Feminism as a whole is described as an ideology of establishing and defending equal rights for women. Somewhere in the time between the work of Virginia Woolf and the show “Girls” coming into fruition the defense of equal rights have fizzled into blog posts or tweet from a woman in her 20’s who is upset over something a comedian said.
Where are the battles for pay equality? Where are the open discussions about stopping female genital mutilation in Africa? When was the last time you donated to a battered women’s shelter or donated your time to rape victim help centers? Has anyone tried to help out the women of Afghanistan or at the very least told a 13 year old girl she looked pretty? Anything outside of reposting an article read on jezebel on how someone was offended about something. Recently I read an article about how various female celebrities don’t feel comfortable identifying themselves as feminists because of the negative connotations that come with the word. (http://www.salon.com/2013/04/06/im_not_a_feminist_but/?source=newsletter) Naturally, this upset many feminists. Not because of the reasoning that they weren’t associating their names as feminists, but because they were powerful amongst the world’s media and social market and not identifying themselves as feminists. This is the sort of like if white supremacists were angry at famous Caucasian men for not being white supremacists; “But you were so convincing, Edward Norton!”
This is not to say I don’t support feminist, their values, or strong women. I love the women in my life in every frame and I’m inspired by what they’ve done. What feminism has devolved to is women who aren’t doing anything for social change except being outspoken on issues that make themselves seem overly sensitive. The problem here isn’t in the sensitivity- if you’re offended by something, that’s your right- it’s in the fact that you portray yourself as the voice of the movement and speak on behalf of the entire movement as a whole for a matter that has very little barrings. For example- Christians aren’t bad people. The Westboro Baptist Church picketing funerals and claiming they’re Christian is doing a bad thing. The majority sees the outspoken instead of the whole, therefor the whole looks crazy because of the smaller sum. Now that’s comparing apples and oranges, here’s a more specific and personal example:
I’m a part of a comedy rap group called Mar’son and the FYF Crew. It’s stupidity for the sake of satire and one of those things that once you understand what’s going on, you’re in on the joke (ie: songs about bath salts, smelling vaginas, the overuse of the n-word, and our hypeman having a hypeman). There are people who don’t get it, which is fine because not all comedy is for everybody. On Friday, April 26th we performed a show at a bar in Chicago. Our opening song is called “Birthday” where the chorus is “Happy Birthday, we trying to f**k.” During this song we get a female volunteer. On this night, the girl sat and danced through all 3 minutes and 53 seconds of the song. No one held her down, touched her, or called her anything explicit. She goes back into the audience and we do the remaining 15 minutes of our set. As soon as we’re off she bumrushes the stage and yells to the audience, “What they did is not OK. That song glorifies rape culture, sexual harassment, and misogyny.” The girl was heckled and booed. We had an open forum discussion outside where we listened to her threaten to sue us and explain how she didn’t find the song funny (but did say she was a big fan of the show “Girls” which…kind of shows you her perspective in comedy). The performance as a whole was enjoyed by the majority of the audience, many of which were outside during the discussion and pretty much all had turned on her because of her way of handling the situation. The song never says “we’re going to f**k you” or “we don’t care what you say, this f**king is going to happen” thus throwing out her rape culture theory. The simple statement of “we’re trying to f**k” implies a hopefulness which was in actuality demonstrated by her (assumed) boyfriend who defended her outspokenness to the rest of the group while he smirked when we pointed out what makes the song a joke. The point is the way the situation was handled made her look worse to the broader audience because she seemed angry, spiteful, and overly-sensitive.
Within this new generation, topics dealing with sex are eggshell walks. I’ve seen how many male comedians are ostracized due to the content of material that most female comedians would get praised for. Comedy used to be about if a joke is funny or not funny. No one looked too deep into Eddie Murphy’s “Raw”. It was risque, but people of different colors, genders, and sexual orientations laughed and he got millions of dollars. There is more of a social awareness now which is a good and bad thing. It’s good because we all have a voice to talk about any issues. It’s bad because we ALL have a voice to talk about any issues. Liberalism has become telling people what they can’t say because of who it might offend. The job of a comedian is to point out what makes everything silly. No matter what, somebody is going to be the butt of a joke. A fellow comedian and friend of mine pointed out how this happens from the time we’re able to talk. “Why did the chicken cross the road?” To get to the other side. It’s the clear answer. You’re made to be the dumb one. You’re the butt of that joke. But when you hit a certain age you don’t want to look stupid so instead you take point out the fallacies of the joke instead of taking it as a joke. In the context of feminism, has being able to laugh become the enemy? Has being able to all openly talk about sex become the issues? Or is it the concept of “slut shaming”?
