On hype and hypoxia

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on March 29th, 2007

Enter the twisted vortex of Aspen via Sean L. McCarthy’s Boston Phoenix article on the reception accorded Shane Mauss at that sky-high resort’s recent festival:

Hanging out with him that week was like taking a class in the cultural anthropology of buzz. You could see it in the way Aspen’s well-to-do quoted his jokes about pussy and anal beads. He couldn’t sit down to eat a meal without customers, waiters, and executives approaching his table– respectfully, somewhat gingerly — to offer their congratulations.

A primer on hype and buzz surrounding a three-year veteran of standup comedy as he rides the roller coaster from Cambridge to Aspen to NYC/NBC.

The most revealing quote:

Soon, an HBO scout invited Mauss to audition for its annual US Comedy Arts Festival, held each February in Aspen, Colorado. “He was one of the last people booked,” HBO talent executive Kathi Khoury said. “I had to fight for Shane,” who didn’t have an agent.

If you don’t have an agent… someone has to fight for you. Jokes, material, delivery, killing– none of it matters. A “scout,” someone deputized by the Festival itself, must fight for you to be included in that very festival… because you don’t have an agent! That there is a system that is seriously flawed– some might say broken.