Keat Teoh
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800 Maynard Ave S, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98134
800 Maynard Ave S, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98134
I do hate all the stupid spiteful jokes that aren't even jokes, but just snide remarks about society. It's annoying. I paid to laugh, not cringe and feel awkward.
Some of that stuff was overtly racist, though, and a little beyond what other comedians do.
But he's not, as you say, "a paranoid, delusional, right-wing religious maniac"... he's pretty much homophobic and racist. That does not make one a right-wing religious maniac, it makes them bigoted. Right-wing does not mean "cruel" like people think it does these days.
I saw him preform maybe about 10 years ago at the Westberry Music Fair on Long Island and he was still doing outdated Bobbit and OJ Simpson jokes. Hell, he even pulled out the "Bat-Mobile" from one of the old 80s shows. Trying to watch him struggle with the sledge was pretty sad.
Reading this and the other page with the "bonus jokes" made me sick. When I saw him he did make fun of people with backwards baseball caps, baggy pants and bib overalls, but not in a hate filled raciest tone. I think I would have walked out and demanded a refund after ten minutes of him spewing that garbage. What a has-bin.
I don't know what's to blame for his turn to the dark side, but some folks are one-shot wonders who basically have no second act in them. Dennis Miller is an excellent example of someone who's lost his way and slipped into political pandering as a substitute for being funny, but in Miller's case I think 9/11 damaged his worldview and confidence so badly that he'll never truly be able to find the abundant humor in everything around him anymore.
For Gallagher's sake, I hope he's not aware of just how unfunny he is now. But something tells me he knows, and that's why he's given in to his bitterness. And oh yeah, long-term self-hating closet case--I thought that even back in the '90s.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/th…
Fixed that for you.
I saw his shows on Comedy Central as a kid, and finally went to his local show around 2004. I was probably his biggest fan at the show, and I was probably the most disappointed person there too. He signed an autograph (on a t-shirt I bought) in a very pissed off manner before the show. He seemed like the fans he came out to greet (why prior to the show, I didn't understand) were bothersome to him, and he had better things to do. I found out later he meet and greets before the show because most people walk out. His show was an awful, 1.5 hour plus rant about this or that, stupid stuff that wasn't funny. Then, he just basically said screw this, let's do what everyone came here see, the Sledge-O-Matic. Everything was similar to the writer's entry, appearing to be completely made by Gallagher in a last-minute effort, as if he only knew about the show an hour beforehand. Spray-painted background, black tarps, a table with various foodstuffs he would smash as soon as someone he invited up on stage would prepare it. Yes, someone from the crowd had to prepare it, he evidently had no stage hands. It wouldn't even be an issue if he commanded the crowd like he could before, make them feel like a part of the show. Instead he seemed like Kaufman's Tony Clifton, insulting the people coming to the stage. Some of them walked off before they helped with his fruit smashing.
He made a little girl cry. I'm serious, a girl under the age of 8 he made cry as he was insulting her. I thought it was too crazy to be real, it was a set up, right? No, it was real. This guy was berating, belittling and insulting various small children throughout his show, all of whom he invited on stage. He didn't even have a stage hand and was performing at a small local show, how could he have had so many people in on the act?
Either he's a Kaufman-esque genius, or the biggest a-hole that has ever lived. And according to personal experience, anecdotal evidence and past history of the guy, I believe the latter. No one cares about how offensive his jokes are, as there are many great comedians with "offensive" jokes about many groups; the focus should be on the comic himself, the amateur nature of the act and the alienation of his audience, all of which are so far removed from the incredibly successful Gallagher of the 1980s.
Such a shame that he's turned into such a bitter, unfunny prick.
But there is something really sinister and deranged about the sledgehammer bit with the "China people and queers." One would think that, with acts of atrocity still a daily occurrence in our world, an American comedian performing for an audience in "the land of the free" could muster just the slightest bit of decency for his fellow man.
Not only is this sad, hateful fucktard obviously a latent homosexual [not that there's anything wrong with that — and wouldn't he and the world be so much better off if he could just admit that?] he is probably also a closeted Chinese.
By the way, can someone at The Stranger tell me if Bethany is still hot? I ran into her in BK a few years back and she was still hot then, so I'ma go ahead and guess yes. I do hope so. Hey Bethany, it's John! Some long-distance pigtail-pullin'...
The Glenn Beck's of the world, on the other hand, scare the shit out of me.
This one is just a bad joke.
Oh, I may be a horrible person, but I did find this line kinda funny, seeing as I'm a guy with a big belly "She wants a penis, but she has a big belly. If you can't see your dick, you don't get one."
If I remember correctly, Jim Stafford did have his own comedy-variety show back in the '70s, but I think it only lasted one season. He had a great personality for TV, that's for sure.
