Why Not Kill Tony?
On Roasts - Notes of a Stand-Up Comic #3
At some point in the comedy journey, a comic stops asking other comics, “is this funny”?
That’s what they do for awhile with their material, because doing this work picks at deep wounds of insecurity and primal fear. Maybe that’s the draw. It’s raw experience. And you’re putting it on display.
It’s not like the street banter of everyday people with a pleasant, light touch; no, the comedian employs a sledgehammer to his own psyche, to deliberately crash molds of ordinary perception and conceptual thought. Surprise! Perspective shift. See the dog or whatever in a radically different light, filtered through a fresh prism.
I think in many ways that’s the job. The courage to show the warts, the disfigurements, your bare ass. There’s gold in there! The nasty, thick crust around the personality that most humans take pains to hide; its regrets, hatreds and failures; meanwhile the crazy comic shines a spotlight on it, makes faces at it, a nutty clown without makeup, come look into this mirror at a (relatively) safe distance.
When a comic makes you laugh, in spite of yourself, your spirit relaxes a little. Your guard lets down. It’s a bit diabolical, really; a skillful comic will make you laugh at someone else’s divorce, or syphilis, or perhaps the existential pain of your existence.
There’s usually a victim within a punchline. A fall guy, literally, as in the standard examples of seeing someone slip on a banana peel or fall down a manhole. Or, in more modern terms, someone who made the mistake of being a white dude with dreads in the front row at my good friend and mentor Greg Romero Wilson’s show:
Checkout Greg’s clips and shows! One of the greatest comedians on the planet! I wouldn’t even be a comic if it weren’t for Greg’s mentorship!
www.gregromerowilson.com IG: @gregromerowilson
Anyway, I think we like it when a comedian roasts someone because they say the quiet part out loud! Like, we were all kind of already thinking that, so. . . which is great, except I personally suck at it!
Maybe it’s just that really funny roasts don’t come to me naturally; but, every now and again, I’ll reign hellfire on someone in the front row dressed like Simba from Lion King, or a guy that rocks a mullet and is single-handedly responsible for menthol cigarettes.
There are a precious few comics, in my experience, who perform this type of crowd work (the art of engaging the audience during one’s live act in an improvisational fashion) in a truly hilarious way that doesn’t lead to weird voodoo or a funky feeling in the room (an extreme example would be the notorious Michael Richards/aka Kramer incident).
It’s for this reason that when you do see a master like Greg Romero Wilson, who can poke fun at someone and make it look easy being this funny off the cuff, that you just want to see more of it. It’s the sense that the comic is doing something dangerous, courting metaphorical death, akin to a high-wire act between skyscrapers. It’s also well-meaning.
The proliferation of roast battles between comedians, or roast of celebrities as we’ve seen on TV (a tradition going back to Friar Roasts), are reflections of a hyper focus on this victimization aspect of comedy, targeting the classic foil, and it can be truly great when done well and in good fun. The most recent example that comes to mind is Nikki Glaser’s hilarious roast of Tom Brady, which was big time water cooler talk all over the country. The roast format has never been so popular and keeps growing.
Enter Kill Tony (and other shows of its ilk); I don’t watch it much, but from what I’ve seen the format is usually a newer comic, after winning his/her golden ticket to the chocolate factory, is one of the lucky ones selected to perform one minute of actual stand-up (not a roast) to a panel of experienced comedians and a room full of people.
The comic is then unceremoniously sprayed with barbs by the panel at his/her expense, and it’s all a sort of impromptu group roast. It’s like a Frankenstein patchwork of the old Gong Show meets Roast Battle, with a sprinkle of open mic style (amateurish) stand-up (with some notable exceptions). And by the way, I’m not making fun of anyone on the show - or am I?
If you watched this clip with the female comic, the panel’s focus on this low-hanging fruit (stupid pun intended) just isn’t funny. More than that, it doesn’t help make this newbie comic any better; why not riff some funny shit on the jokes she was actually trying to tell - then you can make fun of her boobs for way too long (kidding, but that’s what they did). She didn’t have the chops to turn the tables on them, because it’s not a fair fight, nor was her goal to roast.
And so the fun of all this escapes me, but that’s just my take; clearly in today’s culture Kill Tony is a huge deal, and any selected performer on the show has the chance to cement themselves as a “kill Tony” comic, a new type of comedy merit badge and veritable dangling carrot that certainly tempts comedy clubs and theatres. These comics can sell tickets! That’s understandable.
There’s no disputing that the show is a massive juggernaut of a hit, selling out places like Madison Square Garden, with a special on Netflix, and generally a huge social media following. I know they put in the work of hundreds of episodes, so, to be clear, I don’t begrudge anyone their success . . .at parties. Here, I’ll begrudge all I want!
But hey, I’m all for comics getting their shot! And yet, again, the flip side of this phenomenon is many of these “Kill Tony” comics (not the panelists) are rather inexperienced in stand-up comedy, ironically, and when booked at comedy venues, are suddenly thrust into waters where previously only a battle-hardened and seasoned comedian could go; which is to say a bona fide headliner, a comic who has a polished and proven forty-five minute act that’s professional grade, tight and full of laughs from start to finish.
That is a level of dedication to the craft that takes years of trial, error, public humiliation, late night Mcdonalds, crappy pay, horrific episodes of self-doubt, alienation, mockery, and probably an abuse of substances. Full stop.
Many comics I know have been in the game a lot longer than me, with fantastic sets of high-quality comedy, and are still out there grinding.
One minute to prove your worth as a stand-up comedian is stupid.
Having said that, in this day and age of super fast clips of quick crowd work moments posted on social media, I choose to enjoy the ones who are truly great at it, who aren’t knee-slapping each other over their fresh kill in a rigged game.
I salute Greg Romero Wilson, for example, and the old school headliners of yore, roasting innocent audience members for the delight of all. There the victims go gently, a part of a good-natured, memorable moment.
On that note, I leave you with another clip to enjoy from another master crowd worker - Butch Bradley!
He’s a comic that can literally build his whole set from scratch in the moment.
Check out www.butchbradleycomedy.com IG: @butchbradleycomedy
And so, dear faithful, please like and Subscribe to this Substack to see future writings, feel free to comment on the above ramblings, and feel free to check out my stand-up comedy, books, comedy coaching, and one-man-show at:
www.eriklewincomedy.com IG: @eriklewincomedy
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