STAGE TIME Magazine: David Cross vs. Larry the Cable Guy

DVDs
Chondra Pierce - A
Piece of My Mind

Live Comedy from the
Laff House: Make
Room for Comedy

Redneck Comedy
Roundup 2 - Bill
Engvall, Jeff Foxworthy
and Ron Shock.

Southern Gents of
Comedy - Ron White,
Vic Henley, Steve
McGrew and Otis Lee
Crenshaw

Laffapalooza #6 -
Jamie Foxx, JB
Smoove, Gerald Kelly
and Wil Sylvince

Laffapalooza #7 - Rob
Stapleton, Loni Love,
Jo Koy and James
Hannah

Laffapalooza #8 -
Rodney Perry, Tony
Roberts, Earthquake

Paul Mooney -
Analyzing White
America

Russell Peters - Two
Concerts...On Ticket

Dave Attell - Insomiac
Tour Uncensored -
Dave Attell, Dane
Cook, Greg Giraldo and
Sean Rouse

Mike Epps -
Inappropriate Behavior

Jeff Cesario - You Can
Get a Hooker
Tomorrow Night

Kims of Comedy -
Steve Byrne, Bobby
Lee, Kevin Shea and
Dr. Ken

Alonzo Bodden - Tall,
Dark & Funny

Jim Gaffigan - Beyond
the Pale

CDs
Don Rickles - Speaks

Jackie Mason - The
World According to Me

Jake Johannsen - Jake
This Dot Com

Brad Montague -
Double Live

Eric Schwartz - Wimp
Pimp

Kathleen Madigan - In
Other Words

Drew Hastings - I'm
Just Like You

Jesse Joyce - Joyce to
the World

Marc Maron - Not Sold
Out

Mike Birbiglia - Two
Drink Mike

Tom Rhodes - Hot
Sweet Ass

Jimmy Shubert -
Pandemonium

Ron White - You Can't
Fix Stupid

Books
Oliver Double - Getting
the Joke: The Inner
Workings of Stand-Up
Comedy

Ed Driscoll - Spilled
Gravy: Advice on Love,
Life, and Acceptance
from a Man Uniquely
Unqualified to Give It

Brad Stine - Live From
Middle America: Rants
from a Red-State
Comedian

Sandi C. Shore - Sandi
Shore's Secrets to
Stand-Up Success: A
Complete Step-by-Step
Workbook

Judy Brown - The
Comedy Thesaurus

Movies
March 24
Health Inspector -
Larry the Cable Guy
and Bruce Bruce star in
the comedy with
support from Lisa
Lampanelli.

April 7
The Benchwarmers -
David Spade stars with
screenwriter/comedian,
Nick Swardson, Craig
Kilborn, Norm
MacDonald and Adam
Sandler in a comedy
about a three-player
baseball team that
challenges Little
League teams.

Phat Girlz - Mo'Nique
and Godfrey star in the
comedy about love and
acceptance.

April 14
Scary Movie 4 - DeRay
Davis co-stars in the
spoof comedy with
Anna Farris and Regina
Hall.

The Wild - Eddie Izzard
lends his voice in the
animated feature.

May 19
Over the Hedge - Garry
Shandling, Wanda
Sykes and Omid Djalili
lend their voices in the
animated movie
starring Bruce Willis,
who replaces Jim
Carrey as the lead
character.

May 26
Little Men - Keenan
Ivory Wayans directs
his younger brothers,
Shawn and Marlon
Wayans in a comedy
that co-stars Tracy
Morgan, Gary Owen
and John Witherspoon.

June 16
Wordplay - Jon Stewart
shares his passion for
crossword puzzles in
this documentary
featuring Bill Clinton,
Bob Dole and Ken
Burns.

June 23
Click - Adam Sandler
stars in the comedy
about a man who finds
a universal remote.

