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I can see both sides of the argument. I think he probably did get some pity votes. I also see a strong argument in the fact that he's a genuinely funny guy. I think it's a combination of both and there's nothing wrong with that. As a professional comedian myself, I'll throw some other things into the mix, though. Here are some basic comedy principals that Josh employed extremely well.
1) You have to sell yourself BEFORE you can sell your material. If you're a genuinely likeable person on stage and you look like you're having fun, the audience will reciprocate. There is a tendency in comedy for the audience to assume the attitude of the comedian. Josh is able to use that to his advantage. He comes out making fun of his affliction, which allows the audience to associate with him and feel free to laugh. Audiences have always loved comedians who don't take themselves too
seriously. Some people might confuse this with pity votes, but it's actually that the audience felt comfortable to laugh when Josh was on stage -- not pity.
2) Address the obvious and talk about what you know, what you've experienced. The reason Josh did so much material on his disability is because that is his life. Why did Richard Pryor do so much material on drug use early on? Why does Jeff Foxworthy do so much redneck material? It's because this is what they know best, it's they're personal experiences and that's always the funniest thing to you. Don't fault Josh for doing that, he's able to make it funny.
3) Start your set with something personal to the audience. In every town I play, I begin my set by talking about something local. I'll drive around town before the show and write material about quaint places I see or situations (like traffic or
construction going on in the area). I'll begin by talking about where they live or how they live, etc. This endears the comedian to the audience and sells YOU before you try to sell your prepared material. Notice that every set Josh did, he began by talking about the competition. "The blackberry Gabriel had was mine; so was (can't remember her name)'s baby." He got personal. It was like he was letting the audience in on the behind-the-scenes action. They loved that. No one else did that. That was extremely smart on his part.
I'm sure there are other comedians, who study the art of comedy also and are much smarter than I am, who could point out other things, but I thought I'd throw these into the mix and see what develops.
Keep live comedy alive and go visit a local comedy venue. It can only be good for all of us comedians.
Holly <song4sky@...> wrote:
Holly <song4sky@...> wrote:
I thought that early on since his whole act seemed to be about his disability (even though he was still funny), but he has definitely proven himself as a comedian and is a funny guy! He was hilarious on the boat!
Marylee <lizziesmama@sbcglobal. wrote:net> I agree! On a group I’m on for people with CP an argument came up that he won by pity votes. I don’t agree. He’s naturally funny. Just watching the show when they were on the boat was enough to see that.Marylee-----Original Message-----
From: Last_Comic_Standing@yahoogroups. com [mailto:Last_ Comic_Standing@ yahoogroups. com] On Behalf Of Michelle
Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2006 11:15 PM
To: Last_Comic_Standing@yahoogroups. com
Subject: [Last_Comic_Standing] Re: Well what did you think?
--- In Last_Comic_Standing@yahoogroups. com, "Marylee" <lizziesmama@ ...> wrote:
>
> Ty used all old material. Would have been nice to hear him do something I
> hadn't heard before.
>
>
>
> Josh got my vote again - as you would have figured by now! LOL Anyways - I
> was glad to see him and Ty go on as I thought Chris would have given Josh a
> harder time to win! LOL
>
>
>
>
>
> marylee
>
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