It’s not that hard to be funny. Really, it isn’t. Jokes, when you boil them down, are pretty simple.
First, you take a situation. Then at the end, reverse expectations. A man walks into a bar, and says “Ow!”
See! You jump to the conclusion that the man wishes to enter a bar and what do you know, I’ve switched the meaning on you! Most jokes are more glorified versions of this. And you know, a person with killer delivery can sell even the above to you and make you smile, if not laugh; Emo Phillips and the late Mitch Hedberg had dynamite delivery and were funny. Standup comedians have figured out a
lot of ways to make us laugh. Most of them are successful on their own merits and they are funny women and men. Two of them, however, are dreadful people and should not be paid a cent.
Carlos Mencia gets to be first on the chopping block. First off, let’s get this out of the way; he steals jokes.
I know this is a big deal in the comedic circuit, so if you already know about it, skip over the next paragraph.
Comedians like Joe Rogan have been calling Mencia out on stealing jokes. The evidence is overwhelming; youtubing Mencia’s name brings up videos of his jokes played alongside Bill Cosby, Lopez, and many other comedians. A few of them are weaker connections, but others are damning, such as Mencia being outed live by a DJ after stealing a joke another DJ had made years previous.
This wouldn’t be so bad if Mencia could make jokes, but he can’t. He relies on racial stereotypes, but completely lacks Chapelle’s sense of wry humor and general quality and instead comes off as, well, a racist.
His delivery is less that of a skilled comedian and more of Edward Scissorhands as an obstetrician. He murders jokes that aren’t even his. Just stop listening to him already.
Secondly; Dane Cook is not funny at all.
Cook fails to understand the first part of that breakdown in the beginning of this article: the situation.
Cook describes long scenarios, something that’s a comedy tenet, but they are situations that cannot happen at all. He puts on a goofy face, makes a sound effect that sometimes sounds accurate and other times sounds just like he’s spitting in his hand, and does a long drawn out comedy bit that just … would never happen. There’s nothing there! It’s fluff! There are no expectations to reverse because he’s just saying random phrases that have nothing to do with each other, and there’s no joke!
As an example: Cook once had a skit about how he ran into an atheist on the bus and, being a Catholic, has a conversation with him. The skit opens with, yup, goofy face and sound effects where this atheist guy sneezes on Cook and the snot is like, so gross, hyuk hyuk. And then Cook says “God bless you” and the atheist says (can you guess!) “Ugh, no thanks” and argues with Cook about the existence of God.
Already, this is something that just … won’t happen. What kind of atheist decides to pick a fight on a bus with someone who was being polite? Well, people can be mean, you say. So let’s give Cook a let with this highly improbably scenario.
Cook then says the atheist tells him he will be reborn as a tree.
…What? When did atheism mean HINDUISM?
His standup is full of this stuff. That’s all it is! Even his infamous coats bit is not something that ever happens. These are not jokes, they are random words strung together so Cook can reach over and stroke your ego and you say “Ah, yes, this is how I would react as well to this situation” and you ignore the fact that there never was a joke.
The next time you hear one of these guys, don’t just giggle because they said words. Ask yourself; was that funny? Or was it just improbable situations with different actors so that Cook can make another goofy face and treat us like we’re in kindergarten? Or was it a racist joke you heard in class the other
day that Mencia’s now using?
Quit supporting unfunny people already. And if you think those two guys are hilarious and I’m just crazy, I’ve got this amazing drinking bird that comes up and down for some water that you’d be interested in.