Calling someone who is slutty a slut is not a bad thing. Telling someone who is slutty that being a slut is bad is a bad thing. The double standard in sexual culture is based on the two roles of the genders. A man is (typically/socially speaking) not celebrated by women when he sleeps with multiple girls, but his male peers will congratulate him on his deeds. A woman is (typically/socially speaking) not celebrated by men when she sleeps with multiple guys, and her female peers will label her with negative views based on her actions. The same can be said regarding body image. Within many of the discussions regarding how women should look and how they should love their curves and figures it often times deteriorates into cutting remarks about skinny girls or girls with boobs jobs. How is that fighting for your cause?
Empower women. Help women. Embrace women. But the more the outspoken yet under-active feminists try to tear down comedian’s jokes about their exes or Taylor Swift’s lyrics because she “sings too much about boys” the more harm they’re doing to anything those set before them have built.
This is a poem I wrote at 4:30 AM. It doesn’t follow any guidelines because real gangstas don’t follow rules.
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There’s the stage set before you, it might implore you to explore who has been here before. The audience claps as you map out your next joke for your material.
The controversial topic, the relevancy, this one thing that has been killing me.
What you love, what you hate, how you can’t seem to find a date.
Everyone’s talking about this, but this is your spin
It bombs but you think you can try it again.
Hear a chuckle out of pity, you talk about the city and the people in it and how it still feels shitty.
You’re broke, you’re poor, you feel your ideas are worth more but
Those ideas lack in fact and theory because even through this mic, these people they don’t hear me…
See the glow from someone’s phone and there you begin to sink trying to think of where your life would have gone if you hadn’t got that liberal arts degree. Race relations, radio stations, “Hitler reference” and penetration. They’re on board now..
You get personal, talk about the girl you like, how you had a fight, but something doesn’t feel quite right.
The exes, the sexists, Craigslist missed connections, battle of races and the sexes, how you think sex is, the e-mail messages from Texas saying you’re not good enough, we didn’t like your clip
So you bite your lip, hoping maybe in 365 days
You’ll count the ways to get into that festival because hey, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Every day is make or break, this bit, that tag
Here’s that guy you see at an open mic you roll your eyes at cause he thinks he can get a laugh by randomly saying “nigger” or “fag”.
But as you digress you don’t need further stress, you’re doing your best to wait your turn
Because for 4 minutes they’ll learn who you are
You live and die by every laugh or lack thereof
Those 3 dollar drinks start to add up realizing you’re out of luck
You started with 20, after 5 PBRs your wallet is fuuuuucked.
But it’s your passion, it’s your dream. You moved all this way and it seems
You see a new face every day trying to do the same exact thing.
A year from now some of them will be gone, some will be better
Some will move past you and from the back room it’s whatever
But the reality and jealousy sets in and it kills to see
That that bit killed.
Get home at 2 AM, a clown taking off his make-up one more night
Ready to wake up to afternoon light and prepare for the eve where you do it all again. A life of jokes and drinks to keep you on hinge.
We have to laugh to keep from crying
The reality is we’re all dying, that’s all you want them to see
So if you’re going to die…die laughing, even if it’s at me.
