It's the same one trick pony jokes about paying for sex. He is an awful comic

Damn Danny I thought you hated Ant, didn't know you hated Jimmy too. Ant was right, you are a "miserable fuck".

Why do people here assume everyone is fucking danny

I think everybody here assumes no one is fucking Danny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oShTJ90fC34

hehehe

http://i.imgur.com/J8K3L.jpg

I fucking love this bot.

The real dugout doug did have a falling out with da show as I recall. But, good call, it's probably the same fuck who was "BenSparks" and "DannyJRoss" and is now using 'famous' pests to get around this subs' rules.

They say the EXACT same things. Not hard to figure out.

I agree. I love lil Yimmy but he's a sub par comic and until he can improve he won't ever get the mainstream attention he so twitchily desires.

He is not "sub par."

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Subpar means below average. Below average comedians don't sell out the borgata and get specials.

That's true, but how many times have you heard him bitch about small rooms not selling well?

He's self deprecating all the time. In reality he sells out the small rooms for the most part. He only does small rooms because he likes to work out his bits there. I've seen him once it was sold out and he was hilarious. It was NYC which is obviously the area he does best but there are a lot of comedians that wish they were in his place.

Sure they do... Artie Lange is a perfect example. His material is\was pretty goddamn unremarkable and he was selling out the world it seemed, back when he was on The Howard Stern Show and relevant.

It's called hype. Fact of the matter is, Jimmy's material and act is completely sub-par, ESPECIALLY so when compared to many of the names that have already been mentioned. It's just the way it is, maaaahn.

That's an opinion and not fact. Artie became less relevant but that doesn't make him less funny. Of course promotion helps but all the promotion in the world will get you no where if no one enjoys seeing you.

Arties stand up act was pretty awful.

He was great as a radio side kick though.

He's only selling out the borgata to O and A fans though.

So he only sells tickets to his fans? Wow how crazy is that.

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Just because you dont like them doesnt make them lousy. Dane Cook pulls enormous crowds and Im sure most here dont like him. That doesnt mean he's a bad comedian.

how do you know hes not serious? He seems to take it very seriously. He writes far more material than most comedians. How is that him not taking his work seriously?

They do with a fan base the size of O&A

The Stern guys sell tickets too. It's not a reflection on the quality of their act.

Have you scene how many comedy specials are on Netflix?

Yeah so? Are you saying all those specials on Netflix are better than Jimmy's?

I really wish some of these people could be forced to watch all of the acts at any comedy club in a month. Jimmy is good. The other problem is that these guys are overexposed to Jimmy from listening to him so much on the air.

I agree that people are overexposed to Jimmy from the show. A lot of the things he talks about in his act are things he's already touched on a million times on air, so fans of the show kind of roll their eyes when they hear it again. If they hadn't heard it before, though, it'd be much funnier.

Jimmy is a funny comic. I agree he isn't on par with Louie, Burr, Attell, Stanhope. It's like in sports, the guy is on the level of a pro player. If you compare him to the best pro, yeah he's not up there, but he's still good.

He is just much much better at Radio.

I agree completely. Theres a lot of shit comics out there that get regular work and Jimmy is far from being one of them. He's improved a lot in the last few years in my opinion.

Not evolving? It's devolving. Monster Rain was by far his best special and every one since has been worse. He's not that great of a standup but he's hysterical on the radio and in terms of shitting on people he's brilliantly quick and funny.

I think a lot of it has to do with Jimmy using a phony stage voice and awkward facial expressions

A 45 year old man who refuses to explore music outside of his 13 year old selves obsession with kiss and ozzie not evolving? SHOCKING. I honestly thought his last special was very funny and was the first one of his specials I didn't turn off. Yeah I mean it is what it is with the same subjects and same self deprecation but he's gotten pretty damn good at it.

Does Jimmy have any classic, quotable bits in a standup that people can share a video of? I just realized that all the above mentioned comedians always have cool shit you can find in clips, but the only quotable bits Jim Norton has are all his radio bits - barely anything (if at all) from standup.

Essentially, he's rocking the radio, but he's a subpar standup. His improv is way better, especially if he starts hanging out with the other comics as they bust each other's balls. Jimmy on fire is a scary thing, but that only happens if he's influenced by the energy of the comedians around him and not on standup or solo routines.

If he's subpar, what are some examples of average, above average, and great stand ups?

