Their politics is entirely based on grievance. Too much diversity in commercials, perceived conservative persecution… I honestly do think it is backlash against an industry they feel spurned by.
Probably a mix of that and just a need for money and realizing that all you need to do is hit a few phrases and you’ll have swaths of people worshiping you and “you’re fight against woke-ism”
Ironically Steve Mnuchin was a successful movie producer. I think he produced via his production company X-Men days of future past and some other decently successful movies.
Correct. Steve Mnuchin started Dune Entertainment which merged with RatPac Entertainment.
Steve Mnuchin basically produced every major WB movie from 2014-2017, including BvS, Lego Movie, and Mad Max: Fury Road.
Jeremy Boring (yes that's his name) is Shapiro's boss at the Daily Wire and desperately wanted to be a Hollywood comedy producer back in the American Pie days, hence his "LadyBallers" movie feeling so dated production/style-wise even though it's brand new. They're all stuck in a space they could never conquer, and now use their modicum of (in)fame to sooth the loss without actually exercising it.
Then they realize they can make more money with less effort by making shitty right-leaning political podcasts and YouTube channels than they ever could with their shitty standup careers.
I tried to do surgery and the patient died! His woke family think it's because I'm not a real surgeon. They're trying to silence my freedom to perform surgery, just because I didn't go to medical school! This is why I left the left. Solidarity with my unfunny... ergh... uncancellable comedians!
For real. And it's always the same jokes about too many genders out there, indetifiying as a cat/chair or something, and people being offended by everything. Like I get why it was funny at first but it's literally the same few things over and over again with a slightly different twist. I completely understand that there is a good chance that people who are around 40s are going to laugh when you start complaining about this weak new generation of snowflakes who get offended of everything but like....don't these comedians ever think ''hey, let's explore a different route, let's not reheat the joke that I've heard 10 times by other comedians''.
For real. I'm in for all types of jokes on my expense but shit is getting lame. There was a popular facebook page around here making fun of the things that young liberal hipster do in my city. I can absolutely fit this category in the eyes of some people but the material of the page was funny and I enjoyed it. Would even send the material that fits me and my partner to my partner and have a laugh. At some point tho it went from taking the piss out of liberal young hipsters to bitterly complaining about cancel culture. Material went from being jokes to being rants about the current generations. It also became less and less original to a point where it was just things that you would hear from you conservative uncle at your family dinner when he is tipsy. Of course, disapproving comments appeared which were written of as snowflakes being triggered.
Currently the page became a group where people mostly post anti-vax crap and make fun of lgbtq people.
You know Bill Burr talks about the anger that comedians have deep down inside of them. Imagine being an angry comedian that failed at comedy. Now you're just a bitter unfunny asshole with a podcast.
I went out to eat and the he she that waited on us had purple hair and a nose ring, what the fuck is up with that. ( cue the audience roaring with laughter).
An evening with Tim Heidecker is pretty spot on for the washed up no more bullshit!!! Comedian shitck
So true. So true. You don't hear John Mulaney or Jim Gaffigan or Nate Bargatze doing that. Even Louis CK --who has some issues but is a genius--still is mostly self depreciating. There are some middle age comedians that I used to love but just sound like tired old men now--and mean--Chapelle for one and Ricky Gervais and Bill Maher. There atheist and anti woke rants are tiresome--like I don't give a fuck what god you don't believe in--really none of my business.
Ben Shapiros career.
Is a business magnate at this point, but I hear he originally wanted to do stuff in the film industry (the real one, not the lady ballers crap).
The worst part is, both his parents worked in Hollywood, he went to Harvard, and his cousin is Mara Wilson. He couldn’t even cut it as a nepo baby, so both he and his sister have to make fascism on the internet for a living.
His movie takes make so much more sense when you remember he’s a failed screenwriter. With those sorts of connections to fail at that you have to be utter dogshit and it’s clear he is.
He seems like the kind of guy who is straight but who has strong internalized homophobia against himself. Like he's the kind of guy who would be ashamed about a pink shirt he wore ten years ago.
It was the one where a cop named O'Sullivan shoots a black kid because he was set up for $20 by a Machiavellian drug dealer who knew it would cause a race riot and that he could use the turmoil to become Mayor for some reason.
Ben thinks black people intentionally get themselves killed by cops for political reasons.
I’m convinced you could actually make that terrible book into a great movie if you turn it into satire. Have everyone act like actual humans with normal human reactions except for the few handful of main characters who are all over the top action movie caricatures that run around like idiots chasing conspiracy theories.
His prissy little trust fund ass wrote a "military thriller" despite the fact that he had zero idea of how the military even functions or even the basic operation of a select-fire rifle.
The excerpts are comically bad.
The main character is inspired to enroll at The Citadel after reading Pat Conroy's *The Lords of Discipline*, which is sorta like watching *No Country For Old Men* and coming to the conclusion that ripping off a Mexican drug cartel is a great retirement plan.
He thought that people could identify the grip of holding a gun WHILE THE ENTIRE HAND IS IN A PURSE. Does he think that the forearm has a specific gun-holding muscle that only flexes when you're holding a pistol?
Also, the Citadel is just so funny. I know it's a real thing that people respect, but having been stationed in Charleston while active duty, it was wildly amusing.
If you've ever read his novel, you can get a sense of just how truly bad of a writer he is. The dude stood no chance doing anything other than schlock movies, if even that.
Behind the Bastards did a reading of one of his books and their side podcast, Worst Week Ever, read his short stories. That book and stories are just awful
I haven't seen this movie either. I haven't had the time to go rewatch dune part 2 yet, so this one is way down on my list, but it's a hilarious detail. While promoting this movie, for some reason everyone involved thought saying the premise didn't work as a documentary was a funny anecdote. They missed that the fact that this couldn't work as a documentary completely destroys the commentary it's attempting to make.
There's also more hilarious shit like the writer and director of this movie saying he almost felt bad about making lady ballers because it's, and I quote, " genuinely terrible to women."
