Respect for the lowly guitar comic

Published by Rick on Tagged Uncategorized

The 30 October edition of The Guardian, London’s liberal daily paper, featured an article that gave performers of my ilk some kind of hope. Hope for a respect that my colleagues rarely give, for I am the dreaded Guitar Comic! The article, entitled “Songs in the Key of Laugh,” didn’t start out too promising, quoting noted stand-up Stewart Lee, who, as he was preparing to sing a song, said “No one thinks it’s a good sign when a comedian picks up a guitar.” I’ve been hearing remarks like that since my guitar and me first joined forces on a comedy club stage so many years ago.

I once read an article in The New Yorker on Janeanne Garofolo, whom the Industry was at the time branding as hip and intellectual. When asked what sort of comedy she didn’t like, she ran through the predictable PC laundry list: misogynist, racist, filthy, the usual suspects, only to cap it off with “Oh, and guys with a guitar. I HATE that!” That remark earned her a deletion from my Christmas card list that year. Given the situation I’m probably the WORST kind of guitar comic, as my forte is the much-maligned SONG PARODY. Admittedly, I’m not blessed with the patience to write a full-scale song, let alone a funny one, on any regular basis, maybe it’s just not in my DNA or something. I’m more comfortable with the familiarity factor. My ability is in getting the punch line out as expediently as possible, sort of a musical hit and run. I wouldn’t dare try parodying an entire song, since I’m not Weird Al Yankovic, for starters. Weird Al thinks I’m funny, just for the record.

The common criticism is “Yeah, but how funny is he without the guitar?” Well, not as funny for sure, but then how funny would most straight stand-ups be WITH one? I’ve seen stand-ups pull out a guitar in an attempt to slight people like myself, or make disparaging comments, and nine times out of ten they wind up looking foolish. Michael Stipe of R.E.M. sums it up very well when at the opening of most of their concerts he says, “Hi, we’re REM, and this is what we do.” That’s about all I could say for myself, though I can’t say I’m REM, but what I do IS what I do. I have a decent success rate with comedy audiences, and while comedy purists think my type of act is best for cruise ships and resorts, well, guess what? Those venues aren’t that crazy about me, either.

The Guardian article cites the success of such well-known musical comedy acts as Flight of The Conchords, who have had global success, and UK acts like Bill Bailey, Tim Minchin, John Shuttleworth, and Mitch Benn. Maybe US’s Tenacious D weren’t mentioned since they’re only together when Jack Black can find the time. They all write funny songs, and Benn specializes in parodying famed artists’ styles through his tunes. Benn was quoted about the dilemma facing musical acts in comedy clubs: “It’s not easy to write the tune and words, and then to withhold the punchline until the chorus.” Amen to that! Club audiences are already amped up through their various ingested substances, and as a result, concentration becomes an issue. For them to be expected to sit and absorb ideas for 30-45 seconds is a tall order. If it works, the performer’s genius is rewarded. If it doesn’t, the genius remains known only to the performer.

The few times I’ve attempted original songs on stage, I’ve had those same moments of apprehension and worry, followed by a post-mortem if it doesn’t work, which is then followed by an increased reluctance to ever try it again. The only times in the last few years that I’ve done an original song is when it’s improvised on stage. Somehow that comes easier to me than actually sitting and writing the funny thoughts down, much as I’m feeling self-pressured to do with this blog.

However, as any comic who knows me can attest, I’m passionate in what I do, and I at least know what the hell I’m talking about. If I’m a hack, then god knows what you’d call some of the music acts I used to see when I was based in LA. First of all, many of them never even took the time to learn an instrument. Instead, their acts were mostly, “And how about that (insert name of contemporary act)?” Then a karaoke tape or CD of one of the artist’s hits would play, and the “comic” would attempt some lame parody lyrics or do a slightly exaggerated impression. After the music stopped, he/she would usually make a slightly derogatory comment, and the laughs would come by the bushel. They shouldn’t have, but they did. One act at LA’s Comedy Store that I and others used to watch just for the sheer torture was described as “Like your science teacher trying to convince you he’s hip.” That same guy went on to do very well on cruise ships, passing Go! and collecting $10000 a week. I almost feel vindicated that I wasn’t a massive hit when I worked the boats. Nor were resorts and casinos that much to my liking.

I admire the comics with the god-given ability to make thousands of people love them and follow them on their 90-minute journeys where the only instruments they carry are their voices and thoughts. I never perceived myself as that type of cerebral comic; some of my stuff I would even admittedly call dumb. But should I feel guilty if what I do works and I get applause breaks? A certain critic for Chortle, a comedy-oriented website, makes it sound that way. In essence, he chastises people for LIKING me. Bottom line is, I know what I’m good at, and I could never take myself seriously enough to be a straight musical act, so I chose to use my musical abilities for piss-takes.

Critics and purists are welcome to slam me and my ilk to their heart’s content, and I guess if I’d never made a living for over 20 years doing what I do, and if there weren’t so many acts that I would consider grossly inferior getting more airtime than they deserve, maybe I’d think they have a point. Though The Guardian article made no outward mention of my type of act, which would have likely been a condemnation if there had been, I appreciate that they allowed that what we do can be relevant and funny. Much as my critics would force-feed the notion, being a “guitar comic” doesn’t automatically mean I suck.

October 1st, 2009



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