Friday, Jan. 25 - Sh!t Show at Shambles (2050 West Division Street, Chicago, IL 60622) at 8 PM
Friday, Jan. 25 - Chris Redd’s Redd Alert at The Playground Theater (3209 North Halsted Street, Chicago, IL 60657) at 10 PM
Saturday, Jan. 26 - OPENING NIGHT of Second City presents Urban Twist: Social NOTWorking inside Donny’s Skybox Theater (1616 North Wells Street, Chicago, IL 60614) at 9 PM *sketch*
Saturday, Jan. 26 - Cutz on Cuts Loft Party at MultiKulti (1000 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL 60642) at 11 PM
Monday, Jan. 28 - Hosting The Chaser at Comedy Sportz Theater (929 West Belmont Avenue, Chicago, IL 60657) at 10 PM
Wednesday, Jan. 30 - Hosting Comedians You Should Know at Timothy O’ Toole’s (622 North Fairbanks Court, Chicago, IL 60611) at 9 PM
Thursday, January 31 - Comedy Central Showcase at Lincoln Lodge (4008 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618) at 9 PM
Thursday, January 31 - Your Comedy Show at Lilly’s ( 2515 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614) at 10 PM
Friday, February 1 - Lincoln Lodge at 9 PM
Friday, February 1 - Talk Hard at Comedy Sportz Theater *Mar’son and the FYF Crew* at 12 AM
Saturday, February 2 - Second City Presents Urban Twist: Social NOTWorking at 9 PM
Monday, February 4 - 100 Proof Comedy at Comedy Sportz Theater at 8 PM
Tuesday, February 5 - Hug City at Racine Plumbing (2642 N. Lincoln Ave.) at 9 PM
Friday, February 8 - Lincoln Lodge at 9 PM
Saturday, February 9 - Second City Presents Urban Twist: Social NOTWorking at 9 PM
Saturday, February 9 - Don’t Spit The Water! at The Playground Theater at 10 PM
Sunday, February 10 - REACH at Up Comedy Club at 9:30 PM *Mar’son & The FYF Crew* (230 W. North Ave. 3rd Floor Chicago, IL)
Monday, February 11 - 100 Proof Comedy DVD TAPING! at Comedy Sportz Theater at 8 PM
Friday, February 15 - The Lincoln Lodge Presents RORY SCOVEL - 8 PM & 10 PM
Saturday, February 16 - Second City Presents Urban Twist: Social NOTWorking at 9 PM
Monday, February 18 - Charity Event at Comedy Sportz Theater (being auctioned) at 8 PM
Monday, February 18 - Hosting The Chaser at Comedy Sportz Theater at 10 PM
Tuesday, February 19 - Featuring for Drew Michael in Kenosha at 7 PM
Saturday, February 23 - Second City Presents Urban Twist: Social NOTWorking at 9 PM
Monday, February 25 - 100 Proof Comedy at Comedy Sportz Theater at 8 PM
Saturday, March 2 - Second City Presents Urban Twist: Social NOTWorking at 9 PM
Saturday, March 9 - Second City Presents Urban Twist: Social NOTWorking at 9 PM
Saturday, March 16 - Second City Presents Urban Twist: Social NOTWorking at 9 PM
Monday, March 18 - Hosting The Chaser at Comedy Sportz Theater at 10 PM
Sunday, March 24 - Bevy at 10 PM
Tuesday, March 26 - Chicago Underground Comedy at The Beat Kitchen (2100 West Belmont Avenue, Chicago, IL 60618) at 9 PM
Sunday, March 30 - Second City Presents Urban Twist: Social NOTWorking at 9 PM
More shows TBA.
There’s a saying about music that “everyone can sing, just not everyone can sing well.” The same is true for comedy. Everyone can be or has been funny at some point in their life. You can be the funniest person to your friends or the funniest guy in the office or even have some funny tweets but that doesn’t always translate into being a comedian.
For a lot of people they transition that will and want to be funny into taking improv classes or doing open mics. Some flourish and some sink. Humor is an inherent trait and the process of channeling it can be difficult if you don’t push yourself to tap into it. If you’re a well-to-do person who watches SNL and just think, “I can do that” then you’re going to struggle in the reality that there are a million other people with the same thought process and a lot of them are funnier, more talented, and have more drive.
I’ve been fortunate enough to meet a lot of outstandingly funny people from different avenues. With that I’ve met a lot of unfunny people who desperately want to be funny. Reality usually takes people in three different directions of either- “Yes I suck but I want to get better” or “Yes I suck and I should quit and focus on something else” or “No, I don’t suck everyone around me sucks for not getting my brilliance.” Comedy is an attention wanting process. You’re presenting yourself in a light of “look at me, laugh at my thoughts, and chuckle at this silly thing I can do.” For me personally I got “serious” about stand-up in 2009 and that was also when I started doing improv, both of which were in Birmingham. I would drive 2 hours to Birmingham from Auburn every Sunday to rehearse and then 2 hours back to go to class the next morning. I didn’t party. I didn’t drink. I worked 3 jobs, was a full time student, and did as much comedy as possible.
Since then I’ve kept up with doing both stand-up and improv and a question I always get asked is which one is better and the response I always give is that they’re both very different. Stand-up is a solo performance. It is you and a microphone telling thought out material or things that come to you in the moment. Improv is a group minded thing. A bunch of people working together with the best of their ability to think stuff from the top of their head.
The key difference is dependability. When I’m doing stand-up I know I can trust myself to do something funny and make something funny. If it doesn’t work it is all on me. With improv if something doesn’t work, there is a reason it doesn’t work and it could be an idea that was stepped on or negated or just one person who is a weak link in the group because the truth is not all improvists are strong.