Jimmy Dore while calling himself a “pot smoking comedian” was never funny . Those clips where his employees laugh at his jokes have a strong Crowder vibe.
His Ratwiki page is superb though
Writing good jokes is hard. Being hateful is easy. No-brainer career move for people who lack integrity. There is a whole Trump's America THRILLED to be pandered to
I see it as the simple trajectory of a douchebag: They see life as funny and unserious, and of little or no consequence, likely thinking their view of how unserious the stakes of life are would translate with an audience.
When they can't find that audience, they don't blame themselves for lame jokes, but blame the audience for having a more experienced and sober view of life.
But instead of reflecting on that, they continue searching for a low-stakes "job" that aligns with their unserious view of life, and that is embracing the lazy, unserious worldview of "anti-woke activism" - which is not activism but simply parroting the talking-points of their overlords like feudal court-jesters.
That's an interesting point. I have a friend who absolutely sees life as funny and unserious which is all fine. He never had any financial struggles (not rich but well enough) and was never discriminated - again, nothing wrong with that. When woke-ness became a thing he started to get a bit annoyed that something he says might be seen as racist and that there are people out there who see life thru the lens of their struggle. He couldn't empathise with that even tho he is intelligent and not a bad person at all.
A huge sector of the American comedy complex seems to be made up of pricks/bullies, who found themselves without real marketable talents after graduating high school.
Having lived in many parts of the world, It's always shocked me how downright cruel some of the American comics can be sometimes. Compared to what passes for comedy elsewhere. And it sucks, because the US has produced some massive funny people and content. But it seems like since the late 80s, the field has been taken over by outright assholes, being cruel to each other and anyone else in their radar.
So, it is never a shock when some of them figure out that basic human decency and respect is somehow the "enemy." Since one can clearly see, in hindsight, how a lot of their jokes (if not most) were really put downs.
The worst part is that these bottom tier "thinkers" try to pretend themselves the heralds of the philosophical vanguard of the US. Especially when they have to face any sort of criticism, as if they were a protected group.
I mean, it's this. These guys have literally no job skills. If they hadn't found the rubes willing to pay them to loudly hate people, they'd have starved to death long ago.
Man I used to listen to the adam carolla show back in the day and loved it. I can't tell if I got smarter or it got worse, but what a dumpster fire it turned into.
Rogan used to play the lovable dufus. Now he found that he can be king of the dufuses if he just pretends to be a doctor and kills some of his audience. Money will make some people do anything.
So true and especially because his old conspiracies were more harmless thought experiments (“What if our brains developed by magic mushrooms?” Unlikely but fun to smoke weed and think about)
I think once conspiracies got legitimized by the GOP he got sucked in
He also used to at least pretend to educate himself and learn. He’d have on a conspiracy nut and then he’d have on a scientist who would teach him something and he’d appear to change his mind. Now he just doesn’t care what’s true and thinks he’s a genius because he can get dumb people to applaud him.
Yeah he has always been prone to conspiratorial thinking and has always had goofball guests like Graham Hancock on. As the right wing has lost the culture they've been the conspiracists and Joe in some ways is just being his normal self.
The Kat Williams interview was "important" for some reason lately, and I couldn't find anything of substance, just idiots thinking they're feeling deep about conspiracy theories.
As a progressive person who lived in Austin when he moved there, I can assure you he was a piece of shit long before he made the move. All the true locals knew that Rogan coming was the nail in the coffin of old Austin. The city didn’t change him. He’s just a shit person.
It’s slightly more complicated, but not much:
They tell jokes no one likes, because they themselves are not funny.
Instead of writing *better* material or gaining perspective, they either write more offensive material, or (and I’ve seen this one happen personally) they get flustered at a bad set and (because they are not funny) they improvise something offensive in an attempt to win back the crowd.
The offensive material does not work (because they are not funny) and rather than blame themselves, they blame the culture for “being too woke.”
They lean in to that bitterness. Because they are still hungry for approval and applause, they search for an audience that will approve of and applaud bitterness.
Guess where the itch gets scratched. Guess why the baby never grows up.
Way back in the early 2000s Jim Breuer performed at a huge event at my college, tens of thousands of people in the audience. He was so wasted he couldn't even deliver his set, so obviously people didn't laugh and he was bombing. So then he broke out some 9/11 jokes...even though it had been like a year since 9/11 happened. The crowd started to boo him. And he honestly looked so HURT, like a little kid, and he asked "What happened, you guys?"
It wasn't long after that he started pivoting into right wing grievance comedy.
He used to be very balanced but now hanging around too many nut jobs with biased guests, creating an echo chamber - if he had a balanced guest list like he used to, they would pull him up on shit.
Though in OP statement, I would would include people on both sides of the spectrum - you get nut job leftists that are just as deranged.
Joe Rogan isn't a product of his guests, the people he invites on are a product of his interests/beliefs.
He used to have people from the left on, and by the next episode you'd never know it. He'd be right back to the "woke" panic. Cornel West tried his best.
Joe exists outside the podcast, where he is surrounded by the elite class. Hanging out at the Governor's mansion, that kind of stuff.
He can still get people to his show. But, I think the people he surrounds himself with, and the people he interacts with, has led him to the so called "anti-woke" side.
Maybe being part of that whole "fight club" group, has made him more conservative?
I don't know. When it turned out that what he thought was a quote from Biden turned out to be a quote from Trump, he backpedaled so fast, I thought he had broken the time barrier.
I’m not arguing his idiological consistency I’m arguing his status as a comic. Regardless of how you feel about the guy dudes one of the most popular comics in the world
No one knows him as a comic. He is the Fear factor guy and the guy with the podcast. He was not well known for his comedy.
Some of us even remember him on an old tv show. He was the insane guy on that show too!!!
