Meet PERFUME, our official Japanese Electro-pop group!!

[_moksha]

Pentatonix is great. In many cases, their cover is better than the original. The song Hallelujah never sounded better (except perhaps for that torch song version by KD Lang).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRP8d7hhpoQ

[_honorentheos]

I'm in a bit of a goofy mood at the moment. I just finished watching Tracy Morgan's latest stand-up.

Since this thread is about VERY VERY IMPORTANT STUFF THAT AFFECTS MDB...

I was kinda disappointed in his special. Not because it was bad, it was kinda alright and had really good moments, too. But it was more confirmation that Netflix is killing what I always used to associate with something being an actual comedy special. I used to think of it as a comedian taking a killer set they had worked into a finely crafted form and then bronzing it for posterity at which point they'd go on to work out new material. But now Netflix is cranking them out so fast it seems more like people testing out material that's barely stage worthy. In the case of the Amy Schumer special, I serious think she may have not told some of those jokes for an audience before. Morgans was somewhere in the middle. Like, much of it worked ok but it still felt like it could have used a little polish.

You were/maybe still are a paid comedian, right? What do you think about Netflix cranking out specials? I love comedy and am torn because I love having so many artists having stuff available but...there should be standards I guess.

[_Gunnar]

Pentatonix is great. In many cases, their cover is better than the original. The song Hallelujah never sounded better (except perhaps for that torch song version by KD Lang).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRP8d7hhpoQ

Yeah! I love that version of Hallelujah too!

[_Some Schmo]

I was kinda disappointed in his special. Not because it was bad, it was kinda alright and had really good moments, too. But it was more confirmation that Netflix is killing what I always used to associate with something being an actual comedy special. I used to think of it as a comedian taking a killer set they had worked into a finely crafted form and then bronzing it for posterity at which point they'd go on to work out new material. But now Netflix is cranking them out so fast it seems more like people testing out material that's barely stage worthy. In the case of the Amy Schumer special, I serious think she may have not told some of those jokes for an audience before. Morgans was somewhere in the middle. Like, much of it worked ok but it still felt like it could have used a little polish.

Yep, I completely agree. It was not Morgan's best stuff, and it felt a little like he was relying more on his delivery than having actual jokes (and he's one of those guys who can almost get away with it, because he is has a naturally funny demeanor). But emphasis has to be on "almost" because no matter how funny a reputation you have, a comedian still has to have jokes. I've seen him do much better sets. I was thinking that perhaps he rushed this thing after his coma.

I have to admit to not being much of a fan of Schumer, so I haven't seen her latest.

You were/maybe still are a paid comedian, right? What do you think about Netflix cranking out specials? I love comedy and am torn because I love having so many artists having stuff available but...there should be standards I guess.

Without divulging too much about what I do, I will say that yes, I have a varied background in entertainment/comedy.

The guy I most admire these days is Louis Celestial Kingdom, partly because I think he's hilarious, but mostly because of the way he describes his work ethic. After he tapes a special, he throws all that material away and starts over. His philosophy is that once his fans have heard his jokes, they likely aren't going to want to pay to hear them again, and it's his responsibility to come up with fresh stuff. That is an incredibly difficult thing to do. Writing workable bits is hard. Good material is like a security blanket. It's really easy, if a show isn't going well because you're trying new material, to fall back on stuff you know works. It's takes discipline to "fail big." So I admire his courage, and the fact is, you can almost be guaranteed when you watch a new Louis special that it's going to be in the same ball park, quality-wise, as his previous specials. It's amazing he pumps them out yearly (especially considering all the other projects he works on). I don't think anyone can match him these days. He's moving into the George Carlin comedic echelon, in my opinion. He's becoming a legend in the field.

So, as far as Netflix is concerned, I guess I feel like this is a market driven business. The best will rise to the top, and become in demand. It's incumbent on performers to be worthy of whatever Netflix is paying them for these specials, or it won't happen again.

[_honorentheos]

Louis Celestial Kingdom is certainly in a class of his own. Not just the volume of output but the kind of material he puts out is in another place. Completely agree.

Netflix has been great for getting a lot of comedians on, many of whom I might never have heard of that I really enjoyed. Especially their inclusion of international acts from Great Britian, Mexico, India...I'm ashamed to admit I had never heard of Jimmy Carr but damn. And Katherine Ryan killed. I was pleasantly surprised by Cristella Alonzo's special. I really enjoyed it. I probably never would have heard of Iliza Shlesinger but her specials usually hit for me.

Part of what I'm noticing, though, is that comedians that I like and who have specials I've considered killer seem to be getting their Netflix contract and put crap out too soon. That list is sadly getting longer. Joe Rogan's Triggered was not his best material. In fact I think regular listeners of his podcast probably heard every joke on it or what led to the joke there. I like Rogan a lot, and consider his Tiny Happy Jihad to be great. Russell Peters has a thing that can get old, but his earlier specials were way up there for me while his latest Netflix special should have been called, Phoning It In. Schumer is hit and miss for me. I hadn't heard of either her or Anthony Jeselnik until the roast they did together and she straight up murdered everyone. That was a hell of a coming out party. But her TV show never did anything for me, her HBO special was OK but the evidence of joke stealing is just too compelling to be ignored...but still. Her Leather Special serious sucked. Open mic, drank too much sucked. It shouldn't have aired. It makes me think she has no real friends that no one close to her could say, "Yeahhhhh, maybe give Netflix their money back and tell them you'll take a mulligan after 6 months on the road putting touches on your jokes." It was terrible.

