Jon Stewart and the Ruination of American Comedy

[Bestbank Tiger]

He did great work during his first run.

After the 2000 election, he played a clip of W saying "I ask you to pray for the United States of America." Then said "We're waaaaaay ahead of you, George."

He also ridiculed CNN for fact-checking Saturday Night Live but saying "We'll just leave it there" when guests made mutually exclusive claims about important issues.

 

[Narz]

He did great work during his first run.

After the 2000 election, he played a clip of W saying "I ask you to pray for the United States of America." Then said "We're waaaaaay ahead of you, George."

He also ridiculed CNN for fact-checking Saturday Night Live but saying "We'll just leave it there" when guests made mutually exclusive claims about important issues.

Prepared material vs real time knowledge & agility

 

[Bestbank Tiger]

Prepared material vs real time knowledge & agility

Comedy is almost always prepared. Improv is much harder which is why it isn't the norm.

 

[Kyriakos]

Maybe someone like Norm would improvise, but apparently mostly out of laziness - having only prepared some stuff and then making up variations/elongations on the spot.
There was also Robin Williams, who had his own dynamic. While I personally wasn't a fan, clearly he had impressive abilities.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

 

[Kyriakos]

I doubt Stewart improvises quite as much as those other two did. And I like him

 

[amadeus]

Maybe someone like Norm would improvise, but apparently mostly out of laziness - having only prepared some stuff and then making up variations/elongations on the spot.

I think it wasn’t lazy but a mastery of the craft. I think his moth joke on Conan is an example of this: he was brought on for another segment and he took a 20-second joke he heard from someone else and mixed it with this almost Russian novel-like storytelling. The joke wasn’t the punchline, but the journey to get there, and the brilliance of being able to do that isn’t random, I don’t think it is innate, but a skill that has been worked on for by then more than 20 years experience.

 

[Kyriakos]

I think it wasn’t lazy but a mastery of the craft. I think his moth joke on Conan is an example of this: he was brought on for another segment and he took a 20-second joke he heard from someone else and mixed it with this almost Russian novel-like storytelling. The joke wasn’t the punchline, but the journey to get there, and the brilliance of being able to do that isn’t random, I don’t think it is innate, but a skill that has been worked on for by then more than 20 years experience.

I agree, but various comedians who knew him spoke (admirably) of laziness, because he could rely on some random intricacy which did not appear scripted (though of course practice makes that easier too).
I'd say that many of his non-scripted (for the most part) jokes are based on diversion coupled with the comedic/ironic implication of lack of understanding.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

 

[tjs282]

The Trat Pop movie was surprisingly good fun.