and original is not enough anymore, the level is way higher, or way deeper, darker... We dig nowadays, into our brains and minds, our pain, and it doesn't look good, but hell it's funny ! 

I like C.K. and Bill Burr because they show me their darkness, sadness, share it with me, and turn it into gold. That is real. Bill Burr I believe would be a serial killer if not that genius of a comedian. His anger is huge and he turns it into art. That sparks light in me, it's pure beauty.

When I watched Carlin latest shows (Life is worth loosing 2005, It's bad for ya 2008) first I was appalled, "How can this old grumpy man be my heroes' hero ?". These shows are 2 hours of an old 6O yo man's runt : "I don't like that and that" "THIS IS SHIT !"... Wow really.

Times change, and comedy fades away and it made me very sad not being able to appreciate the comedic genius of this man.
I respect him because I understand that at the time it was never seen, never heard and mind blowing. But when I watched these 5 shows I was nodding my head thinking: "This is not possible, I am not laughing once nor smiling AT ALL". And trust me it was not a challenge or forced.

He was a comedic genius that does not make me laugh. I'm sure I would have been a groupie in 1978 though...

I don't think George Carling is funny anymore. Good thing is, I don't matter to him and he will never give a fuck ! For that I love him sincerely and deeply. 

I hereby engage, will you marry me?  

Sebastian Maniscalco, comedy's blacksmith.

Aren't you Embarrassed ? To like this type of comedy ? I could be... The guy is far from what I normally seek. 

At first I was sceptic, never heard of the guy and I am really looking, searching, into comedy, stand up and all, trying to watch as many specials as possible because I love the art and I often need the laugh. Sadness a blessing. 

Just received an email update from Conan youtube channel, a bit of interview with the guy, saying his on the Forbes list of top earning comedians, I’m like “what ?!”... First time I ever see the guy's face. 
Then I do some basic google, read the Forbes articles, “from waiter to Forbes” and the guy seems authentic, a real working man, been a waiter for years to keep his passion going, doing as many shows and open mics as possible, everywhere touring, in between shifts at the four seasons Beverly Hills if necessary. Here I kneel, I respect the love and dedication this dude shows toward his craft. Knew no one in LA, never had a tv show or a movie to shine the lights on him, just been standing up in front of people for years, enduring, performing, improving. For that I start looking into him. 

I watch the first 15 minutes of his only show on Netflix “aren’t you embarrassed ?” And at the beginning my scepticism hits back, he’s a doing the “Italian American Chicago” stereotype, the accent, the look, the hair, the tan, the muscles, the clothes, etc. Almost too much for me and I am ready to hate this act. He's playing on this line and I don't like clowns comedians. Usually the more you're doing the less you're saying to me. If you put on an "act" so much, it means to me you are not true and I want authenticity in comedy, realness and emotion to bring me the laughter. 

Sebastian Maniscalco

Tony Danza, Who’s the Boss.

But that’s where the magic operates, once I tell myself: “Ok ! So he is indeed an act and he’s doing loads to prove he’s this Italo-Chicago character”, but it’s show-business, and it’s a reality. You have to differentiate yourself and this role he’s doing comes from his life, he’s from an immigrant Italian-sicilian family (here he scores to my heart), so he’s no fraud. He just chose a role close to him and developed it to perfection.

So I just accept the act and the "over-doing" in character of this Italian Chicago Americano Macho type of dude and I keep watching for the sake of it. 

And that’s where the epiphany stroke, once you put aside this character, the guy is a pure comedy gold, the way he speaks, moves, describes and analyse the situations shows years of improving this craft, finding his voice, his moves and his style. Just assuming what he is, probably less in reality, but still, deep down it’s him. This traditional upbringing, old education, tough, but fair with strong work ethic and values. Sharing about this strange vision of things this gave him.

Great comedian ! I really liked his style and act, the way I never seen a comedian like that, the body, the face and all the moves along with his jokes. There is a big part of femininity during the show, when he's shocked, surprised or mad, it's assumed and goes perfectly in balance with the appearance of the Italian male type he "looks" like. There is intelligence and art in this alone. It's been long time I haven't really laughed by myself like that watching a special.

I think I got used to the comedians like C.K., just standing up and delivering the material, so much that it’s been great to see something different and in another comedic style. Opens new dimensions to the craft I didn't thought I'd be interested in. Really appreciated this one, I see the stand up “purists” saying that he’s doing too much of a clown, that it's too simple, but for the clown I hated Jimmy Carr the English but I loved Sebastian, because he's real despite the make up.

Keep laughin’. 

Quit Tv Shows.

I want to stop watching tv shows. I mean completely stop. But the problem is that the quality of it is amazing, making the addiction so strong. 

6 years ago, binge watching tv was a guilty thing, you'd watch crap like reality shows knowing it was shit and that you don't make yourself any smarter by watching that. But now, when you see the television and show market, the level has never been so high and the quality of the writing, acting and direction are high, real high. 

My problem is this : I go to work, I do what I do for a living, thinking of coming home to the latest show I'm watching ("The Trip" UK, Coogan, Brydon, so good...). My life is around this addiction, this need to watch a good tv show, and when I'm done the next one. And the dealers like Netflix, HBO have lots of good dope to sell. I still find time to read and watch movie, but it takes more time and more motivation out of me. TV show is easy, it's short, it's good and I don't need to engage myself in a 600 pages or 2h30 screening. 

But I also see a pyramid of culture being as follow : 
- first, books. They are the smartest way to learn, feel and dive into a story, full on. You read something that goes inside you, deep. I start a book I have to finish it, good or bad, I tend to read classics so I go through them fully, there's a reason they are classic. I also find I have less time to read so I don't want to risk it on books that are not good, as in known for years to be. 
- second, movies. The crew build a 2 hours story through amazing images, acting and writing. You dive as well, but for a fewer amount of time, two hours, three max in apnea, in a world that the people behind the movie offers you. 
- third, Tv shows. It's easy, you dive in, if you feel suffocating, you dive out. It last 20 to 60 minutes, my attention can wander easily. I am not engaged and I know there is plenty more fishes in the sea. 

There is also something perverse with this addiction of shows, that I believe I share with 80% of people of my generation. Other than the time spent is the "entertainment" part of it all. 

Take shows like Narcos and House of Cards, they show you in an amazing way the truth behind drug dealing between Colombia and the government of the United States of America basically acknowledging the role of US in the cartel as a key player in the existence and strength of it all. Bribes, politics and governments were directly influenced by the cartel of Medellin then Cali. 
House of Cards on the other hand shows you the reality of politics with men and women willing to kill and manipulate masses in order to achieve power. Wow ! That's amazing, these shows show you the hard truth, the reality in every sense of it all. But then what ? Then you watch this and you only think of coming back home to be able to stream the last episode or the new season. 

The perversity is here : it is an entertainment and you watch it like that. If you summarise the truth behind these shows, the citizen should be in the street, questioning their government and making a fucking revolution every week of the year. 

But no, you know it's real and it shows the dark side of it all, but it's too hard and it's easier to keep watching, instead of doing.  Because I feel down by all this and I am too lazy to overtake power. So I'll order my burger and watch my show.