Subpar is probably a little harsh, but with how funny he is at the show, I couldn't last long watching his specials without getting distracted by something else. He's supposedly great outside the specials, but I wish to see that one day.

The boys rip on guys for radio voices, but little Jimmy has a stage voice and I can't get past it. It takes a lot away from his sets.

Yeah. Jimmy has this weird unnatural cadence on stage, like he's reading his jokes off an invisible list from his brain. Love him on the show but his standup has always been a little stiff to me.

Jimmy tells jokes on stage like he's a 7 year old trying to give a cute presentation for his parents

Jimmy overall isn't evolving. Technology, pop culture, comedy... kind of passing him by.

But he's still great at off-the-cuff radio.

He is stuck obsessing over his 3 days of drinking beer and listening to Kiss when he was 17.

I tried to watch one of his recent specials, and I turned it off after 10 minutes because he was already going into a mini-rant about the media.

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What are you talking about?

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The fact he never saw a Bill Hicks act infuriates me. Bill Hicks was a huge influence to O&A even. I'm a huge fan and I'd say Hicks is a pioneer or honest, hardcore, and often cringey comedy. I'd go as far as to say he is a huge influence for the type of humour O&A does as a whole.

I'm not sure that Hicks was a big influence on O&A. Ant's not a fan, Jim hasn't seen him, and Opie is a "huge fan" (possibly a lie). Other than the fact that Opie used to yell for a shock/surprise laugh, I don't see a lot of similarities.

Then again, maybe that's proof that because you watch a comedian and enjoy their act, doesn't mean that their "influence" causes you to copy their routine. What a fucking lame statement by Jimmy.

An influence is someone from whom you have gained/learned something from that you incorporate into what you do. I don't see Bill Hicks as an influence on O&A, because I frankly don't see what they have learned or "gained" from him. Jimmy actually has a brilliant point - whether he realizes it or not - in that if you like something or even simply delve into it, it can influence you whether you like it or not. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconscious_cognition

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Opies the only one who goes on about hicks.

Bill Hicks was mildly entertaining when I first saw him and he was influential but besides that I don't even think about him when I think of best comics of all time. I'd say Carlin, Chappelle, Pryor, Cosby, Chris Rock, Louis CK, etc. would be my favorites

Bill Hicks is the most overrated comedian ever.

Nah. It's just cool to run around calling something "overrated", right?

Hicks has to be viewed IN CONTEXT, just like other comics like Lenny Bruce have to be. Lenny Bruce is tame compared to what we're used to now, but in his day, he was a monster. Same for Hicks.

And yes, Hicks gets blown up a lot by comics and fans, as he's dead, and given more credit than he earned SOMETIMES - I have bootlegs where he was not having a great night, but the nights he was on fire, Hicks was a godzilla of comedy IN THAT ERA. Hicks paved the way for most of the edgy comics working today, and they ALL give him credit for it, for a reason.

Personally, I just get annoyed by the way he and Carlin have been elevated to Christ-like figures by people who think they're deep (maaaaaan.)

Hicks was supposedly incredible live, but not as good on his albums and specials. Which you can kind of see in that he seems uncomfortable on camera.

Thank you. Finally someone says it.

It's about time. Us edgy folks really need to stick together.

no wonder why his comedy sounds like any comics act in 2005

I think his style hasn't changed but he's funnier each time I see him. His specials only get better.

Like on the show he riffs on anything he wants and it's funny but in his act its always the same variation of news stories, tranny, and sex jokes in his act

Every time I hear him mention a tranny or respond when one someone else does I cringe hard.

Give us at least 2 examples.

Monster Rain and Please Be Offended. A great source of Terry Schiavo, Don Imus, Pat O'brien and Jerry Sandusky references.

Obviously saying he "only" does news story and sex jokes is an exaggeration, but his recorded specials have way too much topical humor that loses a lot within a few months. All of his specials are like that. On one of his albums he's got a huge chunk about the NYC blackout. Does anyone even fucking remember that?

I thought OP was saying that he does jokes on literally the same news stories as opposed to focusing on the same type of topical humor. Idk, either way I like it. I really don't think most comedians' acts evolve either, e.g. Louis C.K. just talks about cumming on people, retards, everyone has a valley girl voice, etc. and I still like it.

This isn't even remotely possible. Who is this? Jim???

