August 21, 2009

"[Neil] Hamburger’s sets of hackneyed, setup-and-punch line jokes with a side of the bitter are built to bomb..."

"... and rely on pop-culture references that are either too soon for good taste (look for some Michael Jackson jokes on his current tour) or stale going on oblivious. (Who else is still talking about Smash Mouth in 2009?) Yet this rumpled husk of a comic also proclaims his adoration for good old showbiz and laments its decline, especially when he interrupts his shows to scream at audience members who egg on his pitifully out-of-date shtick."

(Clips at that link illustrate the technique well.)

Were you at Neil Hamburger's show at the High Noon Saloon last night? We were. Let this fuzzy iPhone pic prove it:

IMG_0206

Or did you make it to "RiffTrax Live: Plan 9 from Outer Space"? We missed that unfortunately, but had a lot of fun laughing at Neil Hamburger and his painfully bad jokes — and JP Inc. and his theme songs for TV shows that don't exist.

7 comments:

Jeff with one 'f' said...

How did you hear about Neil Hamburger? He's the funniest man in show business!

ricpic said...

Speaking of too soon for good taste: Michael Jackson's remains have been placed in a drawer in one of those apartment house of the dead setups at Forest Lawn cemetery. The New York Post's headline? STACKO.

Ann Althouse said...

"How did you hear about Neil Hamburger?"

Through my older son... at least 10 years ago.

Robert G. said...

Neil Hamburger has evolved into a sort of insult comic these days. I don't think I like that as much as his first recordings. I have a his "Tribute to Princess Diana" tribute 7" record which is one side of the usual bad jokes and the other side is "A Moment of Silence for Princess Di." Literally six minutes of no sound, nothing. The record advises, "NOTE: For maximum tribute, please play at 45 RPM. This track can be adapted to function as a Moment of Silence for Sonny Bono by playing at 78 RPM"

chuck b. said...

At least 10 years ago! You were hip to Neil Hamburger in the last freakin' century man! That was in a whole other millennium. You go waaay back with Neil Hamburger.

CarmelaMotto said...

Robert G, that's pretty funny. I never heard of this guy until I saw him on RedEye recently. His appearance skeeves me. Looks like the nerd from the Van Halen videos in the 80's grown up.

Ann Althouse said...

I remember listening to recordings where the audience really didn't get what he was doing, and it took a lot of nerve to go on like that. It made it especially funny.