M
"This is the china people and queers - SMASH" somehow that's not hate either?
I ridiculed bush for years because he's a moron, not because he's white. I continue to ridicule wingnuts and teabaggers because they're idiots, not because they're (overwhelmingly) white.
if you get a minute......
http://davidkron.blogspot.com/
david
I actually really liked him as a kid, and as many hear have noted, he seemed more like a vaguely lefty counter-cultural type back then. The smashing stuff was brilliant at first and then quickly got old, but he had this pair of... not sure what to call them, one skate and one shoe with giant springs on it, so he'd BOING and glide, BOING and glide... pure genius. I've wanted some my whole life.
Now? He's just gotten pathetic. It's sad, really. and, worse still, he gives (well, he and several others) legitimate conservatives a bad name.
Replace "Right" with "Left" and add "smoker" after the word "religious" and you've pretty much described the unfunny Angry Idiot stylings of your beloved Bill Hicks.
Gallagher is like an old whore, going through the motions, with not much enthusiasm or freshness, but using the professional skills he has accumulated over the years to deliver an adequately crowd pleasing performance.
The first 15 minutes of his show consisted of him feeling out the audience with some town/gown stuff, some rural farmer/pickup truck material, and some right wing pleasing gay/political/God stuff.
None of what Gallagher says is terribly original or terribly funny. He seems to have absorbed and reworked things that others have done better and adapted them to a kind of comedy hash which is generally mildly amusing, but never particularly outstanding. I think he knows he's a has-been and his bitterness shows through.
He does a meet and greet before the show and is a somewhat sad looking figure with a slight potbelly, sagging shoulders, scraggly hair, and a weary demeanor.
While not impressed by his humor I was impressed by his professional skill. He read his audience well, strung together routines tailored to that particular crowd, paced his performance, and built to a big debris filled food smashing finale.
I don't like his politics, and am unamused by his material. Some of it is pandering and distasteful. I did find myself looking back on his show and appreciating the experience and skill with which he constructed and tailored a show, on the fly, uniquely suited to that audience.
Gallagher is a strange contradiction, a skilled comedian who is not very funny.
OK, the hot dog in his pants, that was funny.
If you people hate Gallagher so much, leave him the hell alone and get on with your damn lives. You're just wasting your times when you crap on him.
"I cannot believe Bill Hicks is dead and this motherfucker is still touring." is the best line.
"I cannot believe Bill Hicks is dead and this motherfucker is still touring." is the best line.
Time has not been kind to him.
I think he used to be funny, one-liner funny but he once had it...
A-fking-men.
/sigh
So my point is ,lighten up enjoy the show for what it is and don't try to make sense of it or pass judgment on him.
Further, the man smashed things with a sledgehammer (once he could lift it) and told the audience to imagine it was queers and Chinese. Sounds like fear to me. Maybe he doesn't like the political power the former has gained (tough shit) and the economic power the latter has gained (God-fearin' white Americans are just as guilty as anyone, as they keep buying and importing cheap shit made in China, so maybe he should be hitting himself with that hammer. From the sounds of it, he couldn't do much more damage).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icevac7jd…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icevac7jd…
Also, this is fucking sad and scary.
Blacks stand up and applaud in mass when OJ gets off for killing two white people, black comedians shit all over white people on a regular basis on cable television and numerous TV shows and movies makes it a point to put Southerners and Germans in a bad light, which if it was done for any off the precious protected groups would be considered "hate speech", because ut incites hatred (oh yes it does) and you want me to become outraged about this?
Fuck off and die. I hope ten more pop up just like him. It still would balance out the venomous hatred that comes from the hypocritical PC camp.
Blacks stand up and applaud in mass when OJ gets off for killing two white people, black comedians shit all over white people on a regular basis on cable television and numerous TV shows and movies makes it a point to put Southerners and Germans in a bad light, which if it was done for any off the precious protected groups would be considered "hate speech", because it incites hatred (oh yes it does)...but you want me to become outraged about this?
Fuck off and die. I hope ten more pop up just like him. It still wouldn't balance out the venomous hatred that comes from the hypocritical PC camp.
Do you look at the racism on the other side? Because they're not just using words, they're actually mobbing up and beating the shit out of people for being white or Asian.
No, of course not. You're only emotionally attached to what you were told to be emotionally attached to, and that's racism against certain groups and only those groups. Other forms of racism are acceptable to society and therefore to you.
Congratulations, you're a hypocrite. And a hysteric. Scared over a comedy act...what a joke. This is nothing compared to the interracial violence that takes place every year in this country against whites. And Asians in Chicago now, too.