I always thought Jimmy's rule about not watching other stand ups was ridiculous. Especially when I see just this morning that Patton Oswalt tweeted Dave Attell to tell him how much he enjoyed his special. I honestly think its less of him not wanting to be influenced and more of him getting depressed when he sees how masterful some of his peers have become.

This exactly

Well he does say he never watches any of his peers comedy because he doesn't want to accidentally steal something. Guess that may not be a good thing if he's not seeing how much they have evolved. He's been left in the dust by all his friends, that must make for awkward conversation.

his reasoning is BS. How often have you been told a story that influenced a future story you told. It doesnt happen. Unless you are aware that your repeating someone else's stuff, like mancia.

I really hate that he doesn't even watch his friends do their act. Something about his reasoning of not wanting to be influenced doesn't seem right. I mean to get into comedy in the first place he would have needed to be influenced, right?

Yeah and they talked about this on Rogan's podcast. Joe tells Norton it's retarded because he's been in the business for 20 years and he can't possibly be influenced at this stage in his career.

Jimmy said he's never listened to Bill Hicks material at all,

because he doesn't want to be influenced by him. Never really understood that.

I don't care for Jimmy's stand up all that much. However, the one time I did see him live was incredible. I'm curious how many people that enjoyed him live also turn off his specials.

Is he as good as the others you listed? I don't think so but I do think he's improving. I never liked his standup (love him on O&A) until his last special which I thought was real solid. So whatever his method is it's working. As a fan of comedy though I see your point - i can't imagine not watching a Louis CK special

I don't think you're being fair here. We are too used to Jimmy because we listen to the show where the majority of his jokes come from. Most people who go to see him aren't daily listeners and this is new material for them, so it works. You could also say the same about any of the other comics on the show (Especially Louis CK), 90% of what they say on air are lines straight from their stand up (airplane discussion, any jokes with children, stupid people jokes), which isn't a bad thing, it's normal.

I DO think he should watch his peers however. It's an elitist hipster cunt mentality to not even watch the standup of your friends because of your own selfish bitch desires of "ohhh nooo I can't control myself and have no willpower so I won't watch other standups because I could possibly be influenced by my FRIENDS"

Wanna know the difference between Jimmy's successful friends with shows and him, and why Jim hasn't moved on? Other comics watch and listen to the work of other comics. It builds bonds and connections. Jim excludes himself from this.

I don't think the problem is that his stand up is bad, because it isn't.

It's that he's so good on the show that it's almost impossible to live up to that in his standup.

Uhh, I think you're over reaching on some of the comedians you listed. I may be wrong but when Dave Attell was in studio recently Jimmy mentioned how funny he is and how he hates being in the green room behind stage because he wants to go watch the act.

And has he really not seen Louis? I mean Louis is a regular on the show, I'm sure he's gone to a club to see him before.

I've enjoyed each of his specials, though not enough to watch any of them more than once. That said, I say him a few months back and his new hour was great. It might have been the whole idea of being at the show with a laughing crowd making something seem funnier, but I really hope it translates well to video when he records finally records it.

I think what everyone skirts around is that he just might not be that good, at the end of the day. He's a good mechanic when it comes to comedy, god knows Jimmy will pontificate on comedy and how it works and it's history for hours and hours (much like Rogan), but when it comes down to doing it...he's not genius level, or even great, and falls back on shock material and quasi-carlinesque rants to fill the hour out. He's good, and he makes people laugh, but it's not the same level as Chappele or Rock or Louie.

Is Jimmy funny? Without a doubt. Is he successful? Absolutely. Will he ever be as big as his peers? I personally doubt it. But he's done better than the majority in his field, he's not an asshole and a raging ego about it, and I'd rather see Jimmy than most of the comics out there. There's hundreds of people who headline comedy clubs regularly you've never heard of, who SUCK. Every time i look at the Cobb's listings in SF, it's people I've never heard of.

Why not just rename this subreddit "Wackbag" and get it over with.

I don't read wackbag, I don't want to be influenced!

It's getting there

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oShTJ90fC34

hehehe

An influence is someone from whom you have gained/learned something from that you incorporate into what you do. I don't see Bill Hicks as an influence on O&A, because I frankly don't see what they have learned or "gained" from him. Jimmy actually has a brilliant point - whether he realizes it or not - in that if you like something or even simply delve into it, it can influence you whether you like it or not. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconscious_cognition

This exactly

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