Modified On August 24, 2006
Jed Gottlieb’s profile of Jake Johannsen (“Just your average everyday famous person”) is worth checking out, if only for the quotes from the subject. How novel!
Johannsen came up with a lot the trendy, young comics. He doesn’t disparage what they do—he’s actually a big Cross fan—but the (largely fan-created) hipper-than-thou thing doesn’t make sense to him. The kids who dig Cross, or the adults who dig Seinfeld, would fit in just fine at any regular comedy club– and with the talent out there now, he adds, they’ll laugh their goddamn asses off.
“Most people only go to comedy clubs when Seinfeld or Ray Romano or Drew Carey is in town, but they’re missing so much,” he says. “The difference between watching an HBO special and seeing live comedy is like the difference between watching a porno and actually having sex. It’s a big difference.”
And, despite the fact that Gottlieb makes reference to “two-minute late-night standup slots” (?!), you won’t regret reading the entire article.