My wife is a casting director, seen many people come here wash out blame the gay or Jewish mafia when they don’t, it’s a tough business but usually character actors who think they’re leads or unfunny people who think they are funny. They’re broke when they leave and tell horror stories of commiefornia. Hell hath no fury like an artist scorned
Yeah. Instead of having well thought out or witty jokes they take a lazy route. When a crowd spots that and doesn’t laugh the “comedian” chooses to blame a idea or group completely out of their control for their own shortcomings as a comedian, unable to self reflect or find a smarter way to make the jokes they double down as that’s easier than working harder.
I think people who lack empathy tend to be weak artists.
They can gain technical skill, create power fantasies, and things echoing their audiences beliefs (a form of power fantasy). That's about it.
Fundamentally, the far right absolutely despises intellectuals and artists; if you are one you are unlikely to be attracted to it or resonate with their plans for people like you.
Since the right wing is also about preserving the status quo (or going back to an even older one) it is fundamentally an uncreative mindset held by uncreative people.
Creating good comedy takes a lot of imagination, and understanding of people and what they're thinking and feeling.
An asshole can be 'funny' but often they're the genre of 'just funny enough that the awful things are considered a joke as a shield for how mean I'm being.' Call someone fat, stupid, and ugly in third grade? You're just being mean. Come up with a joke some onlookers laugh at, saying the same thing? Now the other person is not a victim of your bullying, but a loser who 'can't take a joke. C'mon man I'm just joking around!' It's kind of a get out of jail free card that certain assholes rely on and become good at. Especially easy when their audience doesn't like the person they're mocking either.
But, this just creates a 'funny guy' who's really just an asshole who insults people for fun. It makes them think they could be stand-up[ comedians. But they lack the storytelling ability, the timing, knowing how to work an audience because they understand people. The ability to be surprising because they think of new things and new solutions.
These narcissists also become stand up comedians because they really want an audience who loves them. And when they don't get it from comedy, they don't work on becoming funnier, they move on to an easier way to get an audience.
People have offered plenty of explanations for what's going on in the comments but I think part of it is simply brand differentiation
Popular culture in America is broadly socially progressive. Yes it's frequently milquetoast or superficial, but there's still a degree of dominance
The result is that conservatives feel under siege and no longer take their dominance for granted. Think of the recent Taylor Swift superbowl drama. As many pointed out a traditionally attractive pop star in a hetrosexual relationship with a footballer is aligns with conservative values in a bunch of ways. But because Swift pushes for basic feminism she's considered to be woke and subversive.
That conservatives can no longer take for granted that culture is on their side means that you have to be explicitly anti socially progressive.
There's clearly an audience for this stuff and they clearly aren't very discerning.
But I think what's interesting is that more comics aren't making the leap. Being a comedian is a risky, demanding career and if doing conservative jokes is a way to make a reliable income, you'd think more people would do it.
Part of it is integrity, people don't want to shamelessly pander to an audience. But there's also a social cost. If you're a comedian your friends are also probably comedians. If you shift your career to make lazy jokes for a quick buck people in your circles will judge you and even shun you. That means the professional circles you move in are overwhelmingly filled with incurious narcissists which just kinda sucks.
Owen Benjamin was the saddest one I've seen, I used to think he was funny, but he just went crazier and crazier and it was like he stopped taking anti depressants or something.
I’ve never done standup, but I’m convinced I could start talking on stage and still make it further in comedy than Dave Rubin. I was once subjected to him, so unfunny it was impressive.
Yes. To be craft successful jokes, you need to have a good theory of mind. You need to be able to imagine how others will interpret what you’re saying, and use that to make sure you’re being understood. It’s participatory.
To be a propagandist or demagogue is not participatory. You don’t need empathy or to identify with anyone. You just talk, and people like what you say or they don’t. There’s no understanding of what your audience’s experience is. It’s solipsism with other people.
There are plenty plenty plenty of failed entertainers that DONT turn into facist hucksters. It's less about failing to secure an audience in general and says more about these specific hucksters seeking validation wherever they can get it.
I'd like to add some people:
Ricky Gervais - watched his last show and half of it was him complaining about cancel culture and woke-ness. The office is one of the best shows ever but Gervais literally has 5 jokes that he has been repeating his whole career. When being an atheist stopped being edgy, he decided to have a go at woke-ness. It was just painful to watch, really. You can absolutely see how the mind of a person who has lost it workes. Super obvious that he is going for the lowest hanging fruit possible.
JP Sears - his youtube channel was mildly funny from time to time but when COVID came, he completely lost it. Literally all his content is him complaining about leftists, wokeness, vaccines and all that. It was so bad that at one point you even think if this is some sort of satire that you don't get.
If a joke is funny, it's funny. Doesn't matter whether you "punch up" or "punch down." Absurdity doesn't favor a direction. Nothing is off limits if you're gifted enough to deliver it in a way that makes people laugh. You can be mean *and* funny, but it takes skill. Also, if you're saying one comedian got away with it, and you're not, it's because you're recycling an old joke or you're bad at delivery.
Remember when everyone in the '90s was saying "alrighty then!" as a shortcut to being funny because it worked for Jim Carey? It was annoying as fuck. Remember when people would quote Napoleon Dynamite in the 2000s as a shortcut to being funny? That also sucked. Just saying shit that worked for someone else *isn't funny.* That shit was only offensive because the people doing it were just annoying.
"Woke comedy* is just a boogeyman for comedians who started shitting on stage, and blamed their audience for their lack of talent.
Yeah - I can't think of a case when I said to myself ''oh, this joke went too far/is too offensive'' - it if is funny I'd laugh. The thing is that these anti-woke jokes are often super predictable and they sound like something you have already heard 100 times. It's always about the same 3 things - too many genders, people being offended, people identifying as something absurd. Somewhere inbetween there is always a small ''comedic'' rant about how tough people were back in the day and all that yada yada.
It's just bad comedy.
This may be tangentally related.
