Comedy is a weird world. When guys like Dave Attell and Colin Quinn still have to play Ha Ha Clubs on the road, they probably get a little jaded....especially watching younger guys get tv deals with guarantees for a few mil. No one WANTS to be on the road at age 50 unless they are Kevin Hart/Chris Rock level.

I think a lot of comics just don't understand where the glass ceiling for doing comedy is and where their standing is in regards to that. The comedy world isn't pro sports or Hollywood. It is a very niche occupation with only so much room for advancement. There can only be so many people who move onto movies or who are able to break through the ceiling and become household names. You can argue that it sucks who gets to break through and who doesn't, but that doesn't change the fact that comedy just flat isn't ever going to be as big as a lot of these guys think it is.

Touring the country and playing small clubs every night is the job. That is the glass ceiling. Sorry, but that's all that 95 percent of these people will do. You do that, and if you're good or lucky enough, you get a couple of HBO specials, a TV show, maybe a few movies...that's it. That's the job. Every teacher can't be a superintendent. Every laborer can't be a foreman. That's how it goes. Christ, you know how many amazing bands I've seen playing in small theaters because not everyone can be Metallica and sell out an actual stadium? And they don't walk around with this "woe is me" attitude because that is the job. Those bands can still sell millions of albums, make a ton of money, and do some huge festival once a year and that's how it is.

I think these guys need to reflect on the business they are in and its actual importance in the world, because its not as big as they seem to believe.

I get his frustration. And frustration aside, simply living that kind of life for 20-something years has to be exhausting. But just because he puts out the funniest specials and Insomniac was an awesome show and people respect him doesn't mean that there is going to be some major breakthrough in his career or in comedy in general where the entire dynamic shifts and becomes something bigger. It's niche entertainment. That's all it's ever going to be. And the only way you break out of that is either being at the right place at the right time, or having the skill to move onto movies or a TV show or whatever. And that might not last forever and you might be back to playing the clubs next year.

That's the nature of the business. That is what you agree to do with your life when you don't want to work 9-5 for a living and want to tell jokes to strangers.

The Ramones and Buzzcocks never made the money or had the fame that Green Day or Blink 182 did. Even though they paved the way for the 90s punk explosion and were far superior bands. Thats just the way it is sometimes.

The Ramones used to play City Gardens in Trenton for about $3,000. I can't believe how little pull they had, and they were never a big draw.

Yes. If you ever go to an open mic I swear 80% of the people there are doing either a Louie or Attell. That essence thing that Dane Cook accused Steve Byrne of doing may have sounded douchey, but it is a real thing

Patrice called them comedy children.

Spot on! i used to be a promoter, so I know how hard the life and times is for the grinder comedian (and bands). It is not luxurious at all.

Pete Correale always talks about how the worst part about comedy is that you spend way too much time being upset about how the other guys are doing..and having to pay for your own health insurance. Imagine staring at age 50, lots of people know your name, but you are still living hand to mouth, trying to make your rent every month and pay for your daughters clothing.

Atell should probably be happy and thrilled with his life...he likely has a couple mil in the bank (if he saved wisely) and is doing better than 99.9 percent of all performers in the world. He also has the respect and admiration of every comedian out there. But I get it... its all relative.

The sad thing is that he didn't save wisely. He was broke 3 years ago after Dave's Old Porn. He put a lot of his money into that show and it didn't pay off. I remember him saying on Stern that he was living paycheck-to-paycheck.

That's really sad

fuck, that really is a shame. I just looked at one of those silly networth websites and it shows Dave Attell as being worth 14 million bucks. Ha! Guys with 14 mil in the bank don't do late night sets at The Stand on Tuesday nights. Dave strikes me as a guy who is almost too trusting. Probably not great with funds.

From what I've heard on podcasts he lost a lot of money on his show and he's supporting his mother

I'm listening to the Stern show interview now. Unreal.

Do you have a link by chance?

