Re: Say what you will of Cars 2, it's not this...

[Kete]

Lots of comedians have based their careers on fake personas and been successful because of it.  Jack Benny wasn't really a cheapskate and he actually got along quite well with Fred Allen.  Gracie Allen was actually a fairly smart woman.  Harpo Marx could talk. 

I agree, and I don't necessarily fault him for that.  I think that David Cross hits the nail on the head when he says that Larry the Cable Guy's act is  "the glorification and rewarding of dumb":

[Doctor Who?]

I'm not sure if it bothers me that his whole shtick is fake, or if it would bother me more if it were real.

Here's his real voice:

By the way, the video title calls him a fraud, but I don't agree.  That's like calling Pee Wee Herman a fraud for pretending to be a juvenile, or calling Carlos Mencia a fraud for pretending to be a Mexican.

I don't know....I think one of the things that bugs me is that he seems to be taking advantage of people.  People see him and think, "I can identify with that" (again, I don't know why).  In my view, it's almost like junk mail.  You get an authentic looking check in the mail that enrolls you in some program when you cash it.  It just prays on feeble minded people that don't know any better.

Lots of comedians have based their careers on fake personas and been successful because of it.  Jack Benny wasn't really a cheapskate and he actually got along quite well with Fred Allen.  Gracie Allen was actually a fairly smart woman.  Harpo Marx could talk. 

NO!  I NOW HATE THOSE STUPID FRAUDS!

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

dont forget steve martin really isnt a wild and crazy guy. 

[gbeenie]

Lots of comedians have based their careers on fake personas and been successful because of it.  Jack Benny wasn't really a cheapskate and he actually got along quite well with Fred Allen.  Gracie Allen was actually a fairly smart woman.  Harpo Marx could talk. 

I agree, and I don't necessarily fault him for that.  I think that David Cross hits the nail on the head when he says that Larry the Cable Guy's act is  "the glorification and rewarding of dumb":

You know what? Although I am no fan of Larry The Cable Guy, I will say that people who live in David Cross' filmography maybe shouldn't be so quick to throw stones.

[doggans]

But Kevin and Bill are really robots, right?

My problem with Larry the Cable Guy, as opposed to other comedians who play characters, is that he seems to be exploiting his audience. How many of his fans do you think really know that he isn't "one of them"? When Jack Benny pretended to be a cheapskate, it was to milk laughs out of a cheapskate character, not to pander to an audience of cheapskates.

Of course, i could be wrong. Maybe his fans ARE in on the joke. But that's not the vibe I get.

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

I dunno my cousin really like his stuff (god dont ask me why)  but i dont think she Identifies with him.  I think it is aimed at people who are a bit more country we will say but i dont think people really FEEL like him.  Most people.   I think he just represents the worst sterotype and thus they think he is funny.  That whole blue collar tour group kinda fell in this category.

[Kete]

But Kevin and Bill are really robots, right?

My problem with Larry the Cable Guy, as opposed to other comedians who play characters, is that he seems to be exploiting his audience. How many of his fans do you think really know that he isn't "one of them"? When Jack Benny pretended to be a cheapskate, it was to milk laughs out of a cheapskate character, not to pander to an audience of cheapskates.

Of course, i could be wrong. Maybe his fans ARE in on the joke. But that's not the vibe I get.

This is a better worded version of what I meant to say.

[daltysmilth]

Well, when he was popular, I'm not sure a lot of people would have known there was a separation between Jack Benny the character and Benjamin Kubelsky the person who played him.  And that character didn't just happen overnight.  When he started in vaudeville, he was mostly a fairly competent fiddle player who would occasionally do jokes between songs.  Then as time went on, the act focused more on the jokes than the fiddle playing because he got more of a reaction for the jokes.

I presume Larry the Cable Guy's story is much the same.  He probably started out as a regular comedian and one night just threw that character into his act and it got a laugh, so he kept it and eventually noticed that that character was getting more laughs than anything else in his act, so he built the act around the character.  In a way I guess that's exploiting the audience, but that's the price of success.  Artistic integrity is all well and good, but you can't make a house payment with it.

[Doctor Who?]

Yeah i don't see how Larry the cable guy is ripping off anyone,if you laughed at his act it shouldn't matter if he really is a hick.

[spaceforarent]

Although i do like Ron white. 

Funny, I was thinking that same thing recently. I haven't (and probably won't) watched any of his stand up in ages, but the bits I recall are still funny to me. Also, it's because of him that I ended up with the nickname "Scooter" about 7-8 years ago and has stuck to this day.

[daltysmilth]

You know what I like?  Those "Mater's Tall Tales" cartoons.  I was not a fan of the first Cars movie, but those cartoons make me giggle.  I guess the world of Cars works better in little short bursts than in a feature length movie.  For me, anyway.

[Invader_quirk]

I dunno but then i dont get the whole lovable hick charectar anyways what with me not being from the country and all.

I live in the country. Believe me, there's nothing lovable about hicks.

[Scribblesense]

Larry the Cable Guy is just doing the same thing every country music star has been doing since the beginning of time.

It doesn't seem to me that his routine is in any way exploitative. He seems to appreciate his fans, and gives them what they want because, hey, why the hell not? He's not afraid of his routine stagnating - that's a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of comedians who want to "break out" of their persona or mold into other areas of entertainment.

I've got nothing against the guy except that he stopped being funny to me five years ago.