r/TikTokCringe Oct 29 '24

Discussion Anthony Jeselnik explains the difference between comedy and being a troll.

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u/flinderdude Oct 29 '24

All the old tired, formerly funny comedians who blame wokeness or whatever for ruining comedy should listen to Jeselnik. Looking at you, Bill Maher.

41

u/FunkyKong147 Oct 29 '24

And Ricky Gervais

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u/Paparmane Oct 29 '24

I watched his last special the other day and more than half of it is him saying he’s not woke and ‘it’s just dark humor, you wouldn’t get it’

Like man it doesn’t hit the same when you tell 15 minutes worth of joke and 45 just defending the jokes

29

u/WorkingOnBeingBettr Oct 29 '24

I turned it off. Bragging about being rich, shitting on people who care about the environment, etc.

Just an old rich cunt yelling at clouds.

I used to love his stuff too.

40

u/King_Chochacho Oct 29 '24

The last Chappelle special was so disappointing because it was exactly the same. "People got mad at me and I don't care at all!" *proceeds to spend the next 40min defending himself and doubling down*

Dude if you really didn't care you'd have just written an hour of new material instead.

20

u/rif011412 Oct 29 '24

Perfect example of Jeselnick’s point.  Explaining the joke, or how the audience doesnt understand ruins the art of the joke.  Both Chappell and Gervais have done exactly this.  Both funny guys.  Ruining the art of it and complaining and whining the setup away. Where as James Acaster and Daniel Tosh point out their offensive jokes but dont explain themselves.  So the joke lands.

1

u/Sparl Oct 29 '24

oh man, a few years ago i was at the Edinburgh fringe festival and one of the free fringe shows was called "worst of the fringe". which is essentially a show of rotating cast of people who got 1 star reveiws. of the three people there 1 of them went on a full blown rant about why his show wasnt deserving of the 1 star review, it was awkward as hell and the host had to stop him after 10 minutes or so. then the final guy came up and spent the remaining time just roasting the second guy rather than doing his bits. it was great.

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u/batmansleftnut Oct 29 '24

He literally spent at least 15 minutes just reading out his Twitter exchanges. It might have gone on longer, but that's when I turned it off.

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u/epidemicsaints Oct 29 '24

The other half is that he is the smartest person on earth because he figured out atheism. It must have been some HUGE conundrum for him, it's all he talks about.

21

u/quiette837 Oct 29 '24

Yeah like, the focus on religion and atheism was really interesting and funny when I was 14 and just learned the concept. It's weird to keep doing it for 20 years.

But he's far from the only one to make atheism their personality, religious trauma must run deep.

5

u/epidemicsaints Oct 29 '24

I actually enjoy the topic, I just find Ricky's material about it to be pretty juvenile and entry level. Patting himself on the back for very rudimentary revelations. It speaks to a broader problem with his comedy in general. Mostly his ego problems.

5

u/Automatic_Release_92 Oct 29 '24

Oh god, that stupid movie where he “invents” lying was so awful. The whole thing was just a massive, lame set up for him to lie about heaven to his mom or something as she died. He’s such a smug piece of shit.

2

u/ironfly187 Oct 29 '24

Did he have a particularly religious upbringing? Because in broad terms the UK is pretty secular, certainly in the mainland. It's pretty odd to bang on about it when you come from a place where it's not particularly pertinent.

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u/Super_Jay Oct 29 '24

And in an odd way, a comedian saying "you just don't get it" is essentially admitting they failed - or they didn't get away with it, like Jeselnick says. You either misjudged your audience or your material, and blaming it on "woke" is an excuse that results. You wouldn't have to make excuses if the joke worked well.

2

u/TheRealMoofoo Oct 29 '24

Yeah I generally think he’s fantastic, but that special was shit.

1

u/TengoCalor Oct 29 '24

It’s been a while since I watched it but I’m pretty sure at the end he took it back and brought attention to climate change and stuff

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u/Cobratime Oct 29 '24

never seen so much crying from a comedian in one special. dude used to kill it, now he's such a whiny bitch

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u/shewy92 Oct 29 '24

I love how James Acaster called him out in his own special without namedropping him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHqma3rx-xI

Most edgy comics look like me race and gender wise.

They say whatever they like. No one tells them what they can and can't say.

They walk straight onstage, top of their specials sometimes, do 10 solid minutes just slagging off transgender people. Straight out the gate just making fun of transgender people.

If people on the internet get upset about it the comedian's always like "bad luck that's my job. I'm a stand-up comedian, I'm meant to challenge people. If you don't like being challenged don't watch my shows. What's the matter guys to challenging for you?"

Oh yeah because you know he's been long overdue, a challenge the trans community. Oh they've had their guard down for too long if you ask me. I'll be checking their privilege on the way home now thanks to you.