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Frank Stricklen <frankstricklen>

"The Wierd Al of Irish Music"

	Some Laughs Are Too Cheap	426 giorni fa
	When you do comedy, you want to get laughs. They're sort of a must have if you want to get paid. And I'm not too proud to go for a cheap laugh. But sometimes I think it's possible to sink too low. I do my parodies and music in Irish pubs and there's a long tradition of bawdy humor in pubs. But lately, I've seen some entertainers lower the bar until what they're saying is gross and not really funny. It has shock value and sometimes gets that laugh of surprise or the nervous laugh I wrote about recently. But sometimes the vulgarity really doesn't go anywhere. Case in point: I saw an act recently and while they were performing a young woman told them her parents were there celebrating their 31st wedding anniversary. The couple their daughters with them and and their husbands and some family friends were also sitting with them. The comedians had the couple stand, offered a nice toast to 31 more years, then sang a wonderful love song for them (Black is the Colour of my True Love's Hair.) A nice moment. The couple was a little uncomfortable with the attention but everyone saluted and celebrated their accomplishment and the humor was good-natured. I figured we were ready to move on. But then the two comedians started to riff about the couple and the patter devolved into a litany of body parts and sex acts. The place got quiet and the laughs that came were uncomfortable (for the most part.) As I looked over the room, I could see that what laughter there was seemed to be coming from a few twenty-somethings while the majority of people slightly older were quiet. Maybe the young folks were wishing they had their own parents there so they could get in a few shots. Anyway, from my perspective, the comedians didn't know their audience and stepped out of bounds in order to get a cheap laugh. The laughs came at the expense of a wonderful couple who were there with family and friends to celebrate a milestone in their lives. The comedians honored them at first and actually solidified themselves with the audience in the process. But they didn't know when to say when and went for the cheap laugh at the expense of innocent bystanders. Knowing your audience is everything to a performer. These guys still have a lot to learn. And even pub acts need to know when and where to draw the line. Some things are better left unlaughed.
	inserito da Frank Stricklen