No Responses

1. rr says:

   July 29, 2005 at 2:52 pm

   What ever happened to “even bad press is good press”? Short of Kathleen Madigan and Ralphie May, I’d never heard of these people before. Now they’re getting booked at JFL. Sure some of the participants on Last Comic Standing stunk, but every dog has it’s day and even the worst comic can have a great set. Once or twice. At least where LCS was concerned, these people got to put their talent on the line. “I know I’m funnier than…” has been echoed in greenrooms, bars and hotel lobbies since the dawn of “how hot is it?”. Now finally on national TV, these big shots got to prove it.I think that the real draw back of watching comics on a reality show is seeing a comic’s real life personality compared to their onstage persona. Sometimes the buisness of comedy isn’t funny at all.

   Reply
2. Brian McKim & Traci Skene says:

   July 31, 2005 at 2:01 pm

   There’s bad press… and then there’s bad press. This bad press has no redeeming value whatever. There’s no reasoned opinion, no critical review, just a flat, juvenile, “those people stunk.” Sometimes bad press is bad press. This is one of those cases. The companion to that statement is usually, “as long as they spell my name right.” No names were mentioned, just “those people.”And, no offense, just because you’ve never heard of them doesn’t mean anything. We were familiar with many of them. Sure, we’re the editors and publishers of the premiere online magazine about standup, but, even if we weren’t, we’d still be familiar with most of them because we’re comics.For the Times’ reporter to proclaim them as stinky is pathetic. For Reid to blithely agree is puzzling to say the least. (We suspect that Reid doesn’t plan on booking any of them in the near future.)Also: The phrase or the sentiment “I know I’m funnier than…” isn’t actually spoken as often as you’d think. And, finally, what you see as a drawback– being able to compare a comic’s personality to his/her onstage persona– was, we would bet, fascinating to a great number of the viewing audience, especially among those who are astute comedy fans. And, since few comics get to “do panel,” the opportunity to get an idea of their personality is rare.

   Reply
3. comedymaven says:

   August 2, 2005 at 2:21 am

   Jumpin’ Jehosephat, Brian,That article didn’t come out til Sunday, how the h did you see it Thursday?I guess I can’t really defend my agreeing with reporter Mark Rahner’s comment “those guys stunk” referring to “Last Comic Standing.” But as you can see by the exchange, he didn’t care for the show.His perogative.If you read the whole article, you’ll see that all the dialogue is similar – him asking “edgy” questions and me trying to be funny. Click here: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw07312005/portraits.htmlIn my years of working in comedy, I have found that there’s nothing interviewers hate more than serious answers. So again, maybe I should have said “no, Mr. Reporter Man, you’re wrong, those comedians are all great comedians.”Thanks, though, for blowing this little interview up way the f*** out of proportion. By the way, Tom Cotter is a former winner of the annual Seattle Comedy Competition, which I produce. Ralphie May is one of my favorite people in comedy, was one of the biggest draws at the Comedy Underground until he got too expensive. Alonzo Bodden and I just recently met in the green room of the Comedy & Magic Club. The others I have not had the privilege of meeting, although their reputation precedes them.But thanks, Brian, for making a big deal out of this in your role as Defender of All Things Standup.But, to tell you the truth, Last Comic Standing, while it increased the participants’ notoriety (see my comment about Ralphie May’s price range above), did not showcase their abilities in the slightest. Part of the paradox of stand-up not translating well to network television, I suppose. Truthfully, now, Mr. McKim, how many people have you ever heard say “boy, that Dat Phan is the funniest guy I ever saw!”And, oddly enough, I spent a lot of time defending LCS to staff and customers for being good for the biz (see the original dialogue in question). Because, truth be known, most of the people I came in contact who saw the show with held opinions much like Seattle Times reporter Mark Rahner.Who, by the way, is a big fan of stand-up comedy. Live. Also, “rr” who made the first comment in this series is not I. or not me. Whatever.Jesus, Brian.Ron Reid

   Reply
4. Brian McKim & Traci Skene says:

   August 2, 2005 at 3:49 am

   Ron: Just re-read our original posting…and our response to the first comment. We found us to be suprisingly restrained! We fail to see how we “(blew) this little interview up way the f*** out of proportion.” But we’re glad you got a chance to clarify or amplify your original interview statements. And, say what you will about Dat Phan, but a lot of people apparently find him to be entertaining. (In fact, the Female Half of the Staff called Phan as the winner early on in the run of the show! Not because she found funny, but because she knew many others would.) The show stunk. This much is not in dispute. But many of the comics on the show, as you belatedly pointed out, are decent, professional comics. This is a critical difference. For a “big fan of standup comedy,” Mr. Rahmer seems to be too willing to generalize. And, it seems, he didn’t realize that LCS had a overwhelmingly positive affect on standup. That kind of fan, standup can do without. As for our “role as Defender of All Things Standup,” thanks for noticing! You give us far too much credit!

