Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. Are you saying he was chosen because of his twitter career? Or are you saying that comedians (in positions to get talk shows) don't post jokes on twitter? I'm hoping it's something else because neither of those things makes a lick of sense.

TM

Already gave a longer response, but in essence I'm saying that, if comedians post jokes on Twitter, I hope they are generally a lot funnier than these or I'm not particularly interested in those comedians.

[taxwonk]

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch

I'm sure the vast majority of people posting jokes to twitter make a lot of Not Funny ones. Maybe virtually all of them.

But virtually all people posting jokes to twitter do not get selected to host a national comedy show. So, he's exceptional on this point, but not on the above point, and that's sad.

My twitter jokes are all HI-larious. And I wouldn't want to host a nationally popular tv show. Why didn't they call me?

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch

I'm saying that I acknowledge having only a small sample size, but that small sample size is a bunch of consistently awful jokes. Not awful because they are offensive, but because they aren't funny and are stupid.

He could be a fantastically good comedian. The selection here could be horribly unfair, a completely unrepresentative .0001% of the jokes he's told. But it's the sample that I'm looking at and I don't just write it off as irrelevant just because "lots of people tell bad jokes on twitter." So what? Lots of people tell bad jokes everywhere. The vast majority of people would also suck ass in a stand-up routine, and if Noah also sucked ass at stand-up you wouldn't say "it's okay, most people would do badly there."

What you're saying -- essentially, "yes, these jokes suck, but his stand-up is good and that's more relevant to the job he'll have, especially since he probably won't be writing his own material" -- is a different and sensible response. I don't agree or disagree with it, because I haven't seen his stand-up. But it's a qualitatively different response than saying "it's okay, lots of people come across as unfunny or bigoted on twitter."

I'm sorry. I'm truly having trouble with this conversation. And it's even more troubling that all of you, who pride yourselves on being knowledgeable and who usually spend more than 10 seconds researching a topic before drawing conclusions, have so quickly determined the guy isn't funny and might be offensive based on the 6 jokes out of nine fucking thousand from 5 years ago that aren't funny. And I don't know where you got that last quote in the last paragraph, but it sure seems like you're pulling it out of your ass.

I don't have to argue that we should look at his larger body of work and not just the handful of jokes people dug up from his twitter feed to decide whether he should have the job because that is so obvious that it's completely pointless to say. If your argument is going to continue to be, "But I looked at those jokes," I'm going to have to give up on this conversation. Hey! Remember those 6 missed shots Jordan took in the Finals against the Lakers? He probably fucking sucks.

Stewart brought him to the show and loves the guy. That alone should be enough for you to give him the benefit of the doubt, or at least a fucking shot.

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch

Already gave a longer response, but in essence I'm saying that, if comedians post jokes on Twitter, I hope they are generally a lot funnier than these or I'm not particularly interested in those comedians.

Whatever.

I am truly floored by all of your reactions to this. This is absolutely ridiculous.

Patton's take: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/...nd-trevor-noah

TM

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

Another one.

Yep. He probably hasn't evolved and shouldn't be allowed to. He probably should just step down because people won't be happy unless his comedic history reads like Stewart's, post 2003.

Ridiculous.

TM

I'm sorry, it appears my joke fell flat. Please don't judge me on it.

Look, if he has a good schtick and I start seeing Stewart-like clips of him on issues of the day, all is forgotten; we don't hold comics to the same standards as, say, Bill O'Really.

But I'd still stay away from the Jewish jokes for a while if I were him.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

I'm sorry. I'm truly having trouble with this conversation. And it's even more troubling that all of you, who pride yourselves on being knowledgeable and who usually spend more than 10 seconds researching a topic before drawing conclusions, have so quickly determined the guy isn't funny and might be offensive based on the 6 jokes out of nine fucking thousand from 5 years ago that aren't funny.

Huh? These are things I said in the post that you responded to:

"I acknowledge having only a small sample size..."
"He could be a fantastically good comedian."
"The selection here could be horribly unfair, a completely unrepresentative .0001% of the jokes he's told."



The only "conclusion" I reached is that the small sample size I'm looking at is a bunch of shitty jokes. They are shitty enough that I wonder if he's especially funny or a good writer of his own material, but that called a "question," not a "conclusion." To the extent that I am interested in answering the question and reaching a conclusion, I'll watch the show. Not really willing to do more "research" than that, as this isn't all that important to me beyond being a sort of interesting discussion. Though if you linked a clip you think is good, I'd watch it.

Stewart brought him to the show and loves the guy. That alone should be enough for you to give him the benefit of the doubt, or at least a fucking shot.

Again, huh? Who said I'm not giving him a fucking shot? But if it makes you feel better, I promise not to utilize the enormous power that I have over Comedy Central to get the guy fired. And I will likely watch the show as much as I watch Stewart (which is every once in awhile, when there is a guest or topic I'm really interested in or when I see a clip posted somewhere that looks interesting).