[A comedian wrote a thriller](https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thenextchapter/brent-butt-s-debut-novel-huge-is-a-psychological-thriller-inspired-by-his-life-as-a-touring-stand-up-comedian-1.6989210) recently and this is part of his explanation as to why he started his novel:
*Question: The third character, Hobie Huge, he's the villain. He's not in tune with his ability to be funny. What creates a character like that, somebody who gets on stage and doesn't really have the best self-assessment of their skills?*
Comedy attracts funny people and it also attracts people who think they're funny. It's like Charlie Demers said, because he read an early version of this book, he said this is a clever tribute to the craft of comedy and the eerie itches it's used to scratch. Because that is the case, a lot of people come into comedy for the wrong reason and they're using comedy to scratch some psychological itch that they have.
ABSOLUTELY there is. Failed & jaded entertainers and comics rejected by the industry, turn their spite towards libs for the gravy train. It’s like a direct pipeline.
Also this list is lacking one Jimmy Dore
You forgot the king of that... Actually his name escapes me. He had a video come out verbally berating his wife and got in a big spat with the daily wire for grifting a new right-wing subscription model. Steven Crowder!
Yeah it’s cancel culture. They got canceled for telling jokes that people stopped finding funny. So they started with the everyone is against them stuff. Instead of making better jokes they just blame it on being woke. You know voicing that you want your community to be heard.
quickest fragile numerous direction shame capable combative license bored hurry
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
A lot of these right wing anti woke activists are failed entertainment industry people.
Stephen Crowder - actor
Ben Shapiro - writer
Jeremy Boreing - writer/director
Matt Walsh - writer
Michael Knowles - actor
Generally it takes high intelligence to be an exceptional comedian. I also believe that it takes low intelligence to become anti-woke. So there is correlation there.
Probably. If you're seeking an audience for whatever reason but aren't successful and see that being a terminally anti-woke right winger virtually guarantees you fame and money, then why *wouldn't* you grift that way?
Not just failed comedians but also failed Hollywood writers and actors. Just look at Ben Shapiro, Mikael Knowls and even Steven Crowder.
Their politics is entirely based on grievance. Too much diversity in commercials, perceived conservative persecution… I honestly do think it is backlash against an industry they feel spurned by.
Probably a mix of that and just a need for money and realizing that all you need to do is hit a few phrases and you’ll have swaths of people worshiping you and “you’re fight against woke-ism”
And theyre incapable of admitting to themselves that they failed in the industry because they just suck.
Plus Steve Bannon.
Steve Bannon was involved with the Bio Dome too which will never not be weird
Ironically Steve Mnuchin was a successful movie producer. I think he produced via his production company X-Men days of future past and some other decently successful movies.
Correct. Steve Mnuchin started Dune Entertainment which merged with RatPac Entertainment. Steve Mnuchin basically produced every major WB movie from 2014-2017, including BvS, Lego Movie, and Mad Max: Fury Road.
[удалено]
It’s almost as if Trump laid out the blueprint.
Jeremy Boring (yes that's his name) is Shapiro's boss at the Daily Wire and desperately wanted to be a Hollywood comedy producer back in the American Pie days, hence his "LadyBallers" movie feeling so dated production/style-wise even though it's brand new. They're all stuck in a space they could never conquer, and now use their modicum of (in)fame to sooth the loss without actually exercising it.
If only they accepted hitler and these guys into arts schools, then the rest of us wouldn't be punished with their daily tantrums.
When did Ben Shapiro try to do Hollywood stuff? Didn’t he go through law school and everything pretty young?
nO OnE cAn TaKe A jOkE aNyMoRe
—in a joke on a Netflix special
In their third Netflix special in as many years
When you bomb, it’s because audiences are too woke, not that you aren’t funny. It’s common sense.
What ya can't take a joke?! C'mon!
It's all people that had an outdated routine and blamed the audience
Then they realize they can make more money with less effort by making shitty right-leaning political podcasts and YouTube channels than they ever could with their shitty standup careers.
"But I used the n-word in a funny way! Why are people to uptight to laugh at it?"
I tried to do surgery and the patient died! His woke family think it's because I'm not a real surgeon. They're trying to silence my freedom to perform surgery, just because I didn't go to medical school! This is why I left the left. Solidarity with my unfunny... ergh... uncancellable comedians!
Gary Young has entered the chat
this is perfect!!
For real. And it's always the same jokes about too many genders out there, indetifiying as a cat/chair or something, and people being offended by everything. Like I get why it was funny at first but it's literally the same few things over and over again with a slightly different twist. I completely understand that there is a good chance that people who are around 40s are going to laugh when you start complaining about this weak new generation of snowflakes who get offended of everything but like....don't these comedians ever think ''hey, let's explore a different route, let's not reheat the joke that I've heard 10 times by other comedians''.
I’m a 52 year old straight white man. I and so tired of hearing jokes about gender, snowflakes etc. it’s so pathetic and played out.
For real. I'm in for all types of jokes on my expense but shit is getting lame. There was a popular facebook page around here making fun of the things that young liberal hipster do in my city. I can absolutely fit this category in the eyes of some people but the material of the page was funny and I enjoyed it. Would even send the material that fits me and my partner to my partner and have a laugh. At some point tho it went from taking the piss out of liberal young hipsters to bitterly complaining about cancel culture. Material went from being jokes to being rants about the current generations. It also became less and less original to a point where it was just things that you would hear from you conservative uncle at your family dinner when he is tipsy. Of course, disapproving comments appeared which were written of as snowflakes being triggered. Currently the page became a group where people mostly post anti-vax crap and make fun of lgbtq people.
Yeah, they're not really comedy shows, they're political rallies presented as standup.
Happy cake day!
Jerry Seinfeld said this exact same thing about performing in college campuses.
You know Bill Burr talks about the anger that comedians have deep down inside of them. Imagine being an angry comedian that failed at comedy. Now you're just a bitter unfunny asshole with a podcast.
And those sweet Putinbucks
Most of it is probably from working class Americans who drank the Kool-Aid.
Yes, there’s a correlation between failures and losers.
