Can a stand-up comedian's performance be objectively evaluated and ranked? In the recent documentary
I Am Comic [imdb | clips],
Steve Roye demonstrates his product, the
Comedy Evaluator Pro. A "Positive Audience Response" (PAR) score is the percentage of PAR during the time the comedian is on the stage (not taking into account other factors such as venue size, etc.). Of course, this method
stirs controversy about the art vs. science of stand-up.
Ritch Shydner, the protagonist of
I Am Comic, thinks that
booking agents shouldn't rely on PAR scores to choose who gets to be on stage, while the director of
I Am Comic, Jordan Brady, disagrees, seeing
PAR as a way to elevate the quality of stand-up. So, drum roll, please:
Who is the world's funniest comedian? According to PAR score, it's
J.R. Redwater, during this bit at the Pow Wow Comedy Jam. [agree | disagree]
posted by not_on_display
on Aug 19, 2010 -
112 comments
