Why has the level of comedians stoop to an all time low?

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   gmwilliamsposted 12 years ago

   Why has the level of comedians stoop to an all time low?
   
   It seems that comedians have to use profanity and lots of sex to make people laugh.   What happened to the double entendre in comedy?

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2. 68

   noosepaperposted 12 years ago

   I think it more has to do with what society is asking for in terms of comedy. In this modern age, people have become a lot more comfortable with the subject of sex and profanity (for example, back in the 1800's you couldn't say "breast" or "thigh" when referring to chicken meat because it was considered too profane), and for years--especially in America-- people have been extremely sexually repressed, so maybe we're finally catching up to the rest of the world haha

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      Pauladance.co.ukposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      There we have a point....Profanity if itself is NOT FUNNY!

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   Pauladance.co.ukposted 12 years ago

   Now its funny you should ask that!  You are right, but it would seem that todays' comedians do not possess the razor-sharp mentality that is necessary for true comedy.  As it happens, we have just lost the last of the truly funny gentleman comedians, Eric Sykes, Comic Writer and Comic Artist! Yes, he WROTE the stuff!!   I think that this latest lot, truthfully, do not have the brains to be funny! 
   Comedy is a gift, but it is also very very clever!  These contempory 'comedians' being unable to be truly funny, have had to fall back on profanity etc. to get a reaction from an audience, usually the laughter is not so much 'amused' laughter, as embarrassed laughter!  This type of 'funnyman' (!) probably thought it was so easy......he thought he could stand up and make people laugh, at the age of about 19-20.  He did not appreciate that it takes years  -  and a comic has to be at least 40years old  before he can offer his audience 'sex' material - coming from a young man it is not in the slightest bit even amusing!  In fact its rather revolting! 
   Good comedians are born, not made - and then they have to start working at it!  Let's hope a few new ones will be born soon!  We need them, before true humour is lost to us for ever!

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      gmwilliamsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Amen to that!   A truly great comedian with great timing was  the late Alan King.   I would also like to add the great ones such as George Kirby and Myron Cohen!

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   danielabramposted 12 years ago

   There are good comedians out there that have only been around in the past 5-7 years like Colbert, Stewart, and Demetri Martin.

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      Pauladance.co.ukposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Being in the U.K. I don't know them, but if they are blessed with a true comedy ability I wish them every success - and they will have it!

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5. 67

   relacheposted 12 years ago

   The use of profanity and references to sex dates back as far as the invention of comedy. 
   
   If you don't like a particular comedian's style, it's very easy to go find one who employs a style that you do find funny and appealing.

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      Pauladance.co.ukposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Where?

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6. 61

   Hector Rosalesposted 12 years ago

   Maybe society itself is becoming funnier than today's comedians.

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      Pauladance.co.ukposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Society seems to have lost its sense of discrimination.  Re the sex angle, it is not the 'sex', or  'profanity',  that are funny, it is the way in which they are presented.  And to a comic writer, that's the hard bit!
      It has to be studied/worked at!

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   Opulent1posted 12 years ago

   Some comedians have been using the profanity and sex for so long until anything that is introduced to them being new and different, they refuse to do. I like the comedian Steven Wright, who is so funny looking serious when he speaks.

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   Rosana Modugnoposted 12 years ago

   I'm a big fan of BBC and English comedy, which uses double entendre often.  My theory as to why comedians use more vulgarity or profanity now is that maybe we've become immune to simple comedy.  Jack Benny, Martin & Lewis or even Lucille Ball may be considered lame by today's standards because we have maybe been desensitized.  It's almost like horror movies.  They just can't seem to make them scarier.

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   lupineposted 11 years ago

   Comedians today are not that funny, so they have to resort to subjects that will get peoples' attention. That's what they know. The cleverness of comedians is virtually nonexistent today, due to lack of quality material from real-life experiences.

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