   Reply
5. pg says:

   August 2, 2005 at 9:56 am

   When LCS was on the air, I followed the show on the “fansofrealitytv.com” message board–populated overwhelmingly by non-comics. A lot of them didn’t understand why the comedians weren’t doing ten minutes of new material on every show. They’re used to seeing Leno/Letterman/O’Brien/Stewart/Kimmel/Ferguson/etc. do it every night, these guys have a week…they can’t do it?The first two years, LCS presented comics performing in a show that was half MTV Real World and half American Idol. It didn’t show comics or the business of comedy accurately–and all of us know that.THEN–they flip the script in season three, give us the same comics that we’d seen in the two previous years in nothing but head to head battles…the poor quality of this show, the poorly thought out premise of the show…and NBC’s lack of commitment to the show all helped to form a prevalent myth amongst non-comedy industry types: the idea that “oh, nobody likes to watch stand-up comics after that show got cancelled.” I saw the article on Ron in the Sunday Seattle Times…and when I read the attitude given by the interviewer about LCS, I groaned–but I accepted it as being a widely held public view. Sure, I wish Ron had stood up for the comics on that show–but since when has a reporter doing a quick public profile ever decided to publish his subject’s chastising him as the reporter for a poorly informed opinion? Can it really be helped in a world where most people who admit to having voted for Dat Phan at the end of Season One did so because they felt that the other comics had been mean to him? pgreyy–www.seattlecomedy.netPS–Hi Ron!

   Reply
6. ianrichard says:

   August 2, 2005 at 10:06 pm

   You folks at Shecky need to find a hobby. It must have been a super slow news week in the world of comedic entertainment if Shecky feels it necessary to drop poop bombs on Ron Reid. Ron has done so much for comedy in Seattle and L.A., runs one of the top competitions, and supports local NW talent at the club. It’s sucks that Shecky ignores this and “doesn’t see how” they are blowing some playful banter between a comedy club manager and a weekend magazine writer out of proportion. Did Ron not also praise LCS and say it was good for comedy before the writer interjected his own opinion? Just checking.I hope Shecky is this critical with all club managers, owners and comics who give five minute interviews that promote live comedy. Let’s find someone far more useless to pick on. I hope everyone who has read this comes to a show at the Comedy Underground in Seattle to tell Ron that he is a great guy, or tell him he sucks, Dat Phan rules and get kicked in the dick before being thrown up a flight of stairs by 20 angry Seattle comics who think Ron is funnier than ‘Grandma Lee.’ (see LCS season two for more on this post-menapausal comedy powerhouse). Toodles…i.r.

   Reply
7. Brian McKim & Traci Skene says:

   August 3, 2005 at 12:21 am

   Get a hobby?What… ever.We just helped out Ron with one of his clients this past week. Spent some time composing a letter to Ron after he requested some info on the PHL area comedy scene.Got no problem with Ron, the man, the myth the comedy philanthropist, the Seattle impresario. He knows that.We <>will<> take you task if you say something dopey in print, though. That’s what we’ve done for six years plus. We’ll continue to do so. The “playful banter” defense ain’t cuttin’ it. It didn’t read well from here. No big deal, really, especially when you consider that we said that “it stinks.” That, and we called the Times guy a “news weasel.” (Nothing he hasn’t already heard, we assure you.)In addition to being internet publishers, we’re also professional comedians. We saw that quote and thought: One of us could have easily been on LCS…indeed, one of our columnists <>actually was<> on the show…how would I feel about seeing that in print? Un-good. And, if I were a publicist for one of them, I would not relish plunging into the Seattle market knowing that an owner and a supposed standup afficionado, in the course of “playful banter,” said just about the worst thing anyone can say about any standup comic.Who’s blowing what out of proportion? Not us.

   Reply
8. Brian McKim & Traci Skene says:

   August 5, 2005 at 8:47 pm

   Had to take another one down. The rules are simple: Stick to the point and don’t malign anyone. The last comment managed to break both rules. Amazing.And for chrissakes, use your real name.Even though we state at the top, “Comments do not necessarily reflect the opinion of SHECKYmagazine.com,” we still don’t want to provide a forum for anyone to libel anyone. Especially anonymously.

   Reply