I’d rather watch a stand-up fail than an improv team fail. If a stand-up fails on stage (unless he’s delusional) he knows where he lost the audience and he can try to win them back or say “good night” and bring up the host. If improv does badly YOU HAVE TO STILL WATCH THEM TRY. The scene could get swiped and then you look at that person on the side of the stage with 1 of 2 faces: Face A: “Aw man, that wasn’t good.” or Face B: “Aw man, I can’t wait to get in again and try to make that work.” I don’t fault multiple attempts at putting in effort to make something funny but sometimes you have to wave the white flag and know when to be a good prop for the rest of the scenes.
In August I got into a discussion with a girl about which is more profitable to do, stand-up or improv. I explained that improv performers have the quicker pay-off but stand-ups have a higher success rate.
If you think about the city of Chicago, you have several improv venues such as Second City, iO, The Annoyance, Comedy Sportz Theatre, etc etc… Out of those you have at least 5,000 people coming from all over the world taking classes. 10% are people who need a confidence booster and probably won’t do anything past a couple of classes. 30% enjoy comedy and are just looking for something to do in the meantime. Another 30% are musical theatre majors who have been told their entire life during their musical theatre classes that they’re musical theatre funny and all of their scenes will be the exact same thing, they’ll play the exact same characters, and will potentially be the most annoying person in these classes. There’s another 25% who feel they can make something out of it and will try their best and there’s a final 5% that make something out of it be it a career in improv or teaching or making it big in television and movies- success is all dependent upon how you see it and how far you want to go. The reality should set in that not everybody who signs up for these classes or does all of the improv jams or performs at every improv show is going to be the next big thing in improv. There is a very small percentage of people who get paid to do improv.
Stand-up is again similar but different. There are multiple venues and bars and coffee shops with a microphone and stand. The biggest fall-off is in between doing open mics and doing shows. I’ve seen a lot of people who do open mics disappear but typically those who are in the showcase circuit or who are doing clubs stick with it in some fashion and get paid whatever amount. Taking from an open mic, let’s say there are 50 people signed up. Out of that 50, 10 of them are already somewhat established in their city or region and are trying out new jokes or just need a stage. 15 of them are growing and are the comics to watch for when that first 10 move to a different city or begin to travel or do whatever their specific goals are (goals are relative). The remaining 25 will either meander around open mics, quit within a year, or find what works for them. The group that finds what works for them typically become that 15 and the cycle continues. The difference between here and improv is you have maybe 400 people doing stand-up in the city vs that 5,000 in classes and performing their show “Wacky Title with a Political Figure Involved Honey Boo Boo”.
Out of all of this, the truth is that cream rises. There’s a quote from Red Skelton, “if you’ve got talent they can put you behind a brick wall and you’ll break through.”
A lot of people in improv and stand-up have the talent and will definitely flourish, and a lot more will be stuck counting bricks.
WATCH: “DMX’s First Encounter With Google”
I like how DMX treats the Laptop like a cockroach he doesn’t wanna touch
This is kind of like when I found out R. Kelly doesn’t know how to read. These guys have more money than us.
