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Comedy Central dumps on one of its own

Here’s a heartwarming slice of an Orlando Sun-Sentinel account of a recent audition at the Improv in West Palm to compete for a spot in the South Beach Comedy Festival.

Comedians were asked to prepare 3 minutes worth of clean material in front of Comedy Central executives and festival organizers.

Laer walked on stage and improvised for a few minutes before poking fun of stand-up comedian Dane Cook.

He said Cook had originally inspired him to do standup but after watching him live in Los Angeles, Laer said “I can do this, I’m funnier than this guy.”

So, of course, they bump the kid to the next level.

Which is the more important question:

“Why does a comic think he can get away with trashing a fellow comic at such a high-profile event?”

or

“Why would Comedy Central reward such rude, stupid behavior?”

The latter question is especially pertinent, considering how much money Cook makes for the cable outlet and how heavily he is identified with them.

As for the first question, comics (and, for the sake of argument, we’ll allow that Laer is a comic) feel that not only can they get away with such trash talk, they are encouraged to do so— by other comics, by some particularly rude fans and, astonishingly, by small and petty cable television suits.