So, well, the world is feeling more and more like an Onion article everyday. And Louis CK, the one started the biggest and most successful comedy wave since the 1980s, is now one on an ever-growing list of men ousted from Hollywood for predatory sexual behavior. Just like forty years ago, we’re tired. Are you tired? Im tired. Personally, I don’t want to listen to comedians from the school of Louis CK tell us about how much they hate themselves. There is enough verbalized fear coming at us from all sides right now. I need wordplay, silliness, and some goddamn levity.
Luckily for me, I’m finding myself swinging in time with the culture around me. My philosopher kings were in vogue when I was still in high school and I needed them the most. I learned so much from them, and they had a huge hand in shaping the person I grew into. Now, however, six years later, I’m finding myself in graduate school, living in a city I can’t afford, with a newly diagnosed chronic condition I barely understand, working my butt off and doing my best to just maintain. And when I come home each night to my cute but modest Astoria apartment, I don’t want to be invited into the thoughts and insecurities of someone else. I have enough of my own, thank you. Frankly, I don’t have the energy to consume much pop culture at all that isn’t positive. Instead, I crave puns and cuteness -- something I can curl up to for a few hours before turning in and doing it all again the next day.
This being said, if you must, there is a productive and uplifting way to talk about politics and all of the unsavory things we wish we could avoid sometimes. For a great modern example, consider Sarah Silverman’s Hulu show, I Love You America. The show is a love letter to this country that she sees is divided and hurting. It is empathetic without being condescending, which is not an easy feat for many liberals in this day and age. On her show, Silverman has talked with people from all over the country and every walk of life, making connections and narrowing the party gap without losing her trademark girlish yet crass sensibility. On a recent episode, she sat down with a family in rural Louisiana, for whom she was the first Jewish person they’d ever met. They laughed and bonded over a dinner, as Silverman skillfully navigated between politics and the universals that makes us all the same in the end.
I agree partially with journalist Jason Zinoman and his recent New York Times article entitled “Comedy is Booming; I Can’t Wait for the Bust.” Something’s gotta give and there is certainly a good chance we’re heading towards another bust. Yes, I can certainly see how that would be a good thing. If nothing else, it would be fun to watch comedy rebuild itself and see all the weird things that will have a chance to sneak into the spotlight. But I’m still holding on to hope that instead of busting we have someone swoop in and usher in a new era all their own. I’d love for someone that saves us from this downward slide and reminds us how to laugh at dumb things again, just as Steve Martin did forty years ago.
I don’t pretend to have much pull on the comedy tides at large, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have my top draft picks for the bearer of this future era. There are plenty of underrated, brilliant comedians worthy of much more attention then they’re currently receiving, and any number of them would make for interesting and worthwhile future waves of comedy. However, keeping in mind the needs of our time, there are a few who are particularly well suited to the task. Here, in no particular order, are my top picks for who I’d like to see leading the next revolution:
James Adomian.
Whip-smart and wielding impressions so good they’re borderline disconcerting, James Adomian is a underrated LGBTQ Los Angeles comedian who would certainly bring some levity to the current scene. Adomian is most famous for his Bernie Sanders impression, but he shines the brightest when he does impressions of other comedians, especially ones that you’ve never heard someone an impression of. His Louis, his Todd Glass, and his Kyle Kinane are all particularly brilliant, but he also (randomly) does a killer Sheriff of Nottingham. In addition to impressions and silliness, Adomian incorporates skills he learned from sketch and improv into his stand-up that I would love to see more comedians doing. He is sweet and tender on stage and is adept at making his audiences feel at ease. In addition to bringing back some much needed impishness, an Adomian wave would remind comedians of the full breadth of their comedy arsenal.
Gary Gulman.
Gary Gulman is the master of telling long, masterfully written stories. After a particularly brilliant Gulman set on Conan, Patton Oswalt took to Facebook with this to say:
“This is...so perfect. Gary Gulman does a stand-up spot on Conan and the ENTIRE spot is on one single idea. Do you know how terrifying that is to risk? As a comedian? If you start down this road and it's NOT clicking? There's no ripcord. No bolt-hole to safety. You've chosen this track and you better hope it brings you to the next station instead of suddenly ending in warped rails over a crevasse. I've only seen a few people pull something like this off. Thank you Gary Gulman. I know a lot of my shit's gonna get angry these next four years, but it's stuff like what Gary's doing that reminds me I gotta make sure it's funny first. Angry doesn't change shit. Funny disarms the horde.”
Gulman follows in the Carlin school of stand-up, trading on calculated long stories that manage to feel edited and massaged without feeling limp or lifeless. His comedy is crisp and his onstage presence is disarmingly charming. A Gulman wave would bring an era of comedy leaning on skills learned from the world of writing and one-man shows. Despite his imposing stature, Gulman has an warmth to him pairs beautifully with the precision of his material. I’d love to see comedians learning from Gulman and trying their hand at really ‘prosing’ up a story to present to the audience.
There’s a trend in stand-up right now that often confuses authenticity with laziness when it comes to preparing material. Judd Apatow and his improv-centric movies probably have a lot to do with this phenomenon. Don’t get me wrong, it’s hard to beat the magic of a set that will only exist for the audience that was there, but there’s something to be said for the hours and the work that goes into the kind of comedy Gulman is doing night after night.
Rory Scovel.
Rory Scovel is my favorite type of lunatic. His debut album “Dilation” remains one of the best comedy albums of the decade, inexplicably released via Jack White’s label Third Man Records. It is the one album I can listen to the most times without getting sick of it. There is even a moment with a heckler, which is incredibly rare for polished albums of this caliber. Rory Scovel is largely antithetical to the Gulman approach to comedy. He is unpredictable, zany, and an utter joy to watch. For his first Conan set, he did the entire thing in a fake southern accent, and for his second his wore a tux and had accompaniment on a grand piano. Scovel has an ease and a playfulness to him that I would love to see return to stand-up comedy at large. A Scovel wave would mean comedians just trying random things, see what sticks, and just having fun.
Any one of those comedians would make for an era of comedy that I would love to watch grow and flourish. Despite their massive differences in tone, style, and influence, each of them would bring us back to a place of fun that has, funnily enough, been sorely missing in the world of comedy.