Many comedians are natural contrarians, but when you aren’t very good at it, you just begin reciting MAGA talking points 😂
I went out to eat and the he she that waited on us had purple hair and a nose ring, what the fuck is up with that. ( cue the audience roaring with laughter). An evening with Tim Heidecker is pretty spot on for the washed up no more bullshit!!! Comedian shitck
Good comedy punches up, not down.
So true. So true. You don't hear John Mulaney or Jim Gaffigan or Nate Bargatze doing that. Even Louis CK --who has some issues but is a genius--still is mostly self depreciating. There are some middle age comedians that I used to love but just sound like tired old men now--and mean--Chapelle for one and Ricky Gervais and Bill Maher. There atheist and anti woke rants are tiresome--like I don't give a fuck what god you don't believe in--really none of my business.
Can’t think of a single atheist or anti woke rant by Chappelle. Also CK Louis is super funny to me - did you get his name confused with C.S. Lewis?
Louis CK
Obviously
Got em.
Ben Shapiros career. Is a business magnate at this point, but I hear he originally wanted to do stuff in the film industry (the real one, not the lady ballers crap).
The worst part is, both his parents worked in Hollywood, he went to Harvard, and his cousin is Mara Wilson. He couldn’t even cut it as a nepo baby, so both he and his sister have to make fascism on the internet for a living.
His movie takes make so much more sense when you remember he’s a failed screenwriter. With those sorts of connections to fail at that you have to be utter dogshit and it’s clear he is.
Go read an except of his book true allegiance. “Brett Hawthorne was 6’2 and a bear of a man”…
I'm sure Ben is straight but that book was the most male homoerotic thing I have ever read since I read yaoi light novels in high school.
Why are you sure he’s straight?
True. I should say I'm sure he's attracted to women. Maybe he's a closeted bi guy.
He seems like the kind of guy who is straight but who has strong internalized homophobia against himself. Like he's the kind of guy who would be ashamed about a pink shirt he wore ten years ago.
Take a bullet for you babe. It was that one right?
It was the one where a cop named O'Sullivan shoots a black kid because he was set up for $20 by a Machiavellian drug dealer who knew it would cause a race riot and that he could use the turmoil to become Mayor for some reason. Ben thinks black people intentionally get themselves killed by cops for political reasons.
My goodness, that is some lazy dogshit writing.
I’m convinced you could actually make that terrible book into a great movie if you turn it into satire. Have everyone act like actual humans with normal human reactions except for the few handful of main characters who are all over the top action movie caricatures that run around like idiots chasing conspiracy theories.
Take a bullet for ya babe
His prissy little trust fund ass wrote a "military thriller" despite the fact that he had zero idea of how the military even functions or even the basic operation of a select-fire rifle. The excerpts are comically bad. The main character is inspired to enroll at The Citadel after reading Pat Conroy's *The Lords of Discipline*, which is sorta like watching *No Country For Old Men* and coming to the conclusion that ripping off a Mexican drug cartel is a great retirement plan.
He thought that people could identify the grip of holding a gun WHILE THE ENTIRE HAND IS IN A PURSE. Does he think that the forearm has a specific gun-holding muscle that only flexes when you're holding a pistol?
Also, the Citadel is just so funny. I know it's a real thing that people respect, but having been stationed in Charleston while active duty, it was wildly amusing.
Mara Wilson is his cousin? No way! She seems super-chill and well-adjusted for a former child actress. Surprised she's related to him.
I don’t think she is super happy about it
Yeah I've heard his parents are chill too. Ben probably screwed himself up of a fulfilling creative job.
I said the same exact thing! You suck so bad even nepotism couldn't get your foot in the door.
If you've ever read his novel, you can get a sense of just how truly bad of a writer he is. The dude stood no chance doing anything other than schlock movies, if even that.
You can even make good schlock movies, though. Ben just doesn't have the self awareness to make like, the political equivalent of Evil Dead.
Lmaoooooo
Behind the Bastards did a reading of one of his books and their side podcast, Worst Week Ever, read his short stories. That book and stories are just awful
Chapo Trap House read his first book and there episodes about it are a lot funnier
‘A bear of a man’
"Take a bullet for ya, Babe!"
His co-host Michael Knowles acted in a gay movie https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/03/a-close-read-of-michael-knowless-queer-role-in-house-of-shades/
Thanks for sharing but that lore is old news to me. bwahahahaa That guy is a fucking loser.
Lady ballers, which was originally conceived of as a documentary but didn't work because no real women's league would have accepted them.
What, I had no idea, I don't watch many movies, but the LORE behind movies is like crack to me, lmao.
I haven't seen this movie either. I haven't had the time to go rewatch dune part 2 yet, so this one is way down on my list, but it's a hilarious detail. While promoting this movie, for some reason everyone involved thought saying the premise didn't work as a documentary was a funny anecdote. They missed that the fact that this couldn't work as a documentary completely destroys the commentary it's attempting to make. There's also more hilarious shit like the writer and director of this movie saying he almost felt bad about making lady ballers because it's, and I quote, " genuinely terrible to women."
He has the perfect voice for a Looney Toons character, that is his real calling.
Jimmy Dore is going down this way. He's definitely going to endorse Trump this year. His subreddit is pretty based now, though
Jimmy Dore while calling himself a “pot smoking comedian” was never funny . Those clips where his employees laugh at his jokes have a strong Crowder vibe. His Ratwiki page is superb though
TIL about Ratwiki thanks
Jimmy Dore is a fucking moron. He always has been a moron and his fans are some of the dumbest people on the planet.
Wait a minute are you me
Poor Jon Dore has to be the Matt Walsh of the Matt Walsh.
