How could I forget you! Nice to hear from you. BITB were awesome… are you still together? Man, those were good times.

Drop me a line and tell me what you’re up to kevin (at) rogerscopy.com.

Kevin

came across you here-not sure if you remember me–Alan from “Boys in the Bathroom”…..played alot of gigs with you at the Chicago Improv and comedy festival……it’s been quite sometime….you should drop me a line if you get a chance man.

I always thought if I could figure out what Robin Williams was saying that he might be my favorite. When I’d watch his shows on English TV back in the day, I seriously wondered if there was something up with my hearing. The yanks in MSG were cracking up and me in my He-Man PJ’s can only figure out every fourth word he’s saying. Am I alone in this?

O.k, but if we’re talking marketing, then I get my biggest inspiration from Sasha Baron Cohen. Dude has a scrotum of substantial size. He must to pull off some of his more brazen shennanigans, to quote Kern.

He’s not a traditional stand-up, I know. But he’s unafraid. And as a guy readying his own self-marketing for launch, he’s good inspiration to be numb to what other may think and just stick it to ‘em.

And this gives me an excuse to share my favorite Cohen clip. Not his most outrageous clip… but my favorite… perhaps because his victim portrays such admirable patience and tolerance as Cohen mercilessly beats her over the head…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_KH28KuZ3I

I’m pretty sure Tony Clifton was created by Kaufman, but Zmuda (Andy’s best friend) also played Clifton. (One weekend, Zmuda played Clifton in Reno as Andy escaped to a nearby brothel to try and sleep with every prostitute there!)

Thanks for the book suggestion – I’ve added it to my list…

Cheers,
Dave

I think the 30-minute bonus show on “Standing Up” is worth the price of the whole DVD. The pop-tart routine is classic.

There’s just something about Brian’s style. It’s sometimes so outrageous — so over the top — that you have to laugh. And there’s no stand-up comedian who can move his body quite like Brian can move his. Half the humor comes from expression and movement.

Another of my favorites: Jim Gaffigan. “Beyond the Pale” is awesome; so is “King Baby.”

The only thing about comedy I dislike is trying to find truly good comics. So many of them just cuss and swear and rely on the same old easy jokes, usually about sex and relationships. Booorrrring!

Ryan

Just finished another great book about stand-up in the 70′s called “I’m Dying Up Here: Fast times and High Times in Stand-Up Comedy’s Golden Era” by William Knoedelseder. Fun read.

Thanks for stopping by.

Kevin

Interesting post… In terms of stand-up comics I’d have to say my favorites are Chris Rock and Seinfeld. Besides that, two comedians I love that aren’t necessarily stand-up guys are John Candy and (my #1 favorite) Andy Kaufman. Unfortunately they’re both gone but their stuff is both brilliant.

In terms of marketing inspiration…

1. Taking Kaufman, he really knew how to polarize an audience and make people respond emotionally (although in his case people usually ended up hating him!) The book, “Andy Kaufman Revealed!: Best Friend Tells All “, is an awesome read – even just the cover is great

2. Candy just made you smile because he was so likeable (being a likable personality to your audience…) and…

3. Seinfeld and Rock bring out stuff that becomes obvious once they say it and (as you’ve mentioned in your post) get you in agreement with them…

That’s pretty general stuff, in terms of specifics, that’s a good one… I’ll need to think about that one some more!

Cheers,
Dave

You’re a man of wealth and taste.

I’m privileged to call Brian a friend. We worked a handful of gigs together back in the day. It’ll come as no surprise that he’s been just as gut-splitting funny his entire career (over 20 years now).

One of the few guys I’d gladly pay to watch.

Take luck!

Kevin