I am truly floored by all of your reactions to this. This is absolutely ridiculous.

Once again, huh? My reaction is that the jokes he told on twitter suck, and I don't write that off as irrelevant because supposedly all comedians tell shitty jokes on twitter. If you read that as me saying Noah is fatally un-funny, shouldn't been hired, etc., that's your reading, and it's way off.


As for the rest -- I thought I was reasonably paraphrasing what you said, but apparently not. I'll drop this topic. You are way more invested in this than I am.

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch

As for the rest -- I thought I was reasonably paraphrasing what you said, but apparently not. I'll drop this topic. You are way more invested in this than I am.

No. Not really. I rarely watch Stewart anymore (other than clips of his particularly good stuff--and he's been on a roll lately given the fact that he's out and has zero fucks to give). Don't know Noah very well. In fact I was hoping Tina Fey would have taken the job.

I thought some of the jokes the internet police force picked out were troubling. I said as much. I watched Noah do his thing as a correspondent right when they introduced him and he was very good--good enough that I watched his stand-up, which held my interest for awhile. He faded over the course of his set because I imagine he got too big too quickly and didn't really have enough material to fill a full hour.

What I find so weird here is that everyone (and maybe I'm unfairly lumping you in with everyone else) is so quick to make a determination on whether the guy is funny based on the 6 cherry-picked jokes held up to show he may not be qualified. That seems insane to me whether we're talking about whether he should be given a fantastic show or whether we're deciding whether the guy is funny.

TM

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

We aren't disagreeing I just don't think you can stop fat girl jokes.

Certainly not, but you could hope that Comedy Central finds someone to fill Stewart's shoes who is worthy of the opportunity. Maybe this guy is it, but not to judge by those tweets.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

Are you truly basing your opinion of his entire career on the 4 jokes picked because of their offensiveness?

Yes, I am (but at least I'm clear that it may not be a good sample). Hopefully those tweets were an early stage, like Van Gogh's potato eaters, and we have starry nights to look forward to.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch

Already gave a longer response, but in essence I'm saying that, if comedians post jokes on Twitter, I hope they are generally a lot funnier than these or I'm not particularly interested in those comedians.

A lot of comedians use Twitter to try out material. They can generally get an idea if the material works or not.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

I'm sorry, it appears my joke fell flat. Please don't judge me on it.

Look, if he has a good schtick and I start seeing Stewart-like clips of him on issues of the day, all is forgotten; we don't hold comics to the same standards as, say, Bill O'Really.

But I'd still stay away from the Jewish jokes for a while if I were him.

I'm not trying to pick a fight, nor do I have an opinion, but does it matter if his mother is half-Jewish?

[Tyrone Slothrop]

For Sidd (and anyone else -- Happy 4/1).

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Replaced_Texan

I'm not trying to pick a fight, nor do I have an opinion, but does it matter if his mother is half-Jewish?

Orthodox, reformed or reconstructionist?

[Adder]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Yes, I am (but at least I'm clear that it may not be a good sample). Hopefully those tweets were an early stage, like Van Gogh's potato eaters, and we have starry nights to look forward to.

I always liked Potato Eaters.

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

Orthodox, reformed or reconstructionist?

Red...no, blue!



TM

[taxwonk]

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch

Huh? These are things I said in the post that you responded to:

"I acknowledge having only a small sample size..."
"He could be a fantastically good comedian."
"The selection here could be horribly unfair, a completely unrepresentative .0001% of the jokes he's told."



The only "conclusion" I reached is that the small sample size I'm looking at is a bunch of shitty jokes. They are shitty enough that I wonder if he's especially funny or a good writer of his own material, but that called a "question," not a "conclusion." To the extent that I am interested in answering the question and reaching a conclusion, I'll watch the show. Not really willing to do more "research" than that, as this isn't all that important to me beyond being a sort of interesting discussion. Though if you linked a clip you think is good, I'd watch it.




Again, huh? Who said I'm not giving him a fucking shot? But if it makes you feel better, I promise not to utilize the enormous power that I have over Comedy Central to get the guy fired. And I will likely watch the show as much as I watch Stewart (which is every once in awhile, when there is a guest or topic I'm really interested in or when I see a clip posted somewhere that looks interesting).





Once again, huh? My reaction is that the jokes he told on twitter suck, and I don't write that off as irrelevant because supposedly all comedians tell shitty jokes on twitter. If you read that as me saying Noah is fatally un-funny, shouldn't been hired, etc., that's your reading, and it's way off.


As for the rest -- I thought I was reasonably paraphrasing what you said, but apparently not. I'll drop this topic. You are way more invested in this than I am.

I've been kind of in a cave dealing with my own shit. Here's my take on it:

Jon Stewart chose a black guy to replace him. He may have tweeted a couple of bad jokes. If that is the basis on which we choose our entertainers, the only candidate alive is the Dalai Lama

Because I know you all care and look up to me as a role model on these things.