Merchants of Cool taught us about the "mook" male character. He's a character that doesn't exist in the real world, but that creates the draw for those who buy into the character.
Stand-up comedy is a genre that I've always found hard to buy into because many of these comedians have taken the ideas of "pushing the envelope" and developed into a brand of comedy that relies completely on attempted edginess. I say "attempted," as the achieved effect is less of a groundbreaking, edgy piece, but becomes monotonously offensive.
Comedian Jim Jefferies' self-given tagline is that he "has made a cottage industry out of bad behavior." I had never personally watched him, but an internet search for the raunchiest comics yielded his name as a result. I watched a bit by him, and I'd have to say I agree with the assessment. This is 100% subjective, but at a certain point, when comedians are saying highly sexual things, it is no longer shocking, like I'm sure they're intending. It becomes boring. I've come to expect it. The stand up comedians that don't use overly sexual language have become the minority.
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| so-called "comedian" Jim Jefferies |
A question that leaped to my mind when discussing mooks: can women be considered mooks? Comedian Amy Schumer has a similar brand of comedy to the generally male-dominated style. She uses the overt mention of sexual encounters as what is deemed brutally honest by many, but utterly and completely boring to me. Or could it be categorized under a new persona, one that is specific to women attempting to achieve this juvenile sense of humor.
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| mook? not a mook? |
Either way, this brand of comedy is tired. What shocks me is that consumers are still buying into it, even though the comedy routines are just the same thing over and over again, told in a slightly different manner, and by a slightly different generic comedian.
Yes!! The second I saw Jim Jefferies face I rolled my eyes without even thinking about it, and he's barely even on my radar. I'm so over the Dane Cook wannabes (which why would you want to be Dane Cook in the first place) who still think talking about sex on a stage is "edgy," let alone remotely funny. The same goes for Amy Schumer, though at least she was doing something somewhat new by being a woman talking about sex on stage (though it staled out very quickly--I mean, the Leather Special?? What the hell even was that??) I think this is why a lot of people turn to so-called "alternative" comedy, because it's the only way to find more interesting comedy.
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