Attell on stern https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL51U5YenuE

Thank you very much, I appreciate it

He said something similar on Rogans podcasts back when Rogan did it from his house. I remember being a little upset that Dave was hemorrhaging money, and was essentially broke. I also vaguely remember him saying he takes care of him mom too.

Woe*

Normally I would scold people on being grammar police, but that was a ridiculous mistake. I'm sorry I said that.

I get some comics are like that, but not Attell. He's very generous to the younger comedians. He always names names of comedians he likes (Jay has said that he got fans to come out to his road gigs because Attell has called him his favorite comic on morning radio shows). Hell, he made a whole show that was like Dangerfield's that put comics on stage every night.

What I got from the interview is that he's just tired of this PC shit. Which is pretty said because Attell is someone who has always worked with what he's been given an never complained. He enjoys evolving as a comedian. It's what makes his job important to him. I hope he doesn't want to hang it up early like he was implying but he seems to understand that there's nothing more sad than when a comedian is 64 and still doing bar shows at a VFW in Long Island (Bob Levy). He understands that his time is coming to an end, and while that's sad, I can respect him walking away and giving the young guys a shot.

He's a good dude, Dave Attell

it's sad. i'm sure it does make one jaded, and yet he's an artist at his craft. he's perfection when it comes to quick wit. he's probably never been sharper.

I really wish these guys got more respect from the rest of the industry. comedians, in general, are sharper and more real than most other entertainers. and more interesting people.

Jay Oakerson basically stole Dave's act, delivery and persona. For some reason Dave instead of attacking Oakerson is actually like his biggest supporter.

Its a crime to see guys like Oakerson getting heat while Dave is still grinding it out.

How did he steal it? Attell is a high energy comic that does material, and Jay is a low energy crowd comic? Both have addressed that they had issue about this before but I think Jay has evolved a lot over the years and really found his niché with off-the-cuff conversational humor. He's one of my favorite comedians

I've seen Oakerson once on that late night standup thing Dave was doing last year. The material Oakerson was doing, his delivery, his cadence and his crowd work were all Dave Attell.

I always disliked Oakerson on Ron and Fez but it became full blown hatred when I saw his stand up and realized he basically just took everything Dave does and parroted it.

Even Jay's stupid podcast is called Legion of Skanks. Attell used "skank" constantly in his act even calling one of his first comedy CDs "Skanks for the Memories"

Ok, you fizzled out at the end there, but your original premise is correct: early on, Oakerson was doing a straight up Attell impression.

Even Artie Lange, who's very good friends with both Attell and Oakerson, has said it.

It's obvious.

I really want examples? Like I'm willing to hear you out because I do believe that essence thing that comics say and I can still see it in Jay but that doesn't bother me. Like I said, he's really made his own name on crowd work and conversational comedy. And I you're going to get petty and say that he can't use a word, that's ridiculous.

I'd have to watch a Big Jay Oakerson set again to do that, and I'd rather do almost anything else.

Find Dave's last Comedy Central show. Find Jay's set. Close your eyes and just tell me if you don't think its Dave Attell

I really don't. Like I said, I see Attell as a comedy who is high energy while still doing an act. I see Jay as very low energy, while doing conversational humor.

Comon man just cuz they have similar voices does not mean it's stealing big jay does crowd work anyway.. Your point is moot sir.

If you're going to go by that you can say Jay's ripped off him too with his conversational comedy, or Dice with how dirty he is. I saw Jay in Chicago and he did an hour and 15 of ALL crowd work and murdered. He called this bachelorette party cunts and the staff have him a standing ovation. I'm seeing him again in March and can't wait. I really think he is a very unique comedian and one of he best improv comics alive

Wow. Called Bachelorettes cunts. What an innovative comedian.

Didn't Nick DiPaolo get banned for that same thing from a comdey club like 17 years ago?

It was more of him calling them out and no one calling them on their shit.

One thing Attell and Oakerson have in common is they absolutely DESTROY in casual conversation, i.e. O&A, podcasts, etc. They can be funny in almost any setting, with any audience. Funny people are just funny.

