Glenn Beck goes on tour!

Wait a minute Glenn... you mean that your regular show isn't comedy?

Quote and link from HuffPo below.

From the article:

"NEW YORK — Glenn Beck, Fox News Channel's latest sensation, is taking a comedy show on the road for six live performances over six days during the first week of June."

http://www.huffingtonpost.c om/2009/04/12/glenn-beck-co medy-tour-an_n_185943.html

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Poll

Will Glenn Beck suck at TRYING to be funny?
Yes 78%
No 14%
Doesn't matter, nobody would pay to see this guy. 7%

Votes: 14
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He was kinda funny, considering he was trying to be funny for a show intended for comedy. I voted "no"

by nmaks on 04/12/2009 06:00:25 PM EST

Maybe the answer is yes, and I'm of course I'm biased, but I haven't seen it.

Is there ONE popular conservative comedy radio or TV show? How about ONE comedian? Does Dennis Miller (who I find to be incredibly unfunny most of the time) qualify? I'm not sure most of his comedy is political in nature.

 

by Tom Hanc on 04/12/2009 10:36:13 PM EST

[ Parent ]

There are a few, and yes, Dennis Miller's schtick since about 2002 has been 'conservative comedy'.  Laced with some of his typical "rants" against Washington, as well as against global warming scientists, illegal aliens, the UN, gun control advocates, etc., he does largely what he used to do with news items 20 years ago--whimsical punchlines and obscure pop culture references as metaphors for current events and politicians.  I find him unfunny also, and am rather shocked about some of the aspects of his "conversion" to Conservatism.  I can understand laughing at the ridiculous exploits of the Left or the Leftwing Media (Jon Stewart does this all the time), but the fact that Miller is now a Conservative on religious issues and gives George Bush a "pass" on the war (his words)--that is stunning for a person who spent 20 years railing against a corrupt establishment.

Nick DiPaolo is a B-list Comedy Central comedian who now has a radio show with Colin Quinn, and both are quite Conservative.  The Blue Collar comedians (Larry the Cable Guy, Foxworthy, White, Engvall) are not all Conservatives by nature, but they play up to their audiences who very much are.  Drew Carey is very staunchly Conservative (though his act doesn't reflect it).  So there are some.  Typcially, though, three things are at play.  1)  Comedy is biased--it is based on shared experience and mindset with an audience, which means that if you are a Liberal being ridiculed and skewered and applauded against, you are probably not going to find the comedy very funny --> very good, 2) The entertainment directors of the networks, Comedy Central, HBO and Showtime, etc. are likely to be Liberal, and thus (as per #1) not finding this subject matter funny, they are much more likely to book/give shows to liberal comedians who they do identify with, and 3) comedians generally tend to grow up or rise to stardom in urban areas, tend to be around other artists a lot, tend to have non-nuclear families, many are Jewish or African-American...these are the things lots of comedians build their act around, and these elements which drive comedy tend to be more intrinsic to Liberal upbringings than to Conservative upbringings.  
 

by Milltycoon on 04/13/2009 08:16:35 AM EST

[ Parent ]

I know a decent amount of Republicans/Libertarians who think either Stewart or Colbert (do they get the joke?) or Maher are funny. And I think it's because they go for comedy and THEN politics.

Remember that failed Fox News comedy show? They went for politics first, comedy second. For some reason I've gotten that impression from 'conservative' comedians and talk show hosts.

I would also point out the "liberal" comedians are generally not politically correct. Plenty of their stuff can push the lines of various gender/race stereotypes, and be crude and raunchy. Silverman comes to mind, and of course Carlin (who hated both parties but hey, not many atheists are getting invited to CPAC, dead or alive).

And of course there are the two best cartoons for adults, Family Guy and The Simpsons (although the Simpsons peaked a long time ago and I haven't gone out of my way to watch new episodes for many years). 

by Tom Hanc on 04/13/2009 12:58:21 PM EST

[ Parent ]
...just like it always is for pundits who perform for a live audience.  The crowd will be 90% full of Conservatives (with the only non-Conservatives attending either to blog about the spectacle to incredulous Liberal friends or to heckle and bathe in the rush of seething negative attention) and Beck's comedy show will be basically the same as his normal show--bashing Liberals with equal parts ranting, parody, cheap one-liners and the obligatory "serious" section in the last act where he tells the audience how "this would all be so much funnier if it wasn't so sad/galling/ominous/the death of freedom, God, country, wealth and sanity."  To anyone watching from outside the psychopathic blog-o-chamber which makes up 23% of our country, the show will be hypocritical, ironic, uncalled-for, cheap and disgraceful (and probably more than a bit terrifying), and for the audience inside the hall, he will get gales of laughter and applause.  Big deal--a clown is going to officially act like a clown.

by Milltycoon on 04/12/2009 07:54:28 PM EST

has been doing tours for years.

They are usually around Christmas time but this is nothing new.

by z1p101 on 04/12/2009 08:11:57 PM EST

and called it the "Magical Misery Tour"...

by MRFred on 04/12/2009 08:39:11 PM EST

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