Chris Rock to quit comedy clubs?

Chris Rock has sworn off doing standup in comedy clubs until they ban camera’s, so it seems. Speaking to the New York Times, Rock raged against the proliferation of stand-up shows and material ending up on YouTube and other online outlets, saying it was ruining the atmosphere that comedy clubs need to operate, and that now comics were being put off trying new material in clubs for fear the material will be stolen, or that they’ll end up in the midst of controversy ala Daniel Tosh.

‘When you’re work-shopping it, a lot of stuff is bumpy and awkward... Especially when you’re working on the edge, you’re going to offend. A guy like Tosh, he’s at the Laugh Factory. He’s making no money.’

‘The sad thing, with all this taping and stuff, no one’s going to do stand-up. And every big stand-up I talk to says: “How do I work out new material? Where can you go? I I have a half an idea and then it’s on the Internet next week?”... Just look at some of my material. You can’t imagine how rough it was and how unfunny and how sexist or racist it might have seemed. “Niggas vs. Black People” probably took me six months to get that thing right. You know how racist that thing was a week in? That’s not to be seen by anybody.’

‘The few times I’ve gotten on stage and thought about touring, immediately, stuff’s on the internet, I’m getting calls, and I’m like, “this isn’t worth it”.... I’ll go back to comedy clubs when they get a real no-camera policy, the same way they did with smoking. But hey, they used to be the smokiest places in the world.’

While he has a point, it’s hard to see the world changing very soon, what with everyone having a phone these days. However, it’s a sacrifice most people would be willing to make to keep some of the world’s top comics in the intimate venues that bred them in the first place. So come on people, switch ‘em off.

Story by EI Team | 09:00 | Friday 3rd August 2012 | Comedy

738

Comments

• No comments have been posted for this article yet. Be the first!

Log in to leave a comment

Login or register to leave a comment

Enter your email:

Enter Password: Lost Your Password?