NEWS: Comedy Outlawed

CULTURE: Comedy Outlawed

It's been almost a month since the controversial New York-based radio show "The Dog House" was taken off the air and away from it's loyal listeners. Despite the best efforts of their fans, the show's hosts JV and Elvis are still without a forum to do what they do best -- create hilarious comedy. Godspeed, gentlemen. Apparently it no longer pays to be funny.

It's one thing to censor a dinosaur like Imus, or, say, a teacher trying to make a difference. Fine, go right ahead, fire away. But to attack a duo on the vanguard of comedy as is clearly the case with JV and Elvis... Well, that to me reeks of idiocy.

I don't know the secret to comedy, and I don't claim to... Is it luck? Opportunity? A magic rock? Some sort of bubbling liquid concoction drunk during a specific cycle of the moon? Who can say? The answer is: JV and Elvis. They can say. And for this, we punish them.

These two mavericks, these two students of human nature, train their razor-sharp comedic wits on the city around them and they see something none of us saw. The fact that some Asian people, when learning a second language, have a tendency to not do it with absolute perfection. In fact, sometimes they confuse letters... and it is fucking hilarious.

I had an inkling of this phenomenon a few weeks ago and believe me, I am kicking myself for not writing some sort of sketch or bit to cash in... But hey,
that's why they have access to a sound board filled with funny noises and I'm sitting here... with no sound board containing funny noises.

Then, our heroes let loose with a comedic wrecking ball. Shrimp. Flied. Lice. At first I thought I was looking at a typo. Then, it hits me. Oh shit, that is
totally how it sounds when an Asian person mispronounces the phrase "shrimp fried rice." Don't believe me? Try it. Out loud. Yeah, you're welcome.

But the wrecking ball wasn't done swinging. JV then claimed to be a "student of kung fu." Not following? Well, here's the thing, Asian people have been known to take kung fu. Not only that, it's a sport that originated in, you guessed it, China. Last time I checked, China was in Asia, folks.

Happy, America? You've silenced another artist. With the help of numerous Asian-American groups you pounded the final nail into their prop-filled coffin. Sure, there will be the scores of imitators now that the heavy lifting is done and the trail has been blazed -- third rate knock-offs running around with Fu Manchu mustaches, trying to run people over with rickshaws -- but it won't be the same.

Jeff Vandergrift and Dan Lay... This last one goes out to you. You will be missed... (pushes button)

SFX: (toilet flush) (game show buzzer) (goat bleat)

Fucking hilarious.

I think that is the highest sarcasm to word ratio I have ever seen. Impressive.

I tried to calculate it, but my head just asploded.

when i first heard this story i was like "Who the fuck are The Dog House with JV and Elvis"

Note: Kung-fu is not a sport. Kthnks...

I was like, "Who the fuck is TheCoolerKing and why is he not writing more news stories?" That was awesome.

"I mean come on, 'Me So Solly!'"

*is too lazy to post image of Krusty the Clown saying above line*

They may have not been funny, but there are lots of very funny people that make a living saying insensitive things tongue-in-cheek, and firing these people while allowing Letterman, employed by CBS as well, to keep his show is pretty hypocritical. And firing them in the wake of the Imus thing, which shouldn't have resulted in a firing either, shows that they're just covering their asses

What I don't understand is how this thing got to be such a big deal so quickly, and why now? Imus has been on the air for decades saying the same shit over and over, and all of a sudden people care? But only if it's on the radio? People still listen to talk radio?

This is what FearTheReaper should be. Punch lines! Finally someone knows how to execute them!

+1

Also: is this guy training to be the next FTR or what? That wasn't even an article, it was just a free-floating mass of snark.

"flied rice", hilarious... whatever tickles your worldview.

fuck those guys. good riddance.
i could care less about the tired "flied rice/omg wang" crap,
but insulting our sisters and our daughters, don't expect us to take it lightly.
"Tell that hot Asian girl answering the telephone, I'd like to tap her ass."

I agree, it's petty and probably exacerbated by the Imus thing, but still, having endured various forms of passive racism for most of my life - it's not a big deal unless it's directed at you.

I repeat, fuck them.

very rare .... FTR giving compliments .... this moment should be cherished ....

You're absolutely right, people shouldn't have the right to say things to the public if intelligent folk like us decide they're stupid. I don't want to live in a country where speech (an otherwise nonexistant right/ability only handed to us from on high from our glorious America) can be used to say things us intellectual elite don't care for. Yay us! Boo them! Censorship uber alles!

And, for the record, of fucking COURSE they were racial insensitive douchebags. But censorship is a fucking dangerous weapon, and you can never know when society is going to decide it's you or me who isn't allowed to say what they think. I'm appalled anyone who'd support it regardless of what was said. God we are all just SO FUCKED.

That all came out pretty garbled after a night of heavy drinking/smoking. I stand by what I said, though. Even that ridiculously dramatic ending. Yikes.

+1

but i got the racism from both sides of my mixed heritage.

Comedy is the ability to make people laugh without pissing off the people that can fire you. Or can get you fired.

That evil overlord sure loves to stroke his pussy, doesn't he?

*escapes an over-elaborate trap laid by an evil overlord a week later*

And they really need to just shut up and flick the switch before lecturing me on how the bloody thing works.

Thank god comedy still has Carlos Mencia.

paduwan ftr?

Why do people like you always ignore the fact that no one is being stopped from saying whatever they want whenever they want, so long as you aren't using the public airwaves? Haven't we had this discussion enough to realize that a business (like SG, like a radio station, like your job most likely) isn't going to let you say certain things. Don't like it? Go somewhere else.

Why does their right to say racist shit trump the radio stations right to not air racist shit? How does that equate to "we are so fucked?"

My theory is that there is a whole stratum of people who believe that "offensive = true." That, or they're still looking for love from their parents, like some high schooler in white face paint and black marker all over their Chucks.

Ha! Dude, it's you! My sweet little obsessed member. You even bring me up on other people's articles. I love you, too.

But honestly, I have you on (ignore). Not because you are a dick, but, rather, this is all you do. You never add to any discussions, just say that I am not funny. Which, honestly, I could give a shit if you think I funny or not. I'm sorry. I just don't care whether or not some random fuck in Milwaukee thought I was funny or not. My life would be quite tedious if I did.

The only reason I clicked on your little ignored comment was because I thought you actually might have something relevant to say about the topic. But, like a little autistic kid, you keep on keepin' on.

Anyway, I've had you ignored for months. Good luck!

This whole racial humor thing has gotten old and unoriginal anyway. I remember the flied lice joke was in one of the later Lethal Weapon movies...

Hm. Mel Gibson making a racist comment.

And Carlos Mencia sucks.

He may be The One.