There’s a running South Florida joke that Americans don’t go to Miami anymore because they don’t speak the language.
Apparently the inverse of that joke now works in Mexico.
Today’s Stand-Up Spotlight leads with a story about how English-only comedy shows are a growing trend in our southern neighbor. How long will it be until Mexican citizens start petitioning their government to do more to curb the invasion of bad comedians from the north?
The Spotlight continues with Whoopi Goldberg defending Hasan Minhaj’s often vile exaggerations of the truth – which makes Applause Break wonder whether Minhaj’s indiscretions are even worse than originally imagined. There’s also news about comedian Ben Schwartz potentially ground-breaking show at Radio City Music Hall.
The Spotlight concludes with a story about four comedians whose lives were as dark as their comedy – a list that could have been much longer.
Dark can be funny, but let’s be careful out there.
STAND-UP SPOTLIGHT – September 21, 2023
Mexico provides budding ‘gringo’ comics a unique stage
On a recent episode of the My Latin Life podcast, interviewer Vance comments to comic Stephen Steers, “Imagine you’re Mexican though. And you’re walking into a bar and they’re just doing stand-up comedy in English. And you’re just like, this is it… the gringos have taken over Mexico!”
Like all humor, there is an exaggeration here, but it speaks to how much things have changed for foreigners living in Mexico. The explosion of the younger, English-speaking demographic has changed assumptions about who expats are and what they want from life in Mexico.
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Whoopi Goldberg backs Hasan Minhaj exaggerating stories for a laugh: ‘That’s what we do’
Comedians embellish stories for a punch line — and it’s just the nature of comedy, according to Whoopi Goldberg.
“The View” host came to the defense of “Patriot Act” star Hasan Minhaj on Monday, explaining that sometimes in comedy, the end justifies the means.
Minhaj, 37, was the subject of debate last week for occasionally exaggerating harrowing experiences for a laugh, further fueling the debate that Goldberg felt compelled to address on the ABC talk show.
NYC native and improv king Ben Schwartz makes history at Radio City Music Hall
When comedian Ben Schwartz walks (runs, actually) on stage at Radio City Music Hall this weekend, he’ll be making history. His long-form improv show, Ben Schwartz & Friends, is the first improv show to headline the iconic venue.
It’s a big moment for the Bronx-born comedian to perform in his hometown and it’s an even bigger moment for long-form improv as it gains more traction and fans. It’s also a big moment for Schwartz’s comedic evolution, especially considering he had to be forced to audition for his first comedy show decades ago.
4 Comedians Whose Lives Were Dark Comedies
There are some sad things known to man, but there ain’t too much sadder than the tears of a clown, according to noted comedy experts Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Unfortunately, the trope of the comedian beset by tragedy is more common than we’d like to think. Here are four comics whose life stories use laughter to cover up the darkness hiding beneath the jokes…
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