Friday, October 5
Lincoln Lodge Season 13 Opener
4008 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL
The Lincoln Lodge Presents Pete Holmes - 8:00 PM
The Lincoln Lodge Presents Pete Holmes - 10:00 PM (One I’m performing on)
Saturday, October 6
Second City Outreach and Diversity Present: Race…The Final Frontier (Sketch/Improv) - 9:00 PM
1616 N. Wells St. Chicago, IL
The Lincoln Lodge Presents Pete Holmes - 8:00 PM
The Lincoln Lodge Presents Pete Holmes - 10:00 PM
Wednesday, October 10
Second City Outreach show at Columbia College - 6:00 PM
Friday, October 12
Lincoln Lodge with Sean Flannery - 8:30 PM
Saturday, October 13
Second City Outreach and Diversity Present: Race…The Final Frontier - 9:00 PM
Monday, October 15
100 Proof Comedy (Hosting) at Comedy Sportz Theatre - 8:00 PM
929 W Belmont Ave. Chicago, IL
Tuesday, October 16
Dastardly @ The Hideout (Mar’son and the FYF Crew *rap*) - 8:00 PM
1354 West Wabansia Avenue Chicago, IL
Wednesday, October 17
Genesis League (Improv) at Comedy Sportz Theatre - 8:30 PM
Friday, October 19
Laugh Factory - 8:00 PM
Saturday, October 20
Second City Outreach and Diversity Present: Race…The Final Frontier - 9:00 PM
Cutz on Cutz Loft Party (Farty Marty/Mar’son and the FYF Crew) - 11:00 PM
Monday, October 22
100 Proof Comedy at Comedy Sportz Theatre - 8:00 PM
Friday, October 26
Creative Control at Saki (Farty Marty) - 8:30 PM
3716 West Fullerton Avenue Chicago, IL
Saturday, October 27
2 Hour Comedy Hour at Gallery Cabaret - 7:00 PM
Second City Outreach and Diversity Present: Race…The Final Frontier - 9:00 PM
Monday, October 29
100 Proof Comedy: The Chaser (Host) at Comedy Sportz - 9:45 PM
Wednesday, October 31
Genesis League at Comedy Sportz Theatre - 8:00 PM
Comedians You Should Know (Farty Marty) at Timothy O’Toole’s - 9:00 PM
622 North Fairbanks Court Chicago, IL
Friday, November 2
Brass Chuckles (Farty Marty) at Playground Theater - 10:00 PM
3208 N. Halsted St. Chicago, IL
But Seriously…Presents Danny Kallas (Host) at Comedy Sportz Theatre - 11:59 PM
Saturday, November 3
Second City Outreach and Diversity Present: Race…The Final Frontier - 9:00 PM
Monday, November 5
Speakeasy Comedy at Speakeasy - 9:00 PM
1970 North Lincoln Avenue Chicago, IL
Saturday, November 10
Second City Outreach and Diversity Present: Race…The Final Frontier - 9:00 PM
MPAACT Solo Jam: In My Head (one man show) at Greenhouse Theater - 11:00 PM
2257 N. Lincoln Ave. Chicago, IL
Monday, November 12
The Comedy Evening at Ace Bar - 8:45 PM
1505 W. Fullerton Ave. Chicago, IL
Saturday, November 17
Second City Outreach and Diversity Present: Race…The Final Frontier - 9:00 PM
Wednesday, November 14
Genesis League at Comedy Sportz Theatre - 8:00 PM
Monday, November 19
100 Proof Comedy (Host) at Comedy Sportz Theatre - 8:00 PM
Saturday, November 24
Second City Outreach and Diversity Present: Race…The Final Frontier - 9:00 PM
Monday, November 26
100 Proof Comedy: The Chaser (Host) at Comedy Sportz Theatre - 10:00 PM
Tuesday, November 27
The Grog (Stand-up/Farty Marty) - time TBA
2785 Euclid Heights Blvd Cleveland, OH
Wednesday, November 28
TBA Cleveland show
Thursday, November 29
TBA Cleveland show
*Every Friday and Saturday are shows at the Lincoln Lodge at 8 and 10 PM.*
Hope to see you out!
“Toot toot.”
Saturday, August 11 - Second City Presents: BenchCo “All Grown Up and Nowhere to Go! (sketch)
9 PM at Donny’s Skybox Theater inside of Second City at 1616 N. Wells
Monday, August 13 - Impress These Apes Week 4 (I will be doing a dance and it will be frightening awesome)
8 PM at Comedy Sportz Theater right off of the Belmont Red/Brown stop, you
dingus!
Thursday, August 16 - Stand Up Stand Up
8 PM at The Crocodile Lounge at 1540 N. Milwaukee
Saturday, August 18 - Second City Presents: BenchCo “All Grown Up and Nowhere to Go!”
9 PM at Donny’s Skybox Theater inside of Second City at 1616 N. Wells
Sunday, August 19 - Laugh Factory
8 PM at…The Laugh Factory on Broadway and Belmont
Monday, August 20 - Impress These Apes Week 5
8 PM at Comedy Sportz Theater
Thursday, August 23 - Second City Diversity Lunch Hour Showcase
11 AM at Second City
Thursday, August 23 - Laugh Factory
8 PM at Laugh Factory
Saturday, August 25 - YOUR VERY LAST CHANCE TO SEE SECOND CITY BENCHCO “ALL GROWN UP AND NOWHERE TO GO”
9 PM, Donny’s Skybox
Monday, August 27 - Impress These Apes Week 6
8 PM at Comedy Sportz
Tuesday, September 11 - Co-hosting with Mike Joyce at the Rathskellar Open Mic
8 PM at Lotties, 1925 West Cortland
For more updates follow me on twitter @martinMmorrow
