06/18/2011  

Just for Laughs Chicago and What is the Deal with Journalism?

This is going to be a really long blog.  So get comfortable, take off them pants. Or put them back on. It depends who you’re trying to get comfortable.

I planned on coming to Chicago the week of June 13-18. I’d bought my megabus tickets a while ago and had some Chicago comics in Cleveland, CYSK, doing shows. I wound up riding back with them. Usually I can hop on shows pretty easily when I go back to Chicago, but I found out it was Just For Laughs Chicago week and was like man, maybe I should shorten my trip. But I figured I’d try to figure out a way to get into some festival shows throughout the week in addition to just going and doing the open mics in Chicago.

I was auditioning Monday morning at Zanies for an NBC Stand Up For Diversity showcase. NBC holds these auditions looking for talented brown people, but it’s open to anyone and there were white, black, hispanic, asian & sand people too. They were either middle easterners or samoans, I didn’t ask.

There was a big line of us in front of Zanies for a few hours. Passer-bys were curious to say the least. Some took pictures. A fire truck drove down the street with their sirens on. I was glad they weren’t coming to spray us with the hose, that would have been awful.

Groups of 25 went into Zanies and everyone did 1 minute of material. It was pretty weird.

I made it to the first call back, where everyone did 2 minutes. I went up last. I felt I was one of the 6-8 who stood out from the group I was in, there were two groups. Depending on how many they kept, I felt confident I might make it. If they kept 12, I was def in there. 10 maybe. It depends how many they kept from each group.

They kept 8. I saw some really really funny comics make it through. The Lucas Bros. from New York were absolutely hysterical, and Schmitty B from Chicago made me feel bad I hid him on my news feed on facebook. In my defense, I meant to hide Jay Washington. But he kind of inspires me. There were other funny ones, but those are the ones I remember hardest.

—–

I met Jo Koy back in April at Hilarities. I hosted for Adam Hammer, who is one of the comics Jo would take on the road to open for him. They only do a 2 man show, so I wasn’t working with Jo Koy that weekend. But we wound up hanging out, going to Melt and an Indians game and having a good time. I’d called him Sunday because I noticed he had a JFL show on Wednesday night and I asked if he wanted to hang out or if I could get passes to check out the show.

He called me while I was in between call backs at Zanies and asked if I would want to open for his show. I took a second to think: Jokes & notes and Cole’s where you might not even get to go up, or rocking a show at the Vic. I said ‘uh, yeah’ The uh was the thinking second.

—-

Anyways, back to the week.

MONDAY

I had planned to do Hug City at Racine Plumbing, that was the ONLY show I had gotten on ahead of time to perform.

My buddy Kenny DeForest, who lets me not have sex with girls on his couch when I’m in Chicago, asked me to come and do a set at his awesome show Speakeasy Comedy at Stanley’s, so I rocked out that show then walked over to Racine. The Lucas Bros. were there and we three gave eachother mad props for being funny. They asked when I’m going out to New York for some shows.

So, two good 10 minute sets to work out what I was gonna say at the Vic wednesday. I was getting super excited.

—–

TUESDAY

a beautiful girl cut my hair for free and then I went thrifting for a shirt to wear over my ilovethehype tee I’d just got over the weekend at WMC back in Cleveland.

That night, Kenny was headlining at a show out in the suburbs. I rolled with him hoping to do another set in prep for the show Wednesday

The woman wouldn’t let me on. She didn’t charge me to get in though. Very well produced show but the comedians who were on the bill, aside from Kenny and Sam Norton, were  suspect. But whatever. I would have much preferred to go watch the showcase at Zanies or the show at CHUC but w/e. I got a set in at Lotties that night and hammered out what I was going to close on Wednesday with the shorter set.

This hot conceited girl was talking to me and then came and saw my set

BIG TITTIED CONFIRMED FUNNY!

—-

WEDNESDAY

I hung out with some of my awesome chicago comedian friends, Liza & Jeff and we went to eat at Kuma. I ordered a burger that wasn’t a burger

After, I met up with Jo Koy in Wicker Park and got 7 of my friends comp passes to come see the show. I got some dope shoes that Jo Koy paid for.

Dope haircut, cool outfit, sweet new shoes, full belly from smashing on Portillos, empty belly from pooping in the green room. I was ready.