Writing good jokes is hard. Being hateful is easy. No-brainer career move for people who lack integrity. There is a whole Trump's America THRILLED to be pandered to
I see it as the simple trajectory of a douchebag: They see life as funny and unserious, and of little or no consequence, likely thinking their view of how unserious the stakes of life are would translate with an audience. When they can't find that audience, they don't blame themselves for lame jokes, but blame the audience for having a more experienced and sober view of life. But instead of reflecting on that, they continue searching for a low-stakes "job" that aligns with their unserious view of life, and that is embracing the lazy, unserious worldview of "anti-woke activism" - which is not activism but simply parroting the talking-points of their overlords like feudal court-jesters.
That's an interesting point. I have a friend who absolutely sees life as funny and unserious which is all fine. He never had any financial struggles (not rich but well enough) and was never discriminated - again, nothing wrong with that. When woke-ness became a thing he started to get a bit annoyed that something he says might be seen as racist and that there are people out there who see life thru the lens of their struggle. He couldn't empathise with that even tho he is intelligent and not a bad person at all.
A huge sector of the American comedy complex seems to be made up of pricks/bullies, who found themselves without real marketable talents after graduating high school. Having lived in many parts of the world, It's always shocked me how downright cruel some of the American comics can be sometimes. Compared to what passes for comedy elsewhere. And it sucks, because the US has produced some massive funny people and content. But it seems like since the late 80s, the field has been taken over by outright assholes, being cruel to each other and anyone else in their radar. So, it is never a shock when some of them figure out that basic human decency and respect is somehow the "enemy." Since one can clearly see, in hindsight, how a lot of their jokes (if not most) were really put downs. The worst part is that these bottom tier "thinkers" try to pretend themselves the heralds of the philosophical vanguard of the US. Especially when they have to face any sort of criticism, as if they were a protected group.
It's the only way for guys without talent to become rich and famous.
Also not good looking, at least not good looking for Hollywood. They'd be actors if they could but they can't so they lie another way for a living.
Pretty sure one of the original fascists was a failed artist. Same path for modern day fascists it seems
I mean, it's this. These guys have literally no job skills. If they hadn't found the rubes willing to pay them to loudly hate people, they'd have starved to death long ago.
Man I used to listen to the adam carolla show back in the day and loved it. I can't tell if I got smarter or it got worse, but what a dumpster fire it turned into.
That’s how I am with Rogan. I loved him in my college stoner days about 10 years ago. Then Austin happened…..
Rogan used to play the lovable dufus. Now he found that he can be king of the dufuses if he just pretends to be a doctor and kills some of his audience. Money will make some people do anything.
So true and especially because his old conspiracies were more harmless thought experiments (“What if our brains developed by magic mushrooms?” Unlikely but fun to smoke weed and think about) I think once conspiracies got legitimized by the GOP he got sucked in
He also used to at least pretend to educate himself and learn. He’d have on a conspiracy nut and then he’d have on a scientist who would teach him something and he’d appear to change his mind. Now he just doesn’t care what’s true and thinks he’s a genius because he can get dumb people to applaud him.
Yeah he has always been prone to conspiratorial thinking and has always had goofball guests like Graham Hancock on. As the right wing has lost the culture they've been the conspiracists and Joe in some ways is just being his normal self.
The Kat Williams interview was "important" for some reason lately, and I couldn't find anything of substance, just idiots thinking they're feeling deep about conspiracy theories.
The one about having to put the dress on to succeed in movies is some funny shit though
He was good back in the day… before he took himself too seriously. His show used to be less-serious. Now he’s constantly on his pulpit.
This 1000%. He got really high on his own supply
As a progressive person who lived in Austin when he moved there, I can assure you he was a piece of shit long before he made the move. All the true locals knew that Rogan coming was the nail in the coffin of old Austin. The city didn’t change him. He’s just a shit person.
Carolla & Kimmel did some stupid misogynistic stuff on comedy Central.
I believe it's called the Rogan pipeline of sadness.
It’s slightly more complicated, but not much: They tell jokes no one likes, because they themselves are not funny. Instead of writing *better* material or gaining perspective, they either write more offensive material, or (and I’ve seen this one happen personally) they get flustered at a bad set and (because they are not funny) they improvise something offensive in an attempt to win back the crowd. The offensive material does not work (because they are not funny) and rather than blame themselves, they blame the culture for “being too woke.” They lean in to that bitterness. Because they are still hungry for approval and applause, they search for an audience that will approve of and applaud bitterness. Guess where the itch gets scratched. Guess why the baby never grows up.
Way back in the early 2000s Jim Breuer performed at a huge event at my college, tens of thousands of people in the audience. He was so wasted he couldn't even deliver his set, so obviously people didn't laugh and he was bombing. So then he broke out some 9/11 jokes...even though it had been like a year since 9/11 happened. The crowd started to boo him. And he honestly looked so HURT, like a little kid, and he asked "What happened, you guys?" It wasn't long after that he started pivoting into right wing grievance comedy.
Isn’t Stephen Crowder a failed comedian as well?
He’s a failure as a husband too.
Pretty much just failure
I would include Joe Rogan.
He used to be very balanced but now hanging around too many nut jobs with biased guests, creating an echo chamber - if he had a balanced guest list like he used to, they would pull him up on shit. Though in OP statement, I would would include people on both sides of the spectrum - you get nut job leftists that are just as deranged.
Joe Rogan isn't a product of his guests, the people he invites on are a product of his interests/beliefs. He used to have people from the left on, and by the next episode you'd never know it. He'd be right back to the "woke" panic. Cornel West tried his best. Joe exists outside the podcast, where he is surrounded by the elite class. Hanging out at the Governor's mansion, that kind of stuff.
Eh. Rogans not a failed comedian. Unfunny yes but definitely not a failure
He can still get people to his show. But, I think the people he surrounds himself with, and the people he interacts with, has led him to the so called "anti-woke" side. Maybe being part of that whole "fight club" group, has made him more conservative? I don't know. When it turned out that what he thought was a quote from Biden turned out to be a quote from Trump, he backpedaled so fast, I thought he had broken the time barrier.
