Standup comedians are supposed to have some pride. Man, I still can’t believe what I saw on HBO last night.
I was looking forward to George Lopez’s HBO special. His 2004 Showtime special, “Why You Crying?” caught me by surprise. In terms of his fearlessness and stage command, and his mix of ethnic pride and dirty-laundry-airing, it reminded me of Chris Rock’s breakthrough special, “Bring the Pain.”
“Why You Crying?” was really, really funny.
Lopez must’ve thought so too… because he told some of the same jokes last night. At least three of ’em. (The crazy aunt with the crooked thong; Latinos who hide when a census taker knocks on their door; the Latino method of landscaping, taking measurements by closing one eye.)
Other material seemed familiar too… maybe from Lopez’s appearance on HBO’s “Comic Relief” last November. Routines aimed at White America – like “Everything you touch, we touch first,” about Latino farm labor – he has definitely performed on television before.
Now what kind of comic, for his first HBO special, tells jokes from his old Showtime special? When Dave Chappelle made the opposite transition, he came with all-new shit for the new gig. This is pay cable; it’s costing people money to watch your ass. Tell some fresh fuckin’ jokes!
Really, what else do you have to do, George Lopez, except write jokes, play golf and tape a sitcom that nobody watches? And you get on HBO with three-year-old jokes? Pinche cabron…
Just wondering, have you been following the 'Carlos Mencia - Joe Rogan' feud which boiled over recently? Rogan accused 'Ned' Mencia of stealing jokes from various comedians, and even George Lopez himself said on Howard Stern's show that Mencia stole 13 minutes of his material for his recent stand up special on Comedy Central.
ReplyDeleteEvery once in a while the Lopez show will get decent ratings. It's even been in the top ten among black viewers for on occasion.
ReplyDeletePinche cabron?! Don't say nothin' like that in LA 'less you can run real fast.
george lopez doesn't make me laugh but you know who is worse? dane cook. ugh!
ReplyDeletei dont like carlos mencia at all (he and sarah silverman are part of the "rag on blacks" campaign that comedy central has started, but i digress..)
ReplyDeletegeorge lopez is okay with me, i mean i think like alot of people who finally get their sip from the golden cup, he's turned a bit soft. put him in a mexican hood in california, that'll knock the soft right out of him
SJ: Glad to see somebody call Mencia on his shit. On his first cable special back in the '90s, he ripped off four major black comedians... in one special. (I wrote them down on a list but lost the list. Paul Mooney was definitely one of them. I think the others were Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock. We're talking well-known jokes.)
ReplyDeleteOdo: Heck, Lopez is up for an NAACP Image Award! What's up with that? So is "Ugly Betty" and America Ferrara and Roselyn Sanchez. Since when have they included Hispanics in these nominations? Is this a new thing? Somebody fill me in...
As for name-calling, Lopez began his "new" special by referring to the President of these United States with these words: "Fuck that Puta!"
Judith: Dane Cook both sucks and blows.
Afro: George can live in Beverly Hills, I ain't mad at him. He can play as much golf as he wants... as long as he throws down when it's time to take it to the stage. This he did not do.
Actually, Lopez's oh-so-scandalous catch phrase was: "Fuck that puto." He threw it at Schwarzenegger as well.
ReplyDeleteYo, who needs material when you can just name-call politicians??
Stand-up is dying. The fact that Mencia AND Dane Cook are so popular shows that. I am floored by the fact that Cook is so popular...the guy just plain stinks. I'm in college and it pisses me off whenever I see so many frat boys and women scream at the thought of Dane Cook. It's nauseating. Plus he's a joke-thief.
ReplyDeleteThe only good comedians in recent years have been Dave Chappelle (he seems to have disappeared), and then there was Mitch Hedberg, RIP. Lewis Black is still going well but he's getting old.
Mitch Hedberg was wonderful! I found him only after he'd died. We need more original voices like that.
ReplyDeleteI'm in college and it pisses me off whenever I see so many frat boys and women scream at the thought of Dane Cook. It's nauseating. Plus he's a joke-thief.
