Comedy is fun. Laughter lifts your spirit, etc. But I likes my comedy with teeth in it.One man or woman, alone onstage with a microphone, can lead you on twisty explorations of American society or human nature or language itself.
This contest is a two-fer. I’ve uploaded a couple of amusing audio files. The first person to name either of these two performers will win a prize.
The prize is your choice of DVDs: either “Bill Hicks Live – Satirist, Social Critic, Stand-Up Comedian” or “Paul Mooney’s Analyzing White America.” (Hicks and Mooney being two of the bitingest, twistedest comics of all times.)
After the first winner wins, the contest ain’t over. Whoever names the other performer will also receive the DVD of his or her choice. If you can name both of ’em, you get both DVDs! (But I think one of these guys will be easier to figure out than the other.)
Simply post your answers (or best guesses) in the comments section. Please, no telegrams.
Click here to hear Performer #1.
Click here to hear Performer #2. (Warning: R-rated language)
Have fun.
UPDATE (05/23/07): One down, one to go. Dez correctly identified Performer #2 as Eric Bogosian. The piece (titled “Stud”) is from his 1990 show “Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll.”
UPDATE (05/24/07): We have our second winner. RJ Smith, that pop-culture savant, identified Performer #1 as Dick Davy. The audio clip comes from his 1966 LP, “You’re a Long Way From Home, Whitey: Live at the Apollo.”
Davy is one of those interesting untold stories. A Manhattan Jew who crafted the persona of a drawling, naïve redneck, Dick Davy was a civil-rights progressive, and he won over black audiences in places like Watts and, of course, Harlem.
Until Martin Luther King was assassinated. Then the hardcore black militancy kicked in, and Davy’s subtle left-wing bohemian wit was instantly out-of-date.
Kliph Nesteroff wrote a fantastic post about Dick Davy in January for WFMU’s blog. He points to places on the Web where you can hear “Live at the Apollo” and Davy’s 1967 follow-up album, “Stronger than Dirt,” in their entirety.
11 comments:
That first one sure sounds like the actor William Sanderson but I don't think he did any stand up.
My guess would be Brother Dave Gardner.
The other one is damned familiar but I haven't placed it yet. Damn, UBM, where do find this stuff? It's hilarious.
Comedy is my life, S.O.L. ;^D
That second one will probably come to you.
#2 = Eric Bogosian.
#1 = Dick Gregory?
BTW, if I'm right for either, could I please have the Bill Hicks? :-) I love me some Bill Hicks!
Yay, Dez! You got #2... that's Bogosian from "Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll."
Hit me with an email, tell me where to ship that Bill Hicks DVD.
Man I'm too young to know these people.
Whee! And hey, now, sj! *I'm* too young to know Bogosian, technically speaking ;-)
Shit, I can't believe I didn't recognize Eric Bogosian. I love Talk Radio.
Alright -- going in. Dick Davey for #1?
DAVY, I meant to say. Dick DAVY.
You win again, RJ! And it doesn't get more obscure than Dick Davy... a New York Jew who performed as a Southern cracker before black audiences. (Or at least he did in this case... for an LP recorded at the Apollo.)
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