Modified On July 17, 2008
We alternate between being stunned and being disappointed. Then we shrug and realize that some folks just can’t give up old habits. There’s a short piece on Philadelphia Magazine’s website, in a blog called “Impresario,” which is edited by Victor Fiorillo. The title?
Philly Getting New Comedy Club… Does Anybody Care?
It’s a heads up on the opening of the National Lampoon Comedy House on July 25. It gets better:
…in Philadelphia proper, going out to see stand-up just isn’t something that ranks too high on most of our lists.
It’s getting almost humorous now. We envision hacks from all over the country (working at thick, slick, formerly ad-choked city mags) passing around the same tired clichéd paragraphs and phrases that denigrate what has become one of the more popular entertainment choices in the past 30 years.
Dig out that dreary takedown of a standup comedy club from 1992, insert the name of the new comedy club and change the name of the city and you’ve written yourself a snarky three-paragraph story in a record three minutes!
Hasn’t this guy heard? Standup comedy is more popular now than it has ever been. And it has multi-generational appeal– even the old people and their parents (Philly Mag’s prime demo?) regularly enjoy standup. Performers like Chappelle and Lewis Black and Jim Gaffigan sell out theaters large and small in towns large and small. (Check out our posting from Vegas last week if you need proof that standup excites people and easily separates them from their entertainment dollar.)
Fiorillo does his readers, his employers and standup comedy a disservice. His attitude is square and dated.
On a brighter note, the January 25th soft opening for the National Lampoon Comedy House in Philly was supposed to be a fundraiser to cover the cost of local comedian Jeff Pirrami‘s recent heart surgery. Pirrami however, has graciously opted to make it a show that benefits the family of recently departed comedian Mike Sullivan Irwin. Such selflessness is inspiring.
P.S.: Here’s a sampling of references to standup in Fiorillo’s postings in just the last 75 days
Haven’t we had enough of Chris Rock yet?
If I were ruler of the world, impressionists would be banned. BANNED, I tell you. But I am not. So you are still free to enjoy the supposed funniness of Frank Caliendo…
I have to be honest with you. I actually thought that Bob Newhart was dead. Not in the way that you might say that you thought Samantha Fox or Kato Kaelin was dead. Like, actually dead. Well, either I am wrong or they’re practicing some kind of voodoo out in Hershey, where Newhart or perhaps the Ghost of Newhart will do whatever it is that he or it does these days…
Sophisticated he is not. Andrew Dice Clay– in what should be called The Back From The Fucking Dead Tour…
Also at the Borgata, youve got that annoying redhead Kathy Griffin…
Does this loser do good things for the credibility of Philadelphia Magazine? Is it really in their best interests to have someone like this commenting on standup? Don’t mention standup around Grandpa Fiorillo! HE GOES APESHIT!