i hate it when comedians smile too much.

it's like they are trying to pander or something. Or compensate the lack of material or humor

God it's so awkward because they smile as if implying that they are funny.

It feels like they are trying to hypnotize the audience into thinking they are funny.

Or as if they were your friends, I don't know what it is, but it's fucking awful.

Isn't smiling back is an evolutionary trait? Marketing folks like to brainwash people with their smiles so there has to be some truth to it.

But the last damn thing I want marketing to corrupt is stand up humor.

Just count how many times jerrod carmichael smiles. Or kate mckinnon.

God fucking dammit, let me decide if you are funny.

You can have good material with meh delivery, but not the other way around, I'm not a fucking baby laughing as a reflex, I can understand sentences.

Its not just comedians, you'll find that anyone who is good at being on a stage in front of people is smiling because that's the way you suck people in

You can't not communicate. A performer conveys their message using common human symbolic gestures like smiling. The difference between a hostile and comedic message is often only nonverbal. The performer demonstrates that it is acceptable to emote by spontaneously smiling; it demonstrates that immediate self-expression is acceptable.

Performers can optionally omit non-verbals and pair a pitiable/illogical/stupid/immoral message. It makes themselves appear vulnerable and sincere so the audience is permitted to laugh as bullies. People feel superior but invited to self-reflect on their idiosyncrasies.

Or "unexpected turn" jokes set up an understood situation but then providing an unexpected outcome. No performance is required; these could be written down.

If smiling bothers you maybe it is because the performer is seemingly effortlessly demonstrating an emotion that you find challenging to attain. In which case you are much more comfortable with the other patterns.

@irene that thing you wrote annoyed me, it's obscure or seems targetted at someone else's arguments.

i don't mind if a good comedian smiles. i do mind when a bad comedian smiles possibly as an attempt to brainwash the audience into thinking they are funny.

i don't mind smiling either, in fact i have a natural reaction of pleasure when looking at a smile and smiling back.

i already had low sympathy for you for reusing irene username and this comment is decreasing it even further

@jesustricks I have a bunch of performance experience so I was briefly explaining the big two non-stunt laugh situations. Usually if someone takes issue with a foundational communication behaviour it is not because the communicator is doing it wrong. Especially when they have proven track records in comedy which is a rare.

There is no such thing as funny in a vacuum; jokes are not jokes unless someone is laughing. They require encoding, transmission, and decoding. There are as many ways to decode a transmitted message as encode a message. You are decoding the message in an unusual way.

if you find that a comedian smiling causes a lot of static in the decoding process then maybe you should ask yourself why. Why does something that is a normal human behaviour interfere with the the rest of the message?

Why are you focusing on that one foundational gesture in their communication? Why don’t you dislike hand waving? Why don’t you dislike scanning the audience repeatedly without focusing in on one person? Why don’t you dislike when they are doing straight face delivery? Why is it smiling that causes such significant static for the more significant parts of the message? There is a reason. You only get to know that reason through looking inward.

I don’t need or want your “sympathy.” I don’t care about what you think about me. So get annoyed all you like. Maybe it will lead you down a nice road of self discovery.

you dense mf, I told you already! because it feels like they are brainwashing you into laughing, what part of that are you missing?

I can take you being dense, but i will not accept a bad listener.

I've seen dozens of acclaimed comedians doing acts that are remembered through time ALL WITHOUT SMILING.

if you think eye lasering people with a smile is fundamental part of stand up, then i probably hate your favorite comedians. I'm more of a material guy, delivery is decoration.

and that self discovery bs is presumptuous, you barely know me yet from one post yet you can tell I need to do some self search? i look forward to not seeing any more comments from you on my posts

@jesustricks We all need self searching. That has nothing to do with you. You can't tell me that you think that being introspective is something that is unnecessary.

"Brainwashing you into laughing" doesn't exist because a professional comedian is pragmatic about getting the audience laughing. The comedians with long careers often find ways to differentiate themselves, and become less likely to use common styles.

I don't enjoy watching or listening to stand up comedians much. I worked in communication design for a long time so I over-analyze the communication techniques. I have friends that do comedy and despite their professional success on stage, the stage is where they are least funny. The stage is where people have to interpret their personality into crowd skills. It takes stones regardless of talent level.

@M1sf3t Yeah okay. I can see your point about honesty for some acts. Although dishonesty is the intent for absurdist acts. For example 80s-90’s Jim Carey standup which is primarily about creating momentary disbelief through impersonation.

I went and looked up the examples provided: Jerrod Carmichael and Kate McKinnon. I watched some of their performances and they clearly have some mass appeal. If we were only talking about fresh off the street stand-up there would be a ton of mistakes and cringe to pick on. The examples are not my taste for sure. I wouldn’t say “Kate McKinnon is trying to brainwash a crowd into thinking that her unfunny content is funny by smiling more often than necessary. Her smiling is out of control.”

@jesustricks Different people are going to disagree on what a good vs a bad comedian is. If everyone agreed a comedian was bad that person would never get gigs. Expecting everyone to check in on your opinion of their comedy before they're allowed to crack a smile is completely insane.

@HollowKitty
> Expecting everyone to check in on your opinion of their comedy before they're allowed to crack a smile is completely insane

wtf is that comment? I never went to a comedy club and stopped the comedian on his act because he was smiling.

somehow in your thick skull, saying "i don't like comedians that smile" translates to "comedians shouldn't smile".

you fucking straw man fallacy master.

@jesustricks You said it was okay to smile if they were actually funny.

Nobody gives a fuck about your opinion of who is funny and who isn't, dude.

@HollowKitty
> You said it was okay to smile if they were actually funny.

yeah, but i went as far as just posting my opinion in a internet forum, i didn't interrupt a show or anything.

> Nobody gives a fuck about your opinion of who is funny and who isn't, dude.

another stupid comment, you're just a fountain of these.
by saying nobody gives a fuck then that means you can apparently speak for everyone.

@jesustricks

> yeah, but i went as far as just posting my opinion in a internet forum, i didn't interrupt a show or anything.

Never said otherwise. I posted my own conflicting opinion on an internet forum and no shows were disrupted anywhere in the world. Guess we are all good out here.

> another stupid comment, you're just a fountain of these. by saying nobody gives a fuck then that means you can apparently speak for everyone.

Are you suggesting there's a significant contingent of people somewhere whose opinions about whether a specific comedian can smile are hinging on whether you personally think they are funny?