Manufacturing Laughs

Comedy was in the air this Saturday as we dragged ourselves out of the confines of the apartment and sought out the Laugh Factory on the Sunset Strip.  Yes, it wasn't that far, but it was our friend's birthday and we couldn't miss out on an opportunity to check out what the Factory had to offer up for the comedically inclined.

On the agenda tonight?  Arie Spears, Dov Davidoff, Bret Ernst, and Dane Cook.  You might recognize the first name from Mad TV, the middle two comedians are indeed lesser known, but rising, and of course everyone with a pulse has heard of or seen Dane Cook gesticulate in one form or another.  Yes, they were all funny in their own way, with my favorite being Mr. Davidoff, but a common theme is that all these comedians worked "Blue."  Yea, if you know what that means, then I don't have to describe it for you.

The etymology of the term is pretty simple.  An early era comedian, Max Miller, used to keep all of his adult material in a small, blue notebook for reference.  As such, any off-color or profane material has since been referred to by the term "blue" or "working blue."  As G put it, it's easy to get laughs this way, but it's more interesting and it takes a particular talent to avoid the easy way out. 

I've seen my fair share of comedians and that night's brand of comedy was hilarious (high notes included Mr. Spears' rap impressions and Dov Davidoff's nervous stream-of-concsiousness dialogue), but afterwards, talking with G, it got me thinking about the comedians I've enjoyed in the past.  Seinfeld himself doesn't work blue at all really, perhaps his material being now colored by fatherhood.  Chris Rock does tend to skew in that direction from time to time, but there's always an underlying message of thematic social commentary.  George Lopez focuses instead on his own ethnic background rather than relying on commentary of others.  Demitri Martin is a master of wordplay and awkward visuals.  And there are a host of others I'm probably forgetting, but I suppose it's just the time of day, the brand of comedian, it's a certain list of things that set the joke atmosphere for the night, primary of which is always the comedian.

Where does this leave us, though?  I tend to think that the comedian who plies his craft night in and night out will form his own personality and be as successful as his diligence lets him.  Myself, I don't think I could ever put myself out there, because matter-of-factly, I'm not funny.  What we do have though, are a small group of people willing to make others laugh, most often at their own expense.  I appreciate it all, but in the end, it's the most original and hard-working comedians making the grade.