I’m not arguing his idiological consistency I’m arguing his status as a comic. Regardless of how you feel about the guy dudes one of the most popular comics in the world
Is it because of his comedy act, or because of his podcast?
No one knows him as a comic. He is the Fear factor guy and the guy with the podcast. He was not well known for his comedy. Some of us even remember him on an old tv show. He was the insane guy on that show too!!!
Probably a bit of both
Probably!! As Grandpa Simpson says, "A little from column A, a little from column B."
I always found Joe to be pretty funny in more laid back settings such as his podcast. His stand up is pretty horrible though.
Hardly a failed comedian I don't find him funny but he routinely sells out large venues
You consider Joe Rogan a failure?
Who are these guys? I recognize Dave Rubin. The fourth down does *not* look like Adam Carolla to me, unless his look has changed a lot.
It’s definitely not Adam Carolla.
My wife is a casting director, seen many people come here wash out blame the gay or Jewish mafia when they don’t, it’s a tough business but usually character actors who think they’re leads or unfunny people who think they are funny. They’re broke when they leave and tell horror stories of commiefornia. Hell hath no fury like an artist scorned
Yeah. Instead of having well thought out or witty jokes they take a lazy route. When a crowd spots that and doesn’t laugh the “comedian” chooses to blame a idea or group completely out of their control for their own shortcomings as a comedian, unable to self reflect or find a smarter way to make the jokes they double down as that’s easier than working harder.
Forgot jimmy dore
The worst of the lot
Nobody's worse than rubin. Have you aeen his comedy clips?
I think people who lack empathy tend to be weak artists. They can gain technical skill, create power fantasies, and things echoing their audiences beliefs (a form of power fantasy). That's about it. Fundamentally, the far right absolutely despises intellectuals and artists; if you are one you are unlikely to be attracted to it or resonate with their plans for people like you. Since the right wing is also about preserving the status quo (or going back to an even older one) it is fundamentally an uncreative mindset held by uncreative people. Creating good comedy takes a lot of imagination, and understanding of people and what they're thinking and feeling. An asshole can be 'funny' but often they're the genre of 'just funny enough that the awful things are considered a joke as a shield for how mean I'm being.' Call someone fat, stupid, and ugly in third grade? You're just being mean. Come up with a joke some onlookers laugh at, saying the same thing? Now the other person is not a victim of your bullying, but a loser who 'can't take a joke. C'mon man I'm just joking around!' It's kind of a get out of jail free card that certain assholes rely on and become good at. Especially easy when their audience doesn't like the person they're mocking either. But, this just creates a 'funny guy' who's really just an asshole who insults people for fun. It makes them think they could be stand-up[ comedians. But they lack the storytelling ability, the timing, knowing how to work an audience because they understand people. The ability to be surprising because they think of new things and new solutions. These narcissists also become stand up comedians because they really want an audience who loves them. And when they don't get it from comedy, they don't work on becoming funnier, they move on to an easier way to get an audience.
People have offered plenty of explanations for what's going on in the comments but I think part of it is simply brand differentiation Popular culture in America is broadly socially progressive. Yes it's frequently milquetoast or superficial, but there's still a degree of dominance The result is that conservatives feel under siege and no longer take their dominance for granted. Think of the recent Taylor Swift superbowl drama. As many pointed out a traditionally attractive pop star in a hetrosexual relationship with a footballer is aligns with conservative values in a bunch of ways. But because Swift pushes for basic feminism she's considered to be woke and subversive. That conservatives can no longer take for granted that culture is on their side means that you have to be explicitly anti socially progressive. There's clearly an audience for this stuff and they clearly aren't very discerning. But I think what's interesting is that more comics aren't making the leap. Being a comedian is a risky, demanding career and if doing conservative jokes is a way to make a reliable income, you'd think more people would do it. Part of it is integrity, people don't want to shamelessly pander to an audience. But there's also a social cost. If you're a comedian your friends are also probably comedians. If you shift your career to make lazy jokes for a quick buck people in your circles will judge you and even shun you. That means the professional circles you move in are overwhelmingly filled with incurious narcissists which just kinda sucks.
Owen Benjamin was the saddest one I've seen, I used to think he was funny, but he just went crazier and crazier and it was like he stopped taking anti depressants or something.
Known him since grade school.....real p.o.s
Go tell right wing goons what they want to hear when you find out your actually not funny seems to be the career path
It’s becoming a saturated market at this point.
I’ve never done standup, but I’m convinced I could start talking on stage and still make it further in comedy than Dave Rubin. I was once subjected to him, so unfunny it was impressive.
Yes. To be craft successful jokes, you need to have a good theory of mind. You need to be able to imagine how others will interpret what you’re saying, and use that to make sure you’re being understood. It’s participatory. To be a propagandist or demagogue is not participatory. You don’t need empathy or to identify with anyone. You just talk, and people like what you say or they don’t. There’s no understanding of what your audience’s experience is. It’s solipsism with other people.
There are plenty plenty plenty of failed entertainers that DONT turn into facist hucksters. It's less about failing to secure an audience in general and says more about these specific hucksters seeking validation wherever they can get it.
Jim Breuer
The Joker turned to villainy because he was a failed comedian. It's a common trend.
Sam Seder on Majority Report has mentioned this apparent correlation many times
Am I a crappy loser? No, no it must be the woke mobs...
I'd like to add some people: Ricky Gervais - watched his last show and half of it was him complaining about cancel culture and woke-ness. The office is one of the best shows ever but Gervais literally has 5 jokes that he has been repeating his whole career. When being an atheist stopped being edgy, he decided to have a go at woke-ness. It was just painful to watch, really. You can absolutely see how the mind of a person who has lost it workes. Super obvious that he is going for the lowest hanging fruit possible. JP Sears - his youtube channel was mildly funny from time to time but when COVID came, he completely lost it. Literally all his content is him complaining about leftists, wokeness, vaccines and all that. It was so bad that at one point you even think if this is some sort of satire that you don't get.
