Almost immediately after his podcast went public, Burr’s assault was dissected by the very comedy nerds he disdained, on all the most popular comedy blogs and Web sites. In fact, the odds are good that many of his listeners are the “awkward nerds” he disparaged: devout comedy acolytes who perform semiprofessionally in supportive rooms where there is no cover charge and failed jokes are reliably greeted not with heckling or thrown bottles, but with a gentle round of polite applause. (…)
While club comedy had drink minimums and was confrontational and crowd-focused (many of those in the alternative scene also considered it homophobic, racist and reactionary, with good reason), the alternative scene prided itself on being autobiographical, quirky and tied much more closely to sketch comedy and character work. It didn’t pay well, but that was the point. Comics sacrificed money for freedom. (…)
I run the Humber College comedy program, a two-year diploma in comedy writing and performance, based in Toronto, where students study stand-up, sketch, improv, acting and writing.
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I remain confused, however.
How do self-described “comedy nerds” manage to miss the fact that standup comedy is generally nasty?
This would be like Star Trek fans somehow concluding that the show took place on a cruise ship, or that the characters in Gone with the Wind were Northerners.