Kenny texted me that the group had slowly left after my set, 4 had to get to a meeting, and Kenny/Liza/Ricky stayed for the first 30 minutes of Jo’s set but left b/c the driver, Liza didn’t think Jo was funny enough to stay. Because she doesn’t find asian mothers funny. And she’s fucking crazy and hates asian people (proving how SUBJECTIVE comedy is).  They all said I did a phenomenal job.

The show was going great, I walked back into the room after stepping outside to get reception to read the texts, Jo’d been on stage about 70 minutes and his outro music was playing but he was still on stage. I heard him ask ‘can you turn the music off i’ll end on this bit’ and the sound guy, for whatever reason, didn’t do it. So he ended really awkwardly thanking everyone for coming out. People were mad about not being able to hear the last joke and left kind of deflated.

Jo & his road manager both were questioning what had happened, why the music had started and why it wasn’t stopped when Jo signaled and asked for it to be stopped. The sound guy said it was a mistake.

Jo was in a really bad mood about the sound mix up after the show, but we all left and went to eat sushi.

Since I was such a last minute addition to the show, I didn’t get a performers pass, but Jerry Meng came through in the clutch!

Jo & Jerry had to leave early the next morning so we just went to eat sushi at Sunda (it was SUPER fancy), went back to hotel and parted ways. Jo said I did a really great job opening for him (He hadn’t seen me perform, just liked me and Adam Hammer vouched for me and confirmed I was funny). He said he’s going to use me as an opener on some upcoming gigs in my area!

I hung out on the 4th floor of hotel for a bit and got to have a 4 second conversation with Bill Burr. He said fucking 32 times. Not really, we really dug into canadians though. Then I headed off to do an open mic at Cole’s!

—-

THURSDAY

I woke up and went to eat Hot Doug’s with my buddy Brian who used to be my boss. He’s not anymore, and I constantly remind him of that fact.

Afterwards, I came home and ran a search on my tweetdeck because I’m a nerd to see if there was anyone talking about how funny that hispanic kid that opened for Jo Koy was. Didn’t find that, but what I did find…

I was like huh? I remember at Sunda Jerry talking to Jo that a GLBT reporter came up and mentioned he heard the word faggot in his set and asked Jerry some questions. We thought nothing of it and moved on with smashing out on the most expensive 30 minutes of fullness I’ve ever felt. I’d never had sushi before b/c the size to cost ratio is BANANAS.

I wrote a comment on the article after seeing it (there were only 7 comments on it at the time) and it was NEVER approved for posting.  So I replied to a post that someone ELSE had already posted. Still, that’s not posted

Having opened for Jo Koy last night at the Vic, when I saw the Huffington Post report that he called an audience member a FUCKING FAGGOT I was taken aback. I posted a comment on the site, but it was not approved. I kept checking back, and it wasn’t there.So I replied to someone elses comment and took a screenshot. Here’s what I wrote completely:Excellent point. I opened for Jo Koy that night at the Vic and was in the room watching when this happened.The way the article is written, it sounds as if he turned to the man and said, WHAT ARE YOU, A FUCKING FAGGOT?!?!?!?!However, it was not delivered in that tone. At all. In fact, no one in the audience got up and left in anger. The only person who even brought it up after the show was the woman who wrote the original article, and she seemed to have a specific intention in mind in her post.People did leave the show angry that night, because the Vic started playing the outro music before Jo could finish his last joke, so he was made to awkwardly end his set and they felt robbed of a fantastic finish.So, having been in the room when he said it, I know Jo Koy did not make that comment in the way it’s being conveyed to the public.The articles have been constructed to paint a specific intent, agenda and spite when being read. They’re not putting words in his mouth, they’re putting hate behind them.It’s this type of slanted journalism that leads to the the development of ill will where there is none.

Anways, I am bringing Neal Brennan out to do comedy in Cleveland and hit him up since I saw he was in Chicago. He got me a few passes to see a show at the Hideout (COOLEST PLACE IN CHICAGO!) and I went with RedEye blogger & comic Will Miles & fellow comic Ricky Gonzalez. It was an awesome show. Then, we all headed to Rotten comedy at the Oakwood, a 4am bar that was having their last show ever.

SIDE NOTE:

So many comics in one place, it was an honor to be considered one of them. I LOVE COMEDY IN CHICAGO. Hard. There’s a great amazing batch of people doing things here that don’t happen anywhere else in the country. Then there’s a bunch of open mic comics who complain about why they don’t get booked on showcases when they aren’t funny yet. Just do the work kids, you have plenty of places to practice. Cream rises to the top after you churn it, not before.

