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
Am I supposed to be laughing or taking notes? Comic Charles Fleischer, who played Carvelli on
Welcome Back, Kotter and voiced Roger Rabbit, gives
a Ted talk which degenerates into what appears to be a dissertation about the number 37 and its relationship to string theory, delivered in a rapidly shifting sequence of accents; watch the audience get more and more uncomfortable as they try to figure out whether they're watching a stand-up routine, a Kaufmannesque prank, or a guy going crazy right before their eyes. TED should have known what they were getting; Fleischer has been performing some form of this routine
for decades. (Warning: numbered suit.)
Transcript of the routine. Fleischer's strange myspace page. (Warning: strange music/talking on click which I can't figure out how to turn off.)
posted by escabeche
on Aug 12, 2010 -
17 comments
Life as a Comic is series of short videos by Rob Paravonian (famous for The Pachelbel Rant) about what it's like to be a working stand-up comic. It has recently started up again after a long break.
Here's the first episode which is about doing gigs at venues which aren't full-time comedy clubs. Direct links to the rest of the episodes, all of which are in quicktime-format, below the cut.
[more inside]
posted by Kattullus
on Apr 19, 2010 -
14 comments