I agree with the Attell assessment. Oakerson was always awful on Ron and Fez

You couldnt be more wrong. Their cadence and verbage are very similar, and Jay even admits to Dave being his biggest influence but they couldnt be more differnt comedy wise.

Dave is one of the most polished joke writers, he packs so much in every line. SETUP. PUNCH. SETUP. PUNCH. TAG. And so on.

Jay kind of goes up there and shoots the shit. Everyone always tells him how he should just sit down with a pen and pad and write out an act. If anything Jay is more like Patrice if Patrice happened to make midget dick and shit jokes like Attell.

He's perpetually dejected about his career and the state of comedy in general, at least ever since "Insomniac" ended. Also, absolutely nobody cares for Pete's enthusiasm and mirth; Pete is a pretty ruthless careerist and it is kind of an act.

Source on Pete being a phony?

I just have lots of friends who are successful in comedy (a couple even have/had their own shows). I'm obviously not attaching their names to it, but Pete has a reputation for being a phony to put it mildly. I totally understand if you wouldn't believe me based on that alone, but I doubt many people would be surprised.

No, I believe you. Any specific examples you're willing to share?

And here's my own little tidbit for you. Source is a friend who talked to Anthony and he told him he had over 50k subs on his network. Of course Anthony could be lying.

50k sounds like the highest possible reasonable number.

Anyway, it's just pretty typical hollywood shit. Pete ran around badmouthing someone who got a gig he wanted. There's lots of instances where he has been cold or dismissive to people until they become successful, and then he pulls a total 180. Also whenever you hear him on a podcast and there's a "haha we just act like we hate each other but we really love each other" vibe between him and another comic, they actually just hate each other.

Having said all that, as far as I know he's an ethical guy and not secretly more evil or a rapist or anything super sordid, just very Hollywood.

Yeah, that makes sense. You don't get a show on TBS (even if short lived) without stepping on a few people.

Has there ever been a Late Show host who wasn't a total psycho? That's like the hardest job in entertainment.

Craig ferguson? Conan?

(to be honest, i think they are both total psychos i just want you to go down the list of how each late night host is a total psycho)

Maybe not Ferguson, that show was sort of a unique case, but Conan seems insanely driven in that documentary about him. Like he was on a holy war after the shit with NBC went down. Letterman's personality is pretty notorious. Jay Leno apparently calls people personally whenever they make fun of him. Carson completely disappeared from the public and had all his famous feuds and issues with his wives. John Stewart screams at people. Arsenio has weird skeleton hands. I can't even imagine what Tavis Smiley does.

Arsenio has weird skeleton hands

that seems a lot less of a crime than the others, plus nothing about kimmel or handler?

It was a joke. I don't have anything on Kimmel or Chelsea Handler. She's supposed to be pretty tough with people but whatever.

Source is a friend who talked to Anthony and he told him he had over 50k subs on his network. Of course Anthony could be lying.

Ant would be pulling in like 3 mil if he had that many subs, that is a shit load, way too much. unless he is keeping 2 mil for himself, he certainly seems pretty stingy with his money. barely payng the other people on it. And there isn't enough good content for that many people to want to sub or resub to it.

of course Ant's lying.

Probably true, but I also don't know how many O&A listeners there were and what % would have subscribed.

What do you mean by phony?

Stereotypical Hollywood phony.

Like personally? Or professionally? I'm sorry I'm an idiot and don really know what a Hollywood phony would be

Within the comedy scene, so I guess it is a blend of both? It's nothing super damning, he's just supposed to be kind of a dick at times.

Shame. I like Pete. It's weird because his personality would anyone me with anyone else, but he's that high energy guy all the time and he never lets up no matter how much shit he gets

Well if it is any consolation Marc Maron was an absolute fucking MONSTER to people for decades and finally chilled out once things came together for him. Now he's a perfectly nice dude.

I always here this and I'm sorry to put you on the spot, but do you have any stories about Maron?

Personally? No. I never met him until four years ago or so at a party and he was the nicest dude in the world. Not just in a nice celebrity way, but he was totally engaged in the conversation, interested in me as a person, laughing at my jokes, and there is NOTHING for him to gain from talking to me. So I really appreciated it.

