As a comedy nerd there is nothing worse than hearing a hacky comedian. But how do you define hacky? Much like porn, it’s hard to define, but you know it when you see it.
This week we break down what hack comedy is. We also talk about cheap jokes. We all laugh at them. So what’s the problem? Take a listen and find out.
P.S. We’ll be taking the next two weeks off from the podcast to celebrate the holidays, but we’ll still be updating the site with other content. Happy Holidays!
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Good podcast. A few things I thought also merit noting:
1. Non-joke/Presentational Hackiness – By this I mean phrases that have become cliched over time like “How you guys doing tonight (for the 10th time in a row), That doesn’t happen, that’s not right, Am I right, what’s that about (if you have to ask you don’t know), Can you believe this?, Have you seen this? , Didn’t they get the memo?, Whatever happened to, Don’t you just wish, you do! You know you do!, That’s right, I said it! Thanks, that’s my time, you guys have been great. ”
Andy Daly does a funny piece on the Comedy Death Ray CD all about this. Maria Bamford’s road comic bit also incorporates some of it.
2. Structural hackiness – By this I mean joke structures which are really over used. Like if you were to do a joke that was structured “I just Aed in from B, and boy are my Xes Yed” with a simple little bait and switch that would be hacky. You talked about that sort of in the context of cheap laugh in terms of the simple bait and switch, but I think the structure itself is really tired. Lists are also a little tired, you know? When someone does a list and it’s not that funny but because they’re saying a bunch of words at once the audience laughs and applauds them at the end, it feels a bit like cheating. The funny letter is a really used structure in alt comedy, etc… I’m talking here both about lameness of the joke-logic and the structure/capsule/framing of the joke itself, you know?
3. Anti-post-ironic-double-hackery – It seems to me that it’s getting to a point where ironically making fun of hackiness can itself, in certain cases, be hacky. I’ve heard so many comics say something ironically about airplane food, black people and white people, etc… I mean at least find something more specific or newer that has become hack, it just seems like an easy way to get laughs at an alt show.
I just think that, broadly speaking, generality is the enemy of art and specificity is critical. When you’re being general you’re really just trying to aim directly at an effect, rather than skillfully producing a cause. Melodrama, for instance, has been called “Effects with no causes.” It’s the same sort of thing.
“rockstar comedians, coming up w/ amounts you never thought possible”
accountants, whatever. I laughed.
The other story by that comedian who’s name i think deserves to be said because it is a hilarious joke in and of itself was about Donald Trump. He worked a party that Trump attended and Trump didn’t tip him so the punchline was, “Donald Trump? More like Donald Chump!” Oh man that was golden.