Anyway, I can agree with the intent of letting the cream rise. I guess it's that the money is creating a dynamic where people I consider good are being offered specials that don't align with their joke development which is my real problem. Netflix, if you read tiny Mormon-related boards but only in the non-Mormon sections: Consider your brand better served by adjusting the model to the state of the routine's development rather than the fame of the comic. Send in a scout to a recent show first or something. Make them demonstrate the material is worthy. Something.

[_Dr. Shades]

[_Some Schmo]

Anyway, I can agree with the intent of letting the cream rise. I guess it's that the money is creating a dynamic where people I consider good are being offered specials that don't align with their joke development which is my real problem. Netflix, if you read tiny Mormon-related boards but only in the non-Mormon sections: Consider your brand better served by adjusting the model to the state of the routine's development rather than the fame of the comic. Send in a scout to a recent show first or something. Make them demonstrate the material is worthy. Something.

The only problem, as I see it, is that comedy is subjective. It leads to the question, "Who's the arbiter of worthy material?" I suppose they could employ a panel of judges from various points of view to try to come to a consensus, but no matter what, there will be people who watch these shows and say, "This sucks!" while others will laugh their asses off. I still find myself surprised at how certain jokes I've told get a far better reaction than expected, and others far worse.

This is why I come back to the comic in question. They should be the ones who quality control their work. They're the ones who evolve their own comedy, based on the aggregate reaction of all the crowds for whom they've performed. They should know if certain jokes could work better, and keep massaging them for maximum effect, or just toss them. They should also be able to say whether or not a particular taping was their best performance of that material (the frame of mind you are in when you walk on stage is the number one determining factor for that night's success - some days, you are more "in the zone" than others. I can't tell you the number of times a comic has walked off the stage saying "Tough crowd" when I was thinking, Not your best performance, man). If anyone should be protective of their reputation, it should be the performers themselves.

Just like anything Netflix has to offer, some is good and some sucks (an assessment which is, obviously, just a projection of my own taste).

[_honorentheos]

Anyway, I can agree with the intent of letting the cream rise. I guess it's that the money is creating a dynamic where people I consider good are being offered specials that don't align with their joke development which is my real problem. Netflix, if you read tiny Mormon-related boards but only in the non-Mormon sections: Consider your brand better served by adjusting the model to the state of the routine's development rather than the fame of the comic. Send in a scout to a recent show first or something. Make them demonstrate the material is worthy. Something.

The only problem, as I see it, is that comedy is subjective. It leads to the question, "Who's the arbiter of worthy material?" I suppose they could employ a panel of judges from various points of view to try to come to a consensus, but no matter what, there will be people who watch these shows and say, "This sucks!" while others will laugh their asses off. I still find myself surprised at how certain jokes I've told get a far better reaction than expected, and others far worse.

This is why I come back to the comic in question. They should be the ones who quality control their work. They're the ones who evolve their own comedy, based on the aggregate reaction of all the crowds for whom they've performed. They should know if certain jokes could work better, and keep massaging them for maximum effect, or just toss them. They should also be able to say whether or not a particular taping was their best performance of that material (the frame of mind you are in when you walk on stage is the number one determining factor for that night's success - some days, you are more "in the zone" than others. I can't tell you the number of times a comic has walked off the stage saying "Tough crowd" when I was thinking, Not your best performance, man). If anyone should be protective of their reputation, it should be the performers themselves.

Just like anything Netflix has to offer, some is good and some sucks (an assessment which is, obviously, just a projection of my own taste).

Those are all good points. I'm just being sad because people I like are letting money talk louder than their better judgement it seems. One of the main reasons I listen to Joe Rogan's podcast is the insider talk about the comedy industry. I really think the podcast is at it's best when he has someone on who has been performing long enough to have history and they go on long rides that we can sit in on about this venue or that club manager, times they've bombed, what they did when they bombed, how much they know they sucked when they started out, how they work on their material, etc., etc. I get the same enjoyment out of that some people probably get out of watching This Old House. I enjoy people talking shop who are at high levels in their game whatever it is.

Anyway, fair point. Schumer is the low water mark and it would be unfair to judge all Netflix stuff on how unworkable that show was. But for whatever reason I now judge people's underpreparedness as worse because of it. So I guess that's a new bias I have. Even Louis's latest special left me wondering at times if he was just seeing how long he could run with an abortion joke that was obviously meant to blow up all audience good will, and it worked in the end in my opinion, or if he was...I don't know. But even Louis didn't completely get the benefit of a doubt because of this feeling I now have that the comedy market is being flooded with cheap special knock-offs. If John Mulaney comes out with a new special and I don't love every minute of it,...I don't know if that proves it's just me or it proves my concerns are valid.

[_Some Schmo]

I'm just being sad because people I like are letting money talk louder than their better judgement it seems.

I totally get this. If you're a fan of someone, it's natural to want them to be consistent, and disappointing when they aren't. You also want to believe they do their thing for the love of it, not for the money.

One of the main reasons I listen to Joe Rogan's podcast is the insider talk about the comedy industry. I really think the podcast is at it's best when he has someone on who has been performing long enough to have history and they go on long rides that we can sit in on about this venue or that club manager, times they've bombed, what they did when they bombed, how much they know they sucked when they started out, how they work on their material, etc., etc. I get the same enjoyment out of that some people probably get out of watching This Old House. I enjoy people talking shop who are at high levels in their game whatever it is.

You and I have this in common. I will watch/listen to anything regarding the art of comedy. In fact, I enjoy that more than watching stand-up itself. Showtime's Inside Comedy and The Green Room are among my favorites. I'm looking forward to I'm Dying Up Here.

[_Dr. Shades]

Good news, everyone: Perfume recently lent their talents to a commercial for Panasonic's side-loading washing machine--a rarity in Japan. This is the upbeat result.

• Everyday (AWA dance)