PS UPS

I’ve been trying very hard not to say anything about this. Really, I have, but I can’t get it off my mind. It is just annoying the piss out of me.

Comedy Central is doing their vote for the best comedian thing. It is called “Comedy Central Stand-up Showdown” and here is their blurb about it:
Wondering who’s the funniest stand-up comedian? Have some opinions of your own? Browse through our catalog of free stand-up clips from the best comedians working today and vote for your favorite, then tune in to watch the countdown at noon on Sunday, January 27th.

Which is all well and good. I like to vote in it. I absolutely adore Lewis Black ever since I first saw him on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I can’t get enough.

So, here is the line up as of today.
#1. Jeff Dunham… funny, real funny, but the act is getting a little old and he’s no Lewis Black.
#2. Josh Sneed. Never heard of him. How good could he be?
#3. Lisa Landry. Nice to see a woman so high on the list. Never heard of her.
#4. Frank Caliendo. Okay, now were talking. This guy is talented. Very talented. He’s full of surprises and nobody can pull off a George Bush impression like this guy. I don’t know who is more talented, Lewis or Caliendo. I’d call it a draw. They are so different in what they do so it is hard to decide.

So, 6, 7, and 8, never heard of them.

Then we have number nine. Mitch Hedberg. A dead guy. And not freshly dead either. He died in two thousand fucking five. In the SPRING of two thousand fucking five. This is a vote for “the best comedians working today”! WTF??

I have been watching this vote while my annoyance marinates. Mitch Hedberg was in the number ten position when I first loaded the page a week or two ago. Now he has moved up to number nine. Which is quite a feat for a dead guy to move.

What’s going on? Hell if I know. I do not know who nominates these guys. It is all a mystery to me, much like the political election. I do not know where they come from. I do not know why people I never heard of are in the top ten, and I have NO idea why a dead guy is floating in the pool of choices. I just know that if I were in position of power at Comedy Central, somebody would be busted down to the mail room right about now.

So who is Mitch Hedberg? I’m no expert on comedy, obviously, but I have heard of him. Especially in the past year or so. The guy seems to have acquired more fame dead than alive. He was a comedian. He was also a junkie. He enjoyed a good buzz. And yeah, it killed him in the end as usually happens.

I never found his comedy all that note worthy. He was somewhat similar to Steven Wright, I suppose, but nothing spectacular. Just another guy on stage giving one liners.

I recently saw one of his stand-up shows on Comedy Central. He looked extremely uncomfortable on stage and he was in the mildly humorous category. I didn’t like watching him because he appeared so ill at ease on stage. Maybe he just continually stares at the floor or something, but it looked and sounded like he was reading every joke from a piece of paper. And the jokes really were not that good.

The only reason I know this guy’s name is because I saw some comedians at some point or other talking about what a comic genius he was and now he’s dead. I heard this enough that I remembered his name.

A couple of weeks ago, I see his name on this list of the best working comedians and we’re supposed to vote. I’m thinking, hey, isn’t that guy dead? I googled, and yeah, I’m not crazy, that’s a dead guy in the running.

AND THEN HE MOVED TO NUMBER NINE! ACK!

So here we have a publicity campaign to give comedians some exposure and Comedy Central some advertisement and then they toss a turd in the punch bowl. Does Mitch Hedberg care? No. He’s frickin’ dead. He’s out of his pain and he probably doesn’t even know its going on. If he does know, I doubt he would care.

How would you feel if you were number ten? Ten is a pretty good number in a vote really. Being in the top ten is great! NOT if number nine DIED almost three years ago! Kind of takes the wind out of the ego sail, doesn’t it? Not to mention, Demetri Martin, who is REALLY funny, is always going to be funny and probably isn’t all fucked up on ‘natural’ substances so he’s likely to be here long after we’re dead. This kid should probably win some sort of ‘best up and coming comic’ and he’s sitting in position eleven. This is TWO positions below a dead guy. Should do his career wonders. (sigh)

I find all of this a travesty. Having Mitch Hedberg in there, no matter what well meaning souls who miss their friend were thinking, is really making the entire publicity campaign pointless. You people couldn’t have a roast or some sort of show to honor the guy?? You have to rob the living of their time in the spotlight instead.

I know this is none of my business. I write a blog. I don’t even get paid for it really because people never click on the links to amazon or whatever and go shopping. Yeah, that’s how this blog supports itself, by you going off to the places and shopping. And just clicking doesn’t count. You have to actually shop. (The casinos don’t pay me, those hotel specials are just there for your convenience.) I’m not a comedian, never plan to be one, so this is all outside of my little hood, I know. It just really annoys the shit out of me to watch it go on. I couldn’t keep it inside any longer. I love comedy and I really feel for those guys and gals who are working so hard for so little to make us laugh. I find this to be a publicity nightmare whether it is my biz or not. Its a real shame.

Now go vote for Lewis Black.
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