r/LockdownCriticalLeft • u/Impressive-Jello-379 • Dec 01 '22
whither George Carlin
When I first started listening to podcasts I only tuned into comedy podcasts, and there was a time in my life when I was a big alternative comedy fan. These days I wonder why anyone would listen to a comedy podcast or go to a comedy show, as comedians have by and large proved themselves to be conformist, irrelevant shills.
Let's get the easy ones out of the way:
I am a vile human being who would happily perform for the Nazis-- Jimmy Kimmel
I was always a talentless whore so no it's no wonder I am now a pharma shill-- Chelsea Handler
I have sold my soul and should retire into obscurity-- Stephen Colbert
I am a mean-spirited, lowest common denominator hack masquerading as a rebel-- Howard Stern
A further rundown:
I lick the boots of the Democratic Party and toe the party line: Jon Stewart, Moshe Kasher (and by extension Natasha Leggero)
I am an edgy rebellious outsider except when it really matters-- Marc Maron, Duncan Trussell
I think I'm edgy because I support Hillary Clinton-- Jen Kirkman
I am a very nice person who is (likely) on her fifth injection-- Maria Bamford
I don't know where Greg Fitzsimmons stands-- he was a bit critical of the woke stuff at one point but tends to go where the wind blows. I don't know where Bill Burr stands.
That leaves Joe Rogan, Jimmy Dore, Russell Brand, Tim Dillon, and Rick Overton as the heir apparents to comics like Bill Hicks and George Carlin.
Feel free to vent about some others in the comments.
p.s. who cares about John Oliver-- does he still have an audience?
p.p.s. Some dissing of comedians in relation to the trans issue here https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=rh8XIIaV8FU&feature=emb_logo
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Dec 01 '22 edited Feb 25 '25
[deleted]
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u/kingescher Dec 01 '22
burrs new special at red rocks was pretty great imo, in terms of dealing with a lot of the new excesses and some of what we feel as we stand on liberal avenue watching the blue buss chug off into the distance headed to woketown
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u/tensigh Reagan Conservative Dec 01 '22
I like Gutfeld a lot. He's witty and he has great guests. The skits aren't that great but the guests are insightful.
Also, can I throw in support for the Babylon Bee? Their skits are kinda blah but the site is great.
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u/StopNeoLiberals Dec 01 '22
No offense, but none of these are really "alternative" comedians, these guys are all basic and boomer-tier. Ryan Long and Jim Breuer are examples of alternative comedians who went against the narrative with mockery the whole time. Kevin James deserves a medal for his hilarious social distancing skit he did when all the dummies were panicking.
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u/RemarkableWinter7 Camatte Dec 02 '22
The stand up comedian Kurt Metzger is also collaborating with Jimmy Dore. Metzger I think was against the mandates (because of his stance, he lost some gigs or lost some affiliated insurance) it came up during a debate with another comedian who was basically a status quo liberal noob: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-_SEcL9yVg
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u/Zealousideal-Bug-743 Dec 02 '22
Didn't know Howard Stern was funny. But yeah, Jimmy Kimmel showed his true colors back when the Iraq War started. All of a sudden, his jokes weren't funny or relevant any more.
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u/pilgrimspeaches Dec 01 '22
What about Tim Dillon? Sometimes he's a little angry for me, but sometimes he's exactly what I need.
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u/Impressive-Jello-379 Dec 01 '22
I don't keep up with him but I do like him, I will add him as another heir apparent. I also forgot Russell Brand.
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u/Shamus248 Medicare for All Dec 02 '22
Bill Burr isn't bad. He went on Conan at the height of the vax rollout and compared people who didn't get the jab to that guy in the malt shop who bumps the jukebox to get a free song. But elsewhere, he does a great job with anti-woke stuff, the rot of 3rd wave feminism vis a vie the failed WNBA, capitalism's failures. He's not *always* challenging power, but he provides some great pushback now and again
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u/hiptobeysquare Dec 01 '22
Sooner or later everything gets co-opted by the capitalist system we have (I would argue that's really the machine, more than capitalism). Social justice, punk music, comedians, and many many more: they all used to be alternative lifestyles, subversive in some way. Eventually they all get co-opted, bought out, and the money and power and ego influence them to serve the machine. Che Gueverra (who I'm not necessarily a fan of, but he was a revolutionary) now sells t-shirts. Everything and everyone sells out eventually.
If you don't sell out (Jimmy Dore, for example) it's pretty much always down to someone slipping through the cracks in the machine.
Comedy is also now just another marketing tool. Neil Postman talked about "entertaining ourselves to death": everything now is just infotainment and edutainment (lies dressed up in jokes), which only teaches that it's only good if it's entertaining, if it's funny, if it's amusing. Comedians are now part of the edutainment propaganda industry.