The 9/30 premiere of Saturday Night Live will feature MySpace.com’s Dane Cook, who hosted nine months ago and is the most popular stand-up (Billboard highest-charting comedy CD in 25 years) with no fans we’ve ever met. Killers will be the musical guest (they were also on the show last year).
As for those who won’t be back? According to hollywood.com: say goodbye to Horatio Sanz, Finesse Mitchell, and Chris Parnell (who was fired after his first season only to be rehired later that summer after Lorne’s change of heart). And of course, Fey and Dratch are gone.
Which means … more digital shorts? Well, two hits out of eleven ain’t bad. Wait, yes it is.
Why isn’t “Fred Armisen?s Guide to Music and SXSW” on YouTube? We still haven’t seen it. Is it funny?
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How cant they let Parnell go?? One of the few consistently funny people on there.
yes, that fred armisen guide to sxsw is very funny. the best part is seeing steve albini actually struggle not to laugh as he’s interviewed by armisen playing a differently abled person.
and you say 2 shorts out of 11 were good. i assume you mean “lazy sunday” and the natalie portman one. fred armisen’s “the tangent” was also great. probably the best.
“I’m Carol! Welcome to Subway!”
Horatio Sanz was never funny, even if Jimmy Fallon seemed to think he was.
2 out of 11… blah. screw you man
great:
Lazy Sunday
Natalie Portman
The Tangent
Lettuce
Doppelganger
Young Chuck Norris
Peyote
good:
Laser Cats
Ariel and Efrim
decent to meh:
Andy Walking
Close Talkers
I’d call Andy’s “Usual Suspects” parody bit with Kevin Spacey as one that should have been a digital short, and that should be thrown in with the best of the best:
http://www.dhadm.com/mediaHolder.php?id=726
Just because you only heard of 2 of 11 doesnt mean they were the only good ones… SNL has always had a share of crap but it was better last season than its been in a LOOONG while.
Is Dane Cook not popular everywhere else? Everyone I know from Massachusetts (granted he is from here) knows him and he sold out the Boston Garden on back to back nights this summer. Harmful If Swallowed and the Retaliation cds are amazing.
You don’t know anyone who’s into Dane Cook, Stereogum? You’re so lucky. It’s not just in Massachusetts, I live in San Francisco and he’s incredibly popular among stupid drunk girls at my college, and from what I hear, it’s even worse in the high schools. His comedy consists basically of running back and forth, yelling, making loud noises, and tying it together with the lame observational humor you’d expect to see on Premium Blend. But his fanbase loves him, and it can get to be annoying as fuck. If you even try to tell them about like David Cross or Eugene Mirman or Patton Oswalt or some other legitimately talented comedians, all you get in response is “Dane Cook is God! He’s the funniest comedian EVER!” Having him host SNL makes a lot of sense, though, the kind of people who think SNL’s current incarnation is funny will probably think he’s funny too.
“If you even try to tell them about like David Cross or Eugene Mirman or Patton Oswalt or some other legitimately talented comedians…”
Oops! You accidentally typed Patton Oswalt on that list, where Jake Johannson or Brian Regan should’ve been.
The only people I’ve ever met who like Dane Cook are, in fact, girls. I’m not sure if it’s just that he’s good-looking or what, but I honestly don’t understand why he’s *so* funny. Then again, I don’t get how Carlos Mencia has a show either.
The only people I’ve ever met who like Dane Cook are, in fact, girls. I’m not sure if it’s just that he’s good-looking or what, but I honestly don’t understand why he’s *so* funny. Then again, I don’t get how Carlos Mencia has a show either.
Corey, Boston Gardens haven’t been around since 1997 so I’m guessing he didn’t sell it out. I think you mean the FleetCenter or whatever they’re calling these days (TD BankNorth Garden, I guess?)
I’m out in the SF Bay Area these days and I don’t know anyone who thinks he’s funny.
dane cook = fratboy carrot top.
if you use that, you owe me royalties.
Chan Marshall wants to audition for a spot next summer.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/20/arts/music/20cat.html?_r=1&ref=arts&oref=slogin
Chan Marshall wants to audition for a spot next summer.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/20/arts/music/20cat.html?_r=1&ref=arts&oref=slogin
Is Dane Cook the only one left in SNL? That makes it the weakest season of SNL ever.
I’m really not looking forward to this season…all of the even moderately funny cast members are gone. I loved Chris Parnell. Tina was adorable, too…though she’s got a new show, which of course I’ll be checking out.
And for the record, not ALL females like Dane Cook. I think he’s fugly. Well, and completely non-humorous. I also agree on not understanding how Mencia got his own show…I’ve seen it twice or so and didn’t even chuckle.
Best SNL of the past 20 years.
eugene mirman (from the few deals i’ve seen) isn’t that far from dane cook as far as what he’s saying. he just says it more blandly- which itself is funny, yes- but he’s not that different from dane cook.
humor’s like music- there are different aspects that lead one to appreciate/fucking hate it.
context vs. performance.
lets see …no Sanz, Parnell, Fey, or Dratch.
yet, they keep that kid from ALL THAT.
shoot me.
Eugene Mirman is nothing like dane cook…
and dissing patton oswalt should be punishable by death.
Yes, I realize it’s the TD Banknorth Garden now, but it is the successor to the original and is called the Boston Garden by most everyone except those who want to actually say “TD Banknorth Garden.” So yeah he really did sell it out.
And I still urge people to give “Retaliation” or “Harmful if Swallowed” a chance.
