Is John Mayer really funnier than David Cross?

the pink Jim Morrison cover was actually a different set of lists--the top 25 albums and 100 singles were a year before. but I LOVE those lists, and Spin at that period, and fucking JOHN LELAND's singles column, which I have been looking at a lot lately in preperation for the year-end issue, just to see how you DO it, y'know? he's one of the best critics ever.

x-post - i agree it seemed maybe a bit more popist pre-blenderising (when sheffield reigned supreme i guess).

And they'll give David Lee Roth four pages to answer questions from readers! RAWK!

he NAILED JB,
sang "I Feel Good" like a god.
the rest, though, did suck.

proven by SCIENCE!

Anyway, I still laugh a lot at Bill Hicks. Not the political stuff as much as the porn stuff and a long track on one of his CDs where he just assaults the audience for about five straight minutes.

And I'm another one who likes Rolling Stone better now than I have at any time since I first picked it up, in junior high. (The first issue I ever bought had Michael Douglas on the cover. I should have been warned by that, but somehow wasn't.)

--Mr. Show is pretty good, but before the third season were very inconsistant and occasionally terrible.
--David Cross's appearances on every award show ever, AND his new DVD with some of the most ufnunny segue bits ever make me sad for him
--Kids in the Hall was excellent, and is just about tied with the Upright Citizen's Brigade with best sketch comedy show ever
--However, having re-watched the Ben Stiller show and episodes of the State I can say that are completely unfunny
--SCTV is the most overrated show of all time
--MadTV was never funny
--The first 5 years of SNL DO live up to the hype
--Same with Python
--For my money, Chris Rock is the funniest working stand up comedian, however Cross's stand up was top notch. He's a great performer, even if Odenkirk is a better writer.

all great comedy shows look shitty when you just watch random episodes though, practically nothing was good enough to hit every time

sctv in the good years comes closest for me tho

Dean Objects to Ethnic Humor at a Comedyfest in His Honor

By JODI WILGOREN
305 words
9 December 2003
The New York Times
Late Edition - Final
6
English
(c) 2003 New York Times Company

About 200 people who donated $250 each to Howard Dean's presidential campaign gathered last night in the ballroom of the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea for an evening of dessert and comedy and a greeting from their candidate.

But as the warm-up acts told bawdy jokes and used epithets referring to African-Americans and homosexuals, the guest of honor was in a room next door wondering whether he should appear onstage.

When the M.C., Kate Clinton, introduced Dr. Dean, she had to stall for a few minutes, because he was still fuming in the other room. A few minutes later, he tooke the stage and apologized for what he called offensive language. ''I just don't have much tolerance for ethnic humor,'' he said. ''We are all one community.''

The raunchy one-liners, delivered mainly by the comedian David Cross, were typical comedy club fare, but unusual for a political event. Mr. Cross is known for using profanity in his act.

Judy Gold, who appeared before Mr. Cross, had also told ethnic jokes. The actress and comedian Janeane Garofalo also appeared at the event, which was part of a day of fund-raisers that netted more than $1 million for the Dean campaign.

The jokes got mixed reactions from the mostly white crowd. Some snickered and some shook their heads at what they said were inappropriate remarks. But Dr. Dean and his staff were not amused.

''That's not the kind of humor that has any place in the governor's campaign,'' said a spokesman, Doug Thornell, adding that the comedians had all been ''given instructions to keep it clean.''

''The governor was incensed and angry,'' Mr. Thornell said. ''He thought the language was totally outrageous.''

I once saw a skit on Mad TV that was literally this:

It was a parody of one of those TV workout aerobics show, but, HERES THE CATCH, the lady who was instructing it HAD GAS! So they played fart noises every time she would bend or move! Oh what hilarity!

That sad thing is . . . that is actually funnier than anything from the past 5 years of SNL.

This sounds like another MadTV sketch I saw awhile back, about a male stripper hired to dance for a bachelorette party. He comes in dressed as a construction worker, and gradually strips down. But when he pulls off his jeans, he reveals that he's wearing two huge, horrifying (think Marilyn Manson's "Beautiful People" video) leg braces. He begins to stiffly move around, attempting to lap-dance the bride-to-be while still wearing orthopedic gear, and the women all look totally horrified, but try to overcome it. It was fucking hilarious.

but dave q to thread to praise cheech and chong!

"Cheech & Chong's Next Movie"

Conversely, I never "got" Cheech & Chong. I mean, I get it: they're stoned. But is there anything more than that?

i mean its also humor that says "look at me i am trying to make you laugh and be weird and engaging" not like all this meta-humor shtick.

i am a humor rockist! why can't people just tell jokes, like henny youngman did?

(also the caddyshacks are brilliant but perhaps the only good things rodney ever did?)

Mad TV:Rolling Stone :: Saturday Night Live:Spin

Though really, "Mad TV " (which, judging from the episodes of both I've seen over the past couple years, does indeed blow *SNL* out of the water these days no contest) might even be more like *Creem* or something (which maybe *SNL* was, once upon a time, who knows.)

Anyway, my point is that Spin has always seemed scared of its own shadow to me, too. Back when I used to freelance for both mags, Spin (who were always afraid of seeming uncool, hence no negative Pavement or Jon Spencer reviews in the mid'90s and no positive Spin Doctors ones, etc) *always* fucked with my reviews; Rolling Stone rarely did.

(the krusty-goes-sienfeld episode of the simpsons totally nailed the difference for me)

I liked George Carlin more than Cheech and Chong back in eighth grade in the '70s, though like everybody else in my class, I had more albums by both of them at the time than by any people who made music.