Michael Richards lets some racism fly in a comedy club

[mrjbeam1981]

the subject is pretty self explanatory

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/st ... 88,00.html

[Peter Falconia]

And here ends the career of Michael Richards. The only thing he ever did well was Seinfeld. Comedians don't like being told they are not funny. Was at a dinner show one night, and the comedian wasn't funny, so I wasn't laughing. He then asked me, "Why aren't you laughing?". So I replied, "'cause your not funny". He didn't take it well.

[bayman]

i heard the clip on the radio this morning, this is disgraceful but now he says sorry but is it him saying sorry or his manager telling him to say sorry ? it sounded to me that he is a racist, as even if you were upset by what was said to you (him), you wouldn't reply racially unless you were racist you would say something completely different or even invite them on stage to do better

[zipzap]

You keep waiting for a punchline that never comes. Tragic, like his career really

[am Bays]

*sniff sniff sniff* I smell klan!!

[Wedgie]

Of course its on Youtube, he completely lost it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T7uKvpzVXI

[Mr66]

Not that there's anything wrong with that! (err...waitaminit...maybe there is!)

[rod_rooster]

It's actually kind of weird to watch. I thought it would be kind of funny watching a guy make such an ass of himself but it was just so incredibly uncomfortable to watch.

[Leaping Lindner]

This is a very familiar scenario to me. I've seen a few guys lose it like this a couple of times here in Melbourne (No. I wasn't one of them ), and it gets very ugly. One guy jumped off stage and started thumping the table that three girls (and they were girls - 19-20 tops) were sitting at and screaming at them "Why aren't you laughing you s****", "This is funny you w*****". It got very ugly. Basically the guy wasn't funny and also had issues with women. Another time one guy had to be escorted to his car by three bouncers 'cos he had been very over the top with some hecklers and the hecklers decided to wait for him after the gig and "discuss" it with him.
Even after what I've seen you've got to wonder what Richards was thinking. I saw somewhere that he claims he was being a character that is a racist and that it was in context. Looking at that footage that seems very unlikely. Also as far as I know the guy is more a physical comedian than someone who does that sort of stuff on stage.
Lenny Bruce did a thing once where he would play the racist. But he pulled it off.
He'd come out and without saying a word go to a black guy in the audience and get right in his face and say "N******" then let that sink in and then go to guy next him and yell "W**" and would then go through the auidence using the appriotate racial slur and then turn on himself and say "K***". "Okay I've got 10 n******, 8 w***, and 6 K****. Do I hear 11 n*******" and someone would yell out "Yeah me". "So okay I've got 11 n****** do I hear 12?" You get the idea.
Then again Lenny Bruce was a comic genuis. Richards isn't near that class. He looked to me like a guy who had a very weak routine - wasn't getting laughs - and blamed it on the audience.
The best way to handle hecklers is do what Anthony Morgan does. He starts up a polite discussion with them (ignoring everyone else in the room) and after a while the heckler is pleading him to go back to his routine.

[Leaping Lindner]

And here ends the career of Michael Richards. The only thing he ever did well was Seinfeld. Comedians don't like being told they are not funny. Was at a dinner show one night, and the comedian wasn't funny, so I wasn't laughing. He then asked me, "Why aren't you laughing?". So I replied, "'cause your not funny". He didn't take it well.

That guy was an idiot.

Rule #1 of stand up comedy never say to anyone "Come up here if you can do better" 'cos one day someone will.
Rule #2 of stand up comedy never say to anyone "Why aren't you laughing" 'cos one day someone will say what you said.

[Jimmy]

It certainly looked bad, and is ofcourse.

Ill still watch seinfeld tho.

[Punk Rooster]

I think it's a bit rich to label someone "racist" because of one outburst. To me, these are the actions of a frustrated individual. Yes, this particular outburst was designed to attack the people on the basis of race (making it racist), but it's like calling someone an alcoholic, 'cause they got drunk once...

[smac]

Agree with that Punk.

Heard on the radio this morning that he appeared on Letterman with Seinfeld to apologise. A large % of the crowd thought the whole thing was hilarious. I reckon that's a bigger issue than his outburst.

[Pseudo]

I think it's a bit rich to label someone "racist" because of one outburst. To me, these are the actions of a frustrated individual. Yes, this particular outburst was designed to attack the people on the basis of race (making it racist), but it's like calling someone an alcoholic, 'cause they got drunk once...

Well, the target of Mr. Richards' outburst was only a ni---r once, wasn't he?

[Wedgie]

Agree with that Punk.

Heard on the radio this morning that he appeared on Letterman with Seinfeld to apologise. A large % of the crowd thought the whole thing was hilarious. I reckon that's a bigger issue than his outburst.

That's not the impression I got watching the video of the incident.

[JK]

The guy is an actor, not a standup comedian and probably shouldn't have been up there in the first place as I'd doubt he's had the experience of comedians that often have to deal with these situations.

[Magpiespower]

Quite fascinating to watch a stand-up comic die on stage and then blow-up at the crowd.

Brad Oakes completely lost the plot at my uni once.

Wanted to take on half the crowd at one stage.

Dave Hughes and Greg Fleet then refused to do their routines until the crowd, which comprised solely of uni students, showed them 'more respect.'

Well, if they were funny in the first place, the crowd wouldn't have ignored their routines to chat amongst themselves.

[Leaping Lindner]

Quite fascinating to watch a stand-up comic die on stage and then blow-up at the crowd.

Brad Oakes completely lost the plot at my uni once.

Wanted to take on half the crowd at one stage.

Dave Hughes and Greg Fleet then refused to do their routines until the crowd, which comprised solely of uni students, showed them 'more respect.'

Well, if they were funny in the first place, the crowd wouldn't have ignored their routines to chat amongst themselves.

Rule #3 of Stand Up Comedy - NEVER do Uni gigs!!!! (Unless you are getting paid shitloads and never have to go back there again!)

[smac]

Agree with that Punk.

Heard on the radio this morning that he appeared on Letterman with Seinfeld to apologise. A large % of the crowd thought the whole thing was hilarious. I reckon that's a bigger issue than his outburst.

That's not the impression I got watching the video of the incident.

Sorry, I meant the Letterman crowd - I haven't seen that so I can't comment, I can only pass on what I heard reported on the radio. I appreciate the crowd watching the original incident reacted as most would expect.

[RustyCage]

Quite fascinating to watch a stand-up comic die on stage and then blow-up at the crowd.

Brad Oakes completely lost the plot at my uni once.

Wanted to take on half the crowd at one stage.

Dave Hughes and Greg Fleet then refused to do their routines until the crowd, which comprised solely of uni students, showed them 'more respect.'

Well, if they were funny in the first place, the crowd wouldn't have ignored their routines to chat amongst themselves.

Rule #3 of Stand Up Comedy - NEVER do Uni gigs!!!! (Unless you are getting paid shitloads and never have to go back there again!)

Had Justin Hamilton, Michael Chamberlin, Charlie Pickering and Tom Gleeson at out uni earlier this year. Funniest stuff Ive ever seen. Gleeson was asking people in the audience where they were from and then spent the next few minutes bagging that town. Except for Pt Pirie, where the conversation was something like:

Gleeson: "Where are you from"
Girl: "Port Pirie"
Gleeson: "Um yeah, good luck with that