ReplyDeleteHe needs to steal from funnier people, then. He sucks!
Odo: Heck, Lopez is up for an NAACP Image Award! What's up with that? So is "Ugly Betty" and America Ferrara and Roselyn Sanchez. Since when have they included Hispanics in these nominations? Is this a new thing? Somebody fill me in...
Latino is the new Black. Viva la raza, homies!
I'm wondering if Lopez will get any flack for the "puto" jokes the way Molotov got for their song, "Puto"? It was still funny when he told the Erik Estrada joke using "FTP!" ("He should be called 'Armed and Puto'").
The Joe Rogan/Carlos Mencia feud is hysterically funny. Go, Joe!
The NAACP looks out for "colored" people right? I guess George Lopez and America Ferrara fall under that category, but what about the white hispanics such as the "chilenos, argentinos and paraguayos"? Most Argentinians are white as far as I know.
ReplyDeletestand up is in a bad way these days. dane cook makes my skin crawl -- tremendously not funny to me. mencia didn't make me laugh when i watched his show or his commercials. i liked the dave chappelle show but we live in such a literal age, people didn't get the satirical element. it would anger me too if drunk white frat boys called me slurs because they heard it on MY show. i grew up when eddie murphy was the funniest stand up comic working. after chris rock's bring the pain, i don't know if any stand up has made me laugh. even HE couldn't follow that act. yikes!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Judith... where are the fresh new comics coming from?
ReplyDeleteClick here for a few minutes of Mitch Hedberg. He's dead now, and he didn't leave much behind. But the "Mitch All Together" CD has provided me hours and hours of joy.
who cares, the tards that dont get his joke never went through what he is making fun of or dont speak spanish for that matter. If you havent lived it then you are not gonna get it. If you dont think its funny then get your dumb asses up there and start telling some new shit. Everything is easier said than done.
ReplyDelete^ George Lopez, ladies and gentlemen!
ReplyDeletegeorge lopez is the shit and your just another one of those fags that are raceist mutha fucka go to any group of mexicans and say pinche cabron and i garentee you will get your fuckin teeth nocked in
ReplyDeletemutha fuckin haterz
BROWN PRIDE
we are talein over and your going to be mowing my lawn for 2 $ an hour
GEORGE LOPEZ IS THE SHIT...YOU DONT HAVE TO WATCH HIM...BUT WHAT YOU SAY OR WRTIE IS NOT GOING TO STOP ME OR OTHER MEXICANS FROM WATCHING HIM...WE LOVE OUR MEXICAN AMERICAN GEORGE LOPEZ...
ReplyDeleteMr George Lopez HATES, and hating does not belong on HBO that kind of thing belongs in the local comedy club whose patrons would find these vicious attacks harmless, now I am no genius, and yet George didn't even to look up the veracity of one of his first FALSE ASSERTIONS against whites when he went off on that tangent about the improper use of Spanish Language phrases like El Niño, and La Niña when describing certain specific weather phenomena used by Meteorologist. The original definition of El Niño goes back to the eighteenth century when Peruvian sailors coined the term to describe a warm southward current appearing annually around Christmas time off the Peruvian coastline.
ReplyDeleteI MUST ADMIT that I am a meteorologist and knew that fact along time ago, BUT that still doesn't excuse MR GEORGE LOPEZ from LYING, and assigning culpability in a perceived WRONG by whites against browns for somehow misusing the Spanish Language, a LANGUAGE emanating from Europe by the way, not in Mexico OR some other latin country south of the U.S.
SO, I guess as someone of European ancestry then perhaps I am the aggrieved party since Mr GEORGE LOPEZ is laying claim to a language that began next to my country of France, in Spain most of whom were originally of BLOND hair and BLUE eyes, so I guess I just don't really get where MR GEORGE LOPEZ' is coming from with his problem on the usage of The Spanish Language..
Really Mr George LOPEZ your credibility was shot right out of the gate when you began with a RACIAL LIE...
yes, mexicans are gettin nominated for shit so what? and george lopez is funny i could give a rats ass wtf other ppl think.
ReplyDelete