“We’re in a stage of vague American values and anti-intellectual pride.”
These are the words of the innovative comedian David Cross in reference to
why audiences in America have embraced Larry the Cable Guy and his half-wit
brand of comedy.
The quote spawns from the feud between the two comics, and if you are a
"Cable Guy" fan, you may not be able to tell which side I have taken. Though I
am admittedly a David Cross supporter, I write this opinion not as a particular
comedian’s fan, but rather as a fan of the art form that is stand-up comedy.
While it will likely never be revered as highly as film or music in terms of
expressionism, stand-up comedy has the ability to be one of the most pure,
uncorroborated forms of individual expression. A comedy performance does not
require collaboration, intense outside production, funding, other performers, a
key grip, or a best boy.
The only requirement is an individual with something to say. I know there will
be several responses arguing that perhaps the Larry the Cable Guy character is
just this performer’s (Dan Whitney’s) way of expressing his opinions, his sense
of humor, and his being, but I fail to care. That may sound rude, irresponsible,
or blasé, but there is no better way to portray my utter disrespect for the
manner in which he chooses to express himself.

Stand up is an art that ultimately and
obviously comes down to making people laugh.
If you are not in comedy to make people
laugh, then try a different art form, maybe
painting or origami, though the latter may elicit
laughter from any observer.
It is clear that Larry the Cable Guy achieves
the ultimate end of making an audience laugh
as made evident by his thousands of fans and
millions of dollars earned during his comedy
career. Dually noted. However, it is his means
of achieving this end that I do not respect.
The Cable Guy’s style is to butcher the English
language while spouting off racist slights and
stoking the lowest common denominator’s
sensitivity to sophomoric humor.
This is what Cross is talking about when he
refers to our “vague American values” and
“anti-intellectual pride.”

I interpret Cross’ reference to “vague American values” as an allusion to
our ambiguous beliefs that we claim because we have to in order to be socially
accepted (see political correctness, or see manure).
An example in this case would be denouncing racism, but if it happens to be
masked in a silly drawl, a cut-off T-shirt, and a trucker hat, then it’s perfectly
fine to give a chuckle. “Anti-intellectual pride” signifies not only the public’s
willingness to accept ignorance, racism, and juvenile humor but also a protest
to more intellectual, well thought out, creative comedy.
In contrast to the Cable Guy, Cross represents a faction of comedians that
raise the bar for audiences. Never mind raising the bar for other comics. Cross
and others that he has worked closely with over the years (Bob Odenkirk, Paul
F. Thompkins, Patton Oswalt, and several other cutting-edge, new-age comics)
have worked hard and found ways to bring the audience up to their intellectual
level, rather than pandering to the audience for cheap laughs.
The reality is that Cross and other like comics are funny and clever enough to
find hundreds of different ways to make people laugh. Instead of going to the
gimme laughs, they find new, smart, thoughtful ways of drawing laughter from
their audience. This is admirable considering that audiences will at least giggle
at almost anything.

...I don't have to justify myself...I actually
struggled with writing these comments about
David Cross for a full 10 seconds. I have great
relationship with all the comics in my
generation (Lewis Black, Colin Quinn, Nick
DiPaolo) and I've never said a bad word about
any other comedian.

This was different, because David basically
hammered my fans...by implying that they
were ignorant...

Ya see, David, here's the deal: We're
comedians and that's all. We do not influence
the outcome of world events. We exist to help
people enjoy themselves for a few hours after
they've had a bullshit day. We make no policy
decisions...no president has ever made a
decision based on something Bob Newhart or
Steve Martin said."

You Wanna Be Starting Something?

David Cross criticizes Larry the Cable Guy in
Rolling Stone: "He's good at what he does. It's
a lot of anti- gay, racist humor -- which people
like in America -- all couched in 'I'm telling it
like it is.'

He's in the right place at the right time for that
gee-shucks, proud-to-be-a-redneck, I'm-
just-a-straight-shooter-multimillionaire-in-
cutoff-flannel-selling-ring-tones act. That's
where we are as a nation now. We're in a stage
of vague American values and anti-intellectual
pride."

Larry the Cable Guy responds to Cross'
comments in his book, Git-R-Done: "I've never
met this guy but he appeared in my article
blasting me and my crowds. He said my humor
is anti-gay and racist...according to Cross and
the politically correct police, any white
comedians who mention the word black or say
somethin' humorous but faintly negative about
any race are racists.