Parnell is a douche.
harmful if swallowed is actually not bad, but ‘retaliation’ – over done, way too long, filler material galore, relies on repeating himself over and over…
if you guys want to hear the worst comedy album in the world, download (DO NOT BUY! EVER! EVEN IF SOMEONE WANTS ONE AS A GIFT! THEY WILL HATE YOU!) the Norm MacDonald album that just came out.
now THAT plays like the worst SNL sketches of all time, all on one disc!
SNL hasn’t been decent since Will Ferrell left and really good since Chris Farley. Get rid of all the mediocre talent and start fresh.
ding ding ding! we have a winner. no one with any experience seeing stand-up thinks dane cook is all that great. and no, not all teens like dane cook. it just seems that only teens – and drunk ones at that – like him.
I love Norm Macdonald. So much.
Dane Cook is not a cast member.
Also, people used to complain when Will Ferrell was on too so you never really win with that. Watch the reruns and live happily ever after.
i love how quickly people pull out eugene mirman and david cross in a dane cook argument. do you have to live up to the hipster stereotype in every way possible?
what’s more obnoxious?
dane cook or people who straight FREAK if you say you don’t like patton oswalt?
i’m going with people who freak if you don’t like p.o.
in a landslide.
I’ll never forgive Dane Cook for Simon Sez. NEVER.
uh is it legally acceptable to think that david cross, patton oswalt, eugene mirman AND dane cook are all funny? dane cook less so, admittedly – but he’s like that high school jock who made you laugh out loud when he ‘acted up’ in class regardless of how much that made you hate yourself.
dane cook does not do stand-up. his training is in improv comedy. while harmful if swallowed and retaliation are good, he is a performer and not much of stand-up comic. he’s charming, perseverant, and he understands what his fanbase wants and delivers it. he’s calculating that way, and that’s why he has risen to the top. props to whoever said jake johansen and brian regan are better stand up comics (better than cook and oswalt). there’s a whole host of other talented individuals i would add to the list.
there’s a difference between recognizing someone for making you laugh and recognizing someone as a joke-teller. there’s a difference between an entertainer and a stand up comic. dane cook is an entertainer who is also funny (on occasion).
i do think there’s more to it than some kind of “to each his (or her) own” justification. i think you can analyze someone’s performance and talk about the art of stand-up comedy, and i think we can agree that dane cook does not tell jokes. dane cook does sketch comedy. patton oswalt isn’t much of a comic, nor is david cross. eugene mirman is very hit or miss, as was mitch hedberg, but hedberg understood the principle of economy, something dane cook could never employ because his jokes do not have punchlines–it’s the route to the finish that’s entertaining, which makes him a storyteller. hedberg could refine a joke until he only uttered its essence: “at the end of the letter i wrote ‘ps–this is what the alphabet would look like if q and r weren’t in it.” there’s nothing to remove and nothing to add. it’s brilliant. sadly, he dies, but dane cook won’t go away.
and, having seen all of the blue collar comedy tours, i must admit that bill engvall and jeff foxworthy are excellent stand up comics who market themselves effectively and can write a damn joke. i include them in hopes of pissing off the hipsters who are so in love with the likes of the david crosses of the world. can’t you at least love steven wright? does it have to be that unfunny bastard, david cross? why can’t people like comics who can write punchlines?
Bill Engvall and Jeff Foxworthy might be able to WRITE jokes, but they couldn’t make Squagels funny. And you don’t even mention Ron White, who is far and away the funniest from that group of assholes. Complaining that stand up *needs* a punchline is like bitching about a song that doesn’t follow a verse-chorus format. It’s called alternative comedy for a reason. Those Blue Collar dicks couldn’t come up with something like John Ashcroft sucking on the Statue of Justice’s cold, stone tit.
I was going to see the Comedians of Comedy at Cat’s Cradle before I found out that Zach Galifianakis wasn’t with them. He’s one of the best comics I’ve ever seen from the Comedy Central herd. Not to mention Hugh Fink, whom I haven’t seen do anything since his half-hour special from the nineties.
Oh, and I didn’t feel one way or another about Norm MacDonald until I saw him on the Daily Show making Steve Irwin jokes. Then I realized that he was a comedic genius.
fido:
i didn’t mention ron white because i don’t think ron white is as good a comedian/joke-writer as jeff foxworthy or bill engvall. i happen to enjoy his humor far more, but i find his work to be very hit-or-miss.
i think writing solid punchlines is a lost art among comedians, and personally, the ability to write a good punchline is one of the criteria by which i estimate the brilliance of a comic. this is why i do not particularly appreciate dane cook’s work, though there are other techniques cook uses that get the laughs. dane cook’s material tends to get you laughing on the way to the end of the bit, but sometimes (especially recently) the endings are anti-climactic. i find that to be flat-out lazy.
not everything that anyone says on stage that make people laugh has to have a punchline, but if we’re going to call it a joke, then there needs to be a punchline, or it’s not a joke. i think a lot of so-called “alternative comics” tell jokes, but their jokes look different than we’re used to hearing them. but you need to define “alternative comic” for me, because i’m getting it mixed up with the san francisco comics in the mid-90′s.
Jesus, Vinnie, you are a real “expert asshole”. Get over yourself, pal! It’s about humor, it’s about what makes someone laugh, and it’s about providing entertainment.
And it’s all relative, even with your own preciously intricate yet perfectly arbitrary opinions. Give it up!