Funniest Mom press juggernaut rolls on

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on April 19th, 2007

From GoTriad.com (NC), an article on a local comic who is in the running for Nickelodeon’s Funniest Mom

One of the comedians, she said to me, ‘Quit telling people you’ve only been doing this for six months!’ and I’m like, ‘I’m kinda proud of that,'” Burgess said.

According to Burgess, nearly all 13 contestants who made it to the California taping were professionals with agents and frequent paying gigs, including Cathy Ladman, who has appeared on network TV and HBO.

“When I saw her, I was like, ‘Is she a celebrity judge? Why is she here?’ and they were like, ‘No, she’s a contestant,’ ” Burgess says. “It was like she was using the show to sorta kick-start her career.”

Meee-Yow!

From where does this notion come? This idea that we are all somehow downtrodden, destitute and all in need of something to “kick-start” the career? And why, if that were the case, would it be such a negative thing? People, comedians, like Ladman, go on television because millions of people watch television. If a comedian is in the business of show (no matter at what level), he/she probably can/should take advantage of an opportunity to appear on television. If, for no other reason, than to expose him/herself to a newer/broader audience.

We hear quotes like this one and we suspect that some folks prefer that experienced comedians not be allowed to participate. (The premise being that those in need of a some sort of kick-start had a chance and really don’t deserve a second– or, perhaps, a third– chance. And that the participation of the grizzled veteran is somehow… “unfair.”) The flip side of that is even more ludicrous– That television should exist solely to afford instant, eye-popping fame to the young, the inexperienced, the “new.” Sanjaya Syndrome taken to its horrific, unsatisfying, unentertaining extreme!

Why is one contestant allowed (or encouraged) to wear six months experience as a badge of honor, yet another contestant can’t be equally proud of 20+ years spent on a stage? Let’s be real: Standup comedy is difficult to master. It takes a while to be truly competent. We won’t sit idly by and let some folks continue to propagate the concept that one can be a fully-formed comedian in the space of six months… or that a comedian who isn’t a household name after two decades of hard work is somehow less than deserving of fame, fortune or respect.

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