Meanwhile, this is still going on

—

FRIDAY

I was ready to have a damn fine day

I had posted that picture I had of the screenshot with my observations/writing on Jo Koy’s wall. Some dude responded to it and called me a bigot who sounded like a liar covering for another bigot.

I DESTROYED him with some logic and he deleted his comment.

That night, I enjoyed myself out watching GREAT comedy shows, once again accompanied by Will Miles. All the dusty footed women were hiding though. we met up with comedian Danny Kallas‘ dirtbaggedness right before his birthday on Saturday.

—

SATURDAY

Last night, I caught Seth Meyers & Neal Brennan at the Vic and watched some more showcases at Red Bar Comedy Club.

Jo calls me really bummed over this whole situation. We discuss how it’s getting worse and worse as it gets farther from the original source material.

-Original blog post reporting what was said

-Huffington post picks that up, and adds:

The remarks came after Videogum reported on a previous Koy “joke”– that sounded a lot like Tracy Morgan’s. In Morgan’s notorious set, he said he would “pull out a knife and stab” his son if he were gay. Koy allegedly told an audience of college students “something like if he ever caught his son in bed with another boy, he would stab them both to death.”

He was allegedly booed off stage following the remarks at the college.

NOW, having performed at colleges before, everyone should understand that these gigs are like, nothing. They don’t count towards anything. my buddy Drew Thomas once said ‘you just put on the war paint and drop in’. Often times, they put you in the cafeteria when people are doing their lunch as often as putting you in theaters.  The vagueness of that statement is almost comical. The joke ‘sounded a lot’ like tracey morgans (they put morgans joke there, not Koy’s), and Koy ‘allegedly told’ and audience ‘something like’ and then he was ‘allegedly booed’ offstage following the remarks AT THE COLLEGE.

So, I’ll go ahead and give them the benefit of the doubt that they went and did the research and found all of this information to be accurate.

SAY WHAT? Now, all of a sudden, Jo got booed off stag at the Vic.

—

I notice the author of the ORIGINAL blog post, Jerry Nunn, posted on Jo Koy’s fan page wall, so I posed some questions in public.

And sent him a message:

Hey I opened for Jo that night and I’m going to be writing a blog about the whole experience (it was a really cool last minute thing I got asked to do, and describing my excitement/experience and shock at the aftermath)I want to be accurate and objective in what I write, had some questions and would like to properly cite you and make sure I don’t do a poor job.This is an interesting topic and it’s probably good that people are discussing this and it’s being talked about, but I think the way in which it’s being spun as it gets farther away from your blog posting is really amazing, Your original entry
-Huffington post entry, which added an alleged college show where he used a similar joke to Tracey Morgan and was allegedly booed off stage at the college gig
-The Advocate then reported he was booed offstage at the show on Wednesday at the VicObviously, if I’m getting the information from the Advocate, I’m up in arms. But they’re mis-reporting the information. I wonder what your thoughts/feelings on that are as a gay man and as a journalist. Are they separate opinions or do they merge into one view?The other question I had relates to my comment I said about my friends remembering the incident but not catching that he said the word.Do you think you some people are pre-tuned to pick out that type of language? That leads me to a question of what’s the general mindset of an audience member, coming with an open mind to laugh or coming hoping not to be offended? That probably varies from person to person, because it’s such a subjective thing.Thanks for reading, I’m glad people are starting to actually think about this subject I just hope it doesn’t wind up hurting anyone involved
REPONSE
Hi Ramon,
I am not sure what you saying about being “pre-tuned.” I was approached by the Just For Laughs Festival to interview Jo to promote the show. I have interviewed Loni and Heather from Chelsea before. I did a nice phone interview with him and ran it in ChicagoPride. He personally invited me to the show so I was expecting to like it. I took pictures and was covering it and laughing. The F word was not alright in my book when he called an audience member that for looking at his open fly. It was derogatory and I decided to write about it. He apologized and to me it’s over with. Other people are adding to the story but I can’t control what they write. I hope he thinks about not using that word in a public forum to make fun of a paying audience member in the future.
thanks for reading
Jerry
FOLLOW UP
gotcha.I wasn’t trying to be negative, I was just genuinely curious.3 people sitting directly behind the guy he said it to heard it but it didn’t even register he had said it. I described your original article to em and they remembered the incident but not that he said faggot.But it stood out to you very clearly.I just wonder about that type of stuff. Thanks for taking the time to respond.How do you feel about the mis-reporting going on as it gets further away from your original writing? What are ethics amongst journalist on quotation and mis-reporting from your story? I agree, I don’t neccesarily think the word is funny or offensive. To me, it’s just a word. I understand it has a different context to every person. It’s not a word I use in my act.Would it have been as offensive if he said ‘fairy’ or ‘fruit’ instead of faggot? Or is the act of putting that on an audience member (who, was laughing at being the expense of the joke and was not taken aback as you were) offensive in itself, or just his choice of word?