...I guess I'm not as intellectual as David
Cross...he showed us what a deep thinker he is
by sayin,' "America is in a stage of vague
[anti-] intellectual pride." No, it's not David.
America's in a stage of boredom from watchin'
humorless comedians act like they're better
than everyone else. America's sick of payin'
good money for a comedy show that only earns
one laugh every 12 minutes because the
comedian onstage is too busy demonstratin'
how much smarter he is than his audience.

It’s like going to a restaurant that only serves macaroni and cheese: not
quite what you wanted, but you are there to eat and so you will take what you
are given. Therefore, as long as you have at least a remote understanding of
what an audience might find funny, and a solid presentation a comedian can
get some semblance of a laugh out of a willing crowd.
So what? Why would a comedian care what the audience is laughing at so long
as they are laughing? Because s/he wants to respect themselves and what they
do at the end of the day.
Instead of building up and nurturing these embarrassing, deep seeded
qualities such as our depreciation of intellect or our foggy system of values,
why not challenge your audience to rise above these undesirable thought
paths? And this is not about turning stand up into a moralistic sermon, or trying
to change lives, or trying to influence people to take any sort of political or
social action.
This is about refusing to prey on the audience’s weakness. This is about
getting away from simplistic, five-sense offending, demoralizing comedy. This
is about taking the audience into your creative mind instead of your dump
truck of fart jokes, half-baked political views, and blatant racism.
I implore all comics to “Git-R-Done.” “R” standing for respect. Respect the
audience. Respect your craft.

Now, I am not saying that
audiences are stupid, maybe
simple at times, but not stupid. I
am saying that people come to a
comedy club to laugh and many
times a crowd is only as good as
the act that stands before them.
Of course there are dive bars,
open mics, drunken idiots, and
other variables that can make for
a tough room, but the fact of the
matter is, most people go to a
comedy show because they want
to let out some laughter.

David Cross writes a lengthy open letter to
Larry the Cable Guy. Click on the link above to
read the entire letter.

Excerpts:

I know your audience and they suck
"In response to the Rolling Stone article, but
first let me say this; you are very mistaken if
you think that I don't know your audience...I
grew up in Roswell, Georgia (near the Funny
Bone and not far from The Punch Line)... cut
my teeth in the south and my first road gigs
ever were in Augusta, Charleston, Baton
Rouge, and Louisville.

I remember them very well, specifically
because of the audience. I remember
thinking..."what a bunch of dumb redneck,
easily entertained, ignorant motherfuckers. I
can't believe the stupid shit they think is
funny." So, yes, I do know your audience, and
they suck."

Dumbing down your act
...But you also specifically dumb down your
speech while making hundreds of purposefully
grammatical errors. How do I know this? It's on
page 17 of your book wherein you describe how
you would "Larry" up your commentaries for
radio. What does it mean to "Larry" something
up?

Take a wild guess. The reason you feel the
need to "Larry" something up? Because you
are not that dumb. I mean you, Dan Whitney,
the guy who's name the bank account is
under...

...As you said yourself in an interview once, "I
can pop in and out of it pretty much whenever I
want". In your book on page 89, you say in
reference to the "gee-shucks" millionaire
comment, "...see, to his (David's) mind, bein'
well paid means I'm no longer real and I can't
be a country boy anymore. It's just an act."

Hey, it's always been an act! That's my fucking
point! You admit it yourself so cut the
indignation shit. And I am in no way deriding
your work ethic.

"You and Dane Cook ought to get together and have
a "my-fan's-are-the-greatest-people-on-earth-and-
that's-why-I-do-this" off. You could both sell a shit
load of merch too. But having said that, I would truly
love to get some of your fans and my fans in a
room together to debate some of the finer points on
comedy, music, culture, the issues facing our country
today and just about anything else we might find
worthy of discussion. My fans are pretty smart as
well." - David Cross's open letter to Larry the Cable
Guy

"You ain't got to worry about me going. I'm crazy,
straight up...I'm for real. He just goin' through some
new shit...

I don't think he came from the background I came
from...Everything around me is failure...Trash in the
alley. I got eight brothers and we all got damn near
different daddies. I come from a real welfare family,
you know mother struggling...

Now, you give me $50 million, I ain't gonna go
crazy. I'm gonna go to the mall and go and get
some new cars, I'm about to go and put my
momma in a new house, I'm about to give some of
these kids in the community some money. That's all
he should have did...