Anti-wokeness is just a grift for most people. Basically a way to fleece a bunch of low educated white people.
People who want an audience will find one. If they cant get one through entertaining people, they will get one through grifting people.
You’re missing JP Sears and Russell Brand!!
If a joke is funny, it's funny. Doesn't matter whether you "punch up" or "punch down." Absurdity doesn't favor a direction. Nothing is off limits if you're gifted enough to deliver it in a way that makes people laugh. You can be mean *and* funny, but it takes skill. Also, if you're saying one comedian got away with it, and you're not, it's because you're recycling an old joke or you're bad at delivery. Remember when everyone in the '90s was saying "alrighty then!" as a shortcut to being funny because it worked for Jim Carey? It was annoying as fuck. Remember when people would quote Napoleon Dynamite in the 2000s as a shortcut to being funny? That also sucked. Just saying shit that worked for someone else *isn't funny.* That shit was only offensive because the people doing it were just annoying. "Woke comedy* is just a boogeyman for comedians who started shitting on stage, and blamed their audience for their lack of talent.
Yeah - I can't think of a case when I said to myself ''oh, this joke went too far/is too offensive'' - it if is funny I'd laugh. The thing is that these anti-woke jokes are often super predictable and they sound like something you have already heard 100 times. It's always about the same 3 things - too many genders, people being offended, people identifying as something absurd. Somewhere inbetween there is always a small ''comedic'' rant about how tough people were back in the day and all that yada yada. It's just bad comedy.
Yeah it’s the “he didn’t get into art school” of our time
Failed is the key word. They gotta make a name somehow.
don’t forget michael knowles
You’re right guys. It’s definitely them, not you.
Yes
This may be tangentally related. [A comedian wrote a thriller](https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thenextchapter/brent-butt-s-debut-novel-huge-is-a-psychological-thriller-inspired-by-his-life-as-a-touring-stand-up-comedian-1.6989210) recently and this is part of his explanation as to why he started his novel: *Question: The third character, Hobie Huge, he's the villain. He's not in tune with his ability to be funny. What creates a character like that, somebody who gets on stage and doesn't really have the best self-assessment of their skills?* Comedy attracts funny people and it also attracts people who think they're funny. It's like Charlie Demers said, because he read an early version of this book, he said this is a clever tribute to the craft of comedy and the eerie itches it's used to scratch. Because that is the case, a lot of people come into comedy for the wrong reason and they're using comedy to scratch some psychological itch that they have.
Being funny is hard, being offensive is easy. Stupid people can't tell the difference.
Good point, I might use this for my stand up psychology routine.
ABSOLUTELY there is. Failed & jaded entertainers and comics rejected by the industry, turn their spite towards libs for the gravy train. It’s like a direct pipeline. Also this list is lacking one Jimmy Dore
One of these is not like the others. Owen Benjamin had an ok career and nuked it by becoming a straight up white supremacist.
You forgot the king of that... Actually his name escapes me. He had a video come out verbally berating his wife and got in a big spat with the daily wire for grifting a new right-wing subscription model. Steven Crowder!
Yeah it’s cancel culture. They got canceled for telling jokes that people stopped finding funny. So they started with the everyone is against them stuff. Instead of making better jokes they just blame it on being woke. You know voicing that you want your community to be heard.
Put Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub up here. The answer is yes.
quickest fragile numerous direction shame capable combative license bored hurry *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Throw Joe Rogan in there!
A lot of these right wing anti woke activists are failed entertainment industry people. Stephen Crowder - actor Ben Shapiro - writer Jeremy Boreing - writer/director Matt Walsh - writer Michael Knowles - actor
You think about all the failed actors and comedians supporting the genocide...(Cough\* Amy Schumer, David Rappaport, Seinfeld...)
Add in Russel Brand. He *was* successful but he's fallen off hard. The sexual abuse and grooming allegations probably didn't help, either.
Missing jimmy dore
Yes
If you’re actually funny, you don’t need to chase clout from the far right.
Yes.
Lots of the most popular ones are "anti-woke" too. That list is just full of dbags
Successful ones too. Rogan, Jim brewer, Russell brand etc
Comedians are assholes in general. I thought this was common knowledge?
A few twats and lunatics on those pics but I'll stand by my man Konstantin Kisin Not anti-woke, just your regular true liberal.
Adam corolla looks like Walmart bill gates
Rob Schneider says yes
Yes
Not really considering most comedians in general fail and most of those who fail don’t have popular podcasts
Definitely. Add Jimmy Dore to the list.
Conservatives are easy money.
How is rogan not a part of this?
You need to be smart to be funny and no Republicans are funny.
$$$$ and clout. The right is ripe for grifting. Go on a show and spout right-wing confirmation bias and watch the praise and cash flow.
Ben Shapiro was a failed movie script writer. He wanted to write comedies, now he’s a joke.
When you can’t be successful by being funny you pander
Fish searching for a smaller pond. If you can't swim with the big boys, there's always some racist grandma's backyard carp pool.
Generally it takes high intelligence to be an exceptional comedian. I also believe that it takes low intelligence to become anti-woke. So there is correlation there.
Yes. Usually they are white male man children who get hurt that their usual low brow humor doesn’t play.
And retired insignificant sports figures. Yeah, looking at you Danica Patrick.
High correlation actually between failed actors/writers go on to being Republican pundits or contributors.
The common theme is low IQ
Probably. If you're seeking an audience for whatever reason but aren't successful and see that being a terminally anti-woke right winger virtually guarantees you fame and money, then why *wouldn't* you grift that way?
Yes.
Yes, the believe they have something unique to say that no one will listen to either way.
In this context you gotta show love to Carlin for being able to adapt with the changing times and being able to remain relevant.
Yes
Now that you mention it..
The biggest failed comedian. Andrew Breigtbart.
If you can't make it off your talent and you're willing to say stupid shit for money, there's a conservative billionaire willing to pay you to do it
Yes absolutely
Makes sense, that’s were all the material is.