Modified On December 5, 2005
(Note: An earlier version of this post identified the publication in question as NY Monthly, instead of NJ Monthly. We apologize for any confusion!)
In yet another incident that might lead one to believe that standup comedy is back on the cultural radar, New Jersey Monthly has put out a Comedy Issue. While we appreciate that a publication of NJM’s stature went to the trouble, we found the issue to be an series of uninspired articles on standup comedy. Oh, sure, we’re mildly annoyed that they never contacted us, but we chalk that up to their North Jersey bias. (If you’re not from Jersey, it’s a given that North Jersey and South Jersey are two different states. In fact, SoJo threatens to “secede” every once in a while and make Vineland the capitol of the new state. Secessionists ultimately lose interest and just go down the shore until the urge goes away.)
Perhaps most distressing was the main piece, by Peter Golden that profiles Rascals partner Ed Rodriguez. Leaving aside the fact that the main article in a Comedy Issue is on someone who toils not on the stage but in the boardroom, it was mainly about the publicly-traded company’s success, not in actual live comedy, but in the peddling through cyberspace of their hours and hours of the Rascals Good Time Comedy Hour.” The show aired on cable up north back in the first golden period of standup and is now being offered to the public via number of platforms.
The grand prize for the most annoying quote was from one Gary DeLena in an article called “Tough Crowd,” a brief (modern) history of the standup comedy as it relates to the Garden State.
Gary DeLena, a Point Pleasant comedian who has performed stand-up for 22 years, says that many clubs didn’t last because they were mismanaged or they cut corners by booking weak acts. “Once it caught on, everybody and their brother wanted to try comedy,” DeLena says. “Did you ever hear the expression, ‘Dying is easy but comedy is hard?’ A lot of the comics sucked.”
While there is a nugget of truth in DeLena’s statement, it utterly fails to convey any of the subtlety of the collapse. We shouldn’t be surprised, though, that the reporter seized upon this particularly negative, vicious and ultimately unenlightening quote. The MSM gets a woody any time they get anyone to say that comedy (or comedians) are somehow inept or boorish. All the better if they get one of our own to utter the remark.