Anecdotally my favorite story was when Eddie Ifft (I think) was in New York and approached Marc Maron to introduce himself as a young comic. Apparently it went something like "Excuse me, Marc? My name is Eddie and..." but Maron cut him off and literally screamed like an angry wizard or anime character "GET.... AWAY... FROM... MEEEEEEE!"

That's funny, and fits into Marc Maron's reputation, but I wouldn't trust anything that Eddie Ifft says, ever.

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It's surprising that Attell is so depressed, given that he's good friends with Artie "sunshine" Lange.

Artie loves to mention Russ Meneve's theory that there's a bloodbath coming for comedians over 40, once they realize that, as Colin Quinn puts it, "the cavalry ain't coming", Hollywood doesn't care, the development deals have all but completely dried up, and the few ones that are getting done are going to much younger guys, and it's more about twitter followers than being funny now, etc.

I think we're probably in the first stages of that bloodbath, where some of the older guys will hang it up and get real jobs, major depression will set in, there will be a few suicides, etc.

Ironically, Artie is in Pete's Apatow-directed pilot for HBO.

Tragically, Holmes is now a bigger star than Attell.

Let's be honest when the O&J show is done Jimmy is the first to go.

Better time than ever to get in on that Death-pool of Stanhopes I guess.

Big Jay told a good story on LOS about one of the rare times he's seen Attell actually pissed.

Apparently a few years back The Comedy Cellar was basically letting John Mayer come by whenever and do music spots during comedy shows. Attell had to follow him one night and got PISSED. Basically went on stage before Mayer was done singing and started laying into him. Mayer said something douchey like

"Come on, man. We all have a little funny in us. We should express it"

Attell just walked over to the piano they have on stage and started obnoxiously tapping the keys hard while in a sing-song voice humming

"REEEEEEEEALLLYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!?"

It's a great example of a true professional turning anger into comedy.

I think he said "Come on Dave, we're all comedians here".

Yes that's it! I'm very bad at retelling stories

I've been hearing him on podcasts as far back as 2010 and he basically just sounds sad and miserable, beats himself up all the time, repeatedly calls himself a hack who is not a good comic and bemoans the state of comedy.

I love Dave. Think he's a great comic. I think Insomniac was actually a really creative and innovative show that every basic cable channel now has multiple versions of their own. That being said, the dude maybe should seek some help.

Insomniac was awesome and could probably be even better now considering cable tv seems to be way more lenient with explicit content than when Insomniac aired. Hell, it could be a YouTube series.

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Dav Attell is one of the few geniuses left. He's an amazing guy, magnanimous and honest. There's not an ounce of phoniness on him. His show Insomniac will stay with me forever.

Dave has always talked like that if you let him get serious. His newest special was probably the best of the last year. Had to make anybody's top 5 at least. And it was a strong year for comedy specials.

I'd like to see him do a colin deal and work out a one man show. Even though that's not his style, I think it'd get him some respect he's looking for.

Idk his last special had some real continuity. If he wanted to he could certainly pull it off.

Idk I've seen all his specials and heard all his albums but I never watched a second of Dave's old porn.

It's pretty funny. He's had on some great guests, too, including unaired footage of Otto. :(

Doesn't he just have the one album?

Hasn't worked for Colin...

I believe colin feels more fulfilled or whatever now. He was sounding depressed about his place in the industry several years back.

Things seemed to have worked out for Colin. Which is really fortunate.

What happens when you stay away from petty troll-bitch fests on twitter and just focus on your work? You get results.

I think Dave's gotten more dour since quitting drinking a few years back. It's sad, because he deserves to be happy.

It's pretty funny. He's had on some great guests, too, including unaired footage of Otto. :(

Doesn't he just have the one album?

Source on Pete being a phony?

Like personally? Or professionally? I'm sorry I'm an idiot and don really know what a Hollywood phony would be

It was a joke. I don't have anything on Kimmel or Chelsea Handler. She's supposed to be pretty tough with people but whatever.