"The thing about it is, the material he was doing
wasn't him. He don't come from no crackheads on
the streets and shit. You can't talk about black
people like that and you don't even represent that.
You don't come into the community and kick it with
black kids. You got white writers on your show. You
got white boys writing, talking about black people on
the show...

Not only that, you got people comparing him to
Richard Pryor, so once you got that on you right
there, and you ain't even came from what Richard
Pryor came from, it look like you done tricked a
bunch of motherfuckers... and now you can't follow
yourself, because you got that material from some
other people."

It was reported in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that
Rickey Smiley accused fellow Superstars of Comedy
tourmate Arnez J of biting jokes so that the comic
following him will look bad. Smiley later told gossip
columnist Jawn Murray that he called Arnez to
apologize and that they squashed the beef but Arnez J
said in an interview with Lee Bailey that the phone call
never took place.

"He accused me of going before him without his
acknowledgement and he blamed it on me,” said
Arnez. “First of all, I have nothing to do with it. My
contract was for me to go in the position that I was in.
I think unfortunately Mr. Smiley thought that I did it on
purpose. It’s up to the promoter where he wants to
place the categories, the people who go on before
whoever else. I don’t run the show, the promoter runs
the show,”

"Smiley’s people came up to his people right before he
was to take the stage at the Chastain Park show and
asked if Smiley could go on before him.

And at that time, I said no because I was getting ready
to go on stage,” said Arnez. “I’m already set. So I
don’t know – I think he felt that I may have stepped
on something he was talking about, I don’t know. As
comedians, a lot of times we all grow up in the same
environment. Sometimes, we may touch on the same
subject. As a professional, you have to adapt to that.”
Source: Eurweb

Stop Hating. Start Writing.

Rappers beef to create hype and sell
albums. Comic beef stems from insecurity.
The seniority system doesn't apply in
stand up. It's any man's game.

So what can a comic do to avoid
becoming bitter about the deal or big
break he doesn't have yet?

"My only advice is to pick up a pen...and
write," says Jim Norton. "A lot of guys do
the same shit every night and they
wonder why no one cares about them.
Hey, motherfucker—write! Take a risk.
Stop needing to kill on a Tuesday.
You’re making $20 dollars here.”

"It’s a free fall. There is really no 'you
start in the mailroom and you get a
position.' There’s none of that.
The key to survival in this business is
you have to have a passion for it,"
says Bill Burr.

"You don’t want to be that guy who’s
been there five years and does the same
shit, because it’s like you’re right in the
mix, but it’s like you’re not even there...

There are some guys who I see are really
talented, but if you watch them, they are
not writing and they complain they’re
being overlooked. It’s like, “Dude, you’re
doing a Monica Lewinsky joke and you
only had to do a 15 minute set.”

I know Greer very well. On the other hand, I don't know Aries, but anyone that is on a
show with Greer should be on point and at the top of his or her game and if you can't
follow him you should remove yourself from the show. Great comics make good comics
look bad, but good comics get the TV shows! And why would any comic try and take
food out of another comics mouth? We are all trying to make a living doing what we
love!

-Ian Salmon, Washington DC

I know Greer personally and the one thing I love about him is his ability to make
people laugh – his comedy is intellectual and on point. If you can’t handle the heat in
the kitchen then get out. There are a lot of good comics out there and you shouldn’t
ever be afraid of being upstaged by anyone if you believe in yourself. Also everyone
doesn’t like the same type of comedy. Never feel threatened – just do your thing
(people know the difference). If you're funny, you're funny. If you aren’t then oh well.

-Ms. Daryel Lamarr Taliaferro, Detroit, MI

Whoever wrote that shit about Mike Epps need they ass whooped. Dave can't talk
about something he don't know nothing about. He funny as hell but when it comes
down to it, Mike Epps is right. Whoever wrote that about him is probably white anyway.
I feel like Dave supports white people way more than his own people and sits on TV
dissing his own people for some pecker woods. It would be a totally different story if
Dave Chappelle talked about white people then that whole section would have been
saying something about how they are thugs or something. Dave Chappelle is just an
Uncle Tom.

-Michael "Finesse" Bond