There are so many people that go to comedy or spoken word shows and don’t realize that the comedian is not talking directly to them. The person on stage is not opening a discussion. They are giving an opinonated and hopefully cathartic speech on the subject; if one disagrees, then one can probably still agree that it is funny and\/or thought-provoking. If one wanted to have a debate with them, one could probably 1. find a more learned, open-minded, or local person with which to debate and 2. open the topic at a more appropriate time, like when everyone in the room hasn’t paid hard-earned money to be entertained (i.e., write them a letter, talk to them after the show, etc.)<\/p>\n
Too many comedy recordings involve these wannabe stars from the crowd making loud remarks about the show. Comedians are often witty enough to shoot them down, but it is rude and STUPID for an audience member to believe that every bit is aimed at them or invites comment on their part. At two consecutive spoken word concerts put on by Henry Rollins, the audience (and the technicians) have been unable to contain their chattering long enough to avoid Hank’s understandable ire.<\/p>\n
I am willing to pay a large price to see the man speak, as he is able to create an experience which challenges your ideals, makes you laugh at the ludicrousness of life, and leaves you feeling fulfilled. But, to watch him angrily ignore members of his audience who cannot keep their damn mouths shut in order to salvage the show’s energy (which, by the way, he does admirably) dampens my enjoyment.<\/p>\n
So, please, be a proper human being, show some class, and realize that the Renaissance Faire is where audience participation is encouraged. And then, when you visit the Renaissance Faire, don’t be quiet when the performer is trying to get you involved.<\/p>\n
And don’t you dare talk to a movie screen and get all uppity when the civilized people in the audience tell you to shut the fuck up. You’ll be first against the wall.<\/p>\n
Someday, I’ll stop being so angry, but that day is not today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are so many people that go to comedy or spoken word shows and don’t realize that the comedian is not talking directly to them. The person on stage is not opening a discussion. They are giving an opinonated and hopefully cathartic speech on the subject; if one disagrees, then one can probably still agree […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p73iP8-2G","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":208,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=208","url_meta":{"origin":166,"position":0},"title":"Stop, stop, stop.","date":"10\/18\/2004","format":false,"excerpt":"What's great about Crossfire is that they're grilling Jon Stewart for not asking hard-hitting questions on his comedy show, and then trying to downplay his opinions by saying he's not funny on that \"debate\" show. And he's the only one who realizes it's ridiculous. The transcript even comes across as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ennui"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":111,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=111","url_meta":{"origin":166,"position":1},"title":"When in drought, post links.","date":"4\/20\/2004","format":false,"excerpt":"This smokescreen of funny will keep you reading long enough for me to be bitter again, I promise. The reel truth, from Wannabe Giant, who never posts anymore. Too cool to blog, B-rock? Does Chipotle frighten you? You are not alone. Go to the 16th of April and listen around.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Link Larceny"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":486,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=486","url_meta":{"origin":166,"position":2},"title":"Celebrity is as celebrity doesn’t.","date":"2\/2\/2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The concept of celebrity took another hit in my world today, when I have now twice heard jokes at the expense of Kevin Federline, yet I still (without Googling) have no idea what (not who, mind) he is or where he came from. I will not increase his dubious fame\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Link Larceny"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1053,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=1053","url_meta":{"origin":166,"position":3},"title":"The good, the bad, etc.","date":"8\/19\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"My week in list form: Closed the sold-out, critically acclaimed production of SWEENEY TODD by dying and going through the trap for some old friends who saw the show. Secured a stage combat teaching position with a local theater. Played some video games and board games and watched a little\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ennui"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":793,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=793","url_meta":{"origin":166,"position":4},"title":"Guns of Summer","date":"7\/28\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the weekend, I spent most of my time doing something rather uncharacteristic of me. I fired firearms of various makes and models. No bullets, but lots of noise and smoke. It was a lot of fun. I have noticed that I want to entertain with my writing, so I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ennui"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":363,"url":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/?p=363","url_meta":{"origin":166,"position":5},"title":"Propaganda Catapult is definitely my new band name.","date":"7\/20\/2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Audio unedited. Easy money for comedy writers baby. Easy money. [stolen from Screenhead] WFMU's Beware of the Blog: Dubya Ringtones: Answer This! And another.","rel":"","context":"In "Ennui"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.steelbuddha.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}