Selective outrage, it's going to come back to bite all of you in the ass. Right now, with your fanaticism, you're ensuring the rise of a fourth reich. Because we always go from one extreme to the other. Well guess what the opposing end of your extreme's going to be...fanatic and violent racism. And it's already taking root.
Well done, fools.
http://www.kctv5.com/story/17048649/teen…
There's the result of your "hate speech", hypocrites. Congratulations, slowly but surely you getting to the level of Joseph Goebbels.
Don't worry, they won't be charged with a hate crime, though. It's a "misunderstanding" when nonwhites actually pysically attack someone. But I'm supposed to get mad about a comedy act.
Yes, some of his jokes did bother me, but he didn't seem mean. He seemed silly.
He does not pretend to be intellectual, and his jokes about being Anglo Saxon made fun of the idea that Anglo-Saxons are descended from Irish and English people who we raided by Vikings. His jokes about Obama were childish not racist. He does use the word fag and gay over and over again but more like a silly 9 year old by than a real homophobe. His whole act is about being funny and silly. It is comedy, not political satire or a political lecture. Yes, he does look tired on stage. He never really grew as a comedian. He is no Woody Allen who moved from standup to movies, but then again, Gallagher is not an intellectual. He is just a silly guy who smashes stuff and makes you laugh. I admit, I would be troubled if he really harbors racist or homophobic feelings, I just don't agree with the reviewer. I went to see a comedian who I knew was a bit of a has been who I had once seen in the 1980s.
So grow up and get a real job.
Now I'm not going to defend or agree with everything he said, but I'm just going to say if you were shocked by any of it, its because you werent paying attention to the hour of stand up he did before he pulled out the mallet. You went there to see “Sledge-O-Matic” and got “Shit My Dad Says”. Same jokes and observations as in the 80s, just that everything he thought was backwards 25 years ago had only gotten crazier, and he's stayed the same.
Now I'm not going to defend or agree with everything he said, but I'm just going to say if you were shocked by any of it, its because you werent paying attention to the hour of stand up he did before he pulled out the mallet. You went there to see “Sledge-O-Matic” and got “Shit My Dad Says”. Same jokes and observations as in the 80s, just that everything he thought was backwards 25 years ago had only gotten crazier, and he's stayed the same.
We were easily the youngest couple in attendance and the audience consisted almost solely of 50-60 year old lame ass middle-class WHITE PEOPLE. Before the show started Gallagher was setting up his props and checking the stage from the floor and someone went up to him to shake his hand or ask for an autograph or something and he was all cranky and snapped, yapping something about going back to his table to meet people.
He started making his way to the foyer and I had nothing better to do so I followed the short train of people drafting behind him to get a chance to meet the great Gallagher. He sat at his table and was just about the most bitter ornery old bastard I've ever seen. One family wanted a photo with him and he got all pissed at them "No! You stand there! Hurry up! Take the photo!"
I had my ticket and was just going to have him sign it and say hi but when I got up to him I said, "Hi, Gallagher! I just wanted to let you know I voted for you" (Ref: 2003 Recall Election where CA got the Kindergarten Cop as our new Governor). I thought he'd get a chuckle and a smile from that or laugh and say "Thanks", but his reaction really surprised me. He snapped back bitterly, as if he really thought his campaign was real and signified something, and angrily barked out something along the lines of "Yeah! 20,000 people voted for me!" or something.
I looked straight at him and said, "Yeah, you got beaten by a porn star, a crippled smut peddler, and the midget from Different Strokes." I could see him turning red with rage and I wasn't even sure what was going to happen. Was he going to hit me? Call security? Fire back some hot zinger of an insult? He was at a loss and none of those came my way. Instead he just waved his arm for me to go away as he shouted "Get out of the way! We gotta keep the line moving!"
His act that night was HORRIBLE. He did the exact jokes he'd told 20 years earlier. Exactly. Nothing new. Nothing original. And he just came across as angry and hateful as he bitched about how music these days suck and what's up with the kids and Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and dumb amidst his iconic schtick. It was awful. I told my wife about the encounter we had before the show and mentioned that I wanted to mess with him again after the show, but she wasn't having any of it and forbid me from any more shenanigans.
If not for the chance to bust his balls it would have been a pretty lame evening.
Comedy Central debuted in 1991. What else in this article is fabricated?
I have heard black comics making fun of sagging and brothers with white wives. In fact just go back a few years and listen to the bush jokes.
These guys are just comics not brain surgeons . Getting offended by any of these assholes is futile all you have to do is walk out the door. Yet apparently you paid to listen to this crap.
Remember Lenny Bruce ?
I
That discredits most of your "review" right there. You let your left-wing bias get in the way. Maybe you're gay? You seemed very sensitive about all the "gay bashing". They're jokes. So, are gays not allowed to make fun of straight people? Blacks of whites, and vice versa?
Dumbass.