Comedians vs Musicians
1 Comments Published by Kevin Broken Scar on Monday, July 07, 2008 at 11:13 PM.
This came up in a conversation the other day and I mentioned that comedians should be given a break. People tend to complain that comedians recycle their jokes at shows. According to some friends of mine who went to see Russell Peters, they said that they were disappointed because he recycled most of his jokes and they've heard or seen them already, not from previous shows but online. The problem is, the jokes weren't meant to be seen or heard via online bootlegs. Of course Russell is going to use the same jokes, they are part of his "set". The same goes for other comedians.
It's funny how comedians are given a hard time for "recycling" their set. You mean they are supposed to use all different jokes every night? It's like telling a band they have to play new songs every night. It doesn't work that way.
Musicians and bands on the other hand are celebrated for the same songs they use in their sets night after night. A band would record an album, release it and go on tour to promote it for at least a good year, playing the same songs night after night. If the band has more than one album, there's a slightly higher chance that they'd play the hits and slot in different songs from their larger repertoire.
The bottom line is that I think comedians should be given a break. I'd watch Russell Peters over and over again and the jokes are still funny to me. It's all in the head, it's all about perception. If you can watch the same band play live twice, you can watch a comedian perform live twice. Simple as that.
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Broken Scar's album, Midnight In St. Kilda is available on www.mytracks.com/brokenscar
It's funny how comedians are given a hard time for "recycling" their set. You mean they are supposed to use all different jokes every night? It's like telling a band they have to play new songs every night. It doesn't work that way.
Musicians and bands on the other hand are celebrated for the same songs they use in their sets night after night. A band would record an album, release it and go on tour to promote it for at least a good year, playing the same songs night after night. If the band has more than one album, there's a slightly higher chance that they'd play the hits and slot in different songs from their larger repertoire.
The bottom line is that I think comedians should be given a break. I'd watch Russell Peters over and over again and the jokes are still funny to me. It's all in the head, it's all about perception. If you can watch the same band play live twice, you can watch a comedian perform live twice. Simple as that.
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Broken Scar's album, Midnight In St. Kilda is available on www.mytracks.com/brokenscar
i agree! i really sympathise with comedians who get criticism for repeating jokes.. how can they afford to write hour long sets for every single performance? like how music relies on familiarity, comedy relies on spontaneity and fresh material to hook their audience.. makes it so incredibly difficult!