—-

HERE’S WHERE I STAND RIGHT FUCKING NOW:

And if Jo Koy has to be held accountable for what he said on stage, I think these media sources should be held accountable for their lazy journalism. If they did some research, they would find out that Jo Koy had a gay opener. Not for one weekend of shows, but for over a year. Then the article would be presenting a full wealth of information for the reader to ingest, analyze and process on their own.But when things are constructed a certain way, it leads to outrage from the general public who take what is being reported at face value, BECAUSE THEY ASSUME THE JOURNALIST WAS THOROUGH IN THEIR WRITING.
Everyone has a sense of humor. It’s a subjective thing. I didn’t laugh at the aside ‘what are you, a fucking faggot?’ when he said it, but not because it offended me.I didn’t laugh because as a comedian, I’ve heard that aside before. It’s one of those things like when an audience member gets up and the comic says ‘Where you going? To shit?’. Audiences EAT that up, but it’s just a standardized quip that comes out.So I didn’t laugh b/c I’d heard it before. And I’m sure I’ll hear it again.I’ve performed on a lot of shows in Chicago with gay, lesbian & transgendered entertainers. Often in Boys Town I’ve heard faggot from some of them. And being yelled after each other as groups are walking around. No one is carrying any torches or trying to cause trouble, people are just throwing it around all willy nilly.So I ask, is faggot the new nigger? Do they have hate within the actual word, making their use in any situation uncalled for? Should we soften it for public use by making it faggah? I personally don’t use a lot of this type of terminology on stage because it doesn’t interest me, I’m much more into weed and being unemployed. Is it because I’m mexican? No, that would be racist. But as an object observation, it’s still pretty accurate. But only other mexicans should be able to call me mexican in that context. Else wise, the The Huffington Post might pick up the story and then it’ll be getting airtime on Univision.
—-
I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach this is all going to tie in with that NBC Stand up for Diversity thing. I hope I’m wrong…
It comes about 11 minutes in.
—-
So, one audience member who was invited to the show for free and was having a good time thought that the fact Jo Koy said faggot to an audience member was ‘derogatory’ and decided to write about it. They were not the one called faggot, he was excited and happy to be at the show. He simply chose to report that the word faggot was said onstage during the show. That’s it.
Because of the speed of social media, things got real slanted, real quick.
So, what are you really mad about, America? The word, the fact it was said by a comedian at all, or the fact that journalism is seemingly failing at it’s job.

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About RamonRivasII

I'm a stand-up comedian based out of Cleveland, OH. My mother is mexican and my father is puerto rican. Obviously, that means they're divorced. Since I started doing comedy I've met a lot of awesome people. I'll probably talk about them and the shows I've done with them at some point. Since I don't have any significant relationship, I pretty much perform comedy every night. This is making me incredibly efficient onstage but incredibly deficient everywhere else.

5 Responses to “Just for Laughs Chicago and What is the Deal with Journalism?”

  1. Jim Rob says :

    I’m mad he said ‘faggot’ that’s, shockingly, not a cool word to say! Like, you said you’re hispanic, imagine if he said ‘what are you a fucking spic?!’ would that be hilarious if he used the ‘right tone’?

    Reply
    • ramonrivasii says :

      So, you’re mad at the word itself then?

      If he had said ‘what are you, gay?’ would you still be mad?

      I’ve heard gay/transgender performers use the term faggot in their set. Should they not use it either?

      Reply
  2. Ana C says :

    As a fucking spic, I can tell you that , yes, “fucking spic” is hilarious to me. . Cannot help it. I’d rather have fun. Some people go to comedy shows for comedy. And if he has said “What are you a fucking spic” to me, no matter what the context I’d have say “why yes, sir I certainly am, pass the rice and beans” I find myself offended by things like mothers cooking their babies in microwaves or killing them over t.v. sets. I don’t even know Jo Koy how the hell could he offend me?

    That a comedian who by the very nature of his profession uses words that we may not in polite company gets this much flack is truly amazing.

    What’s happened is that faggot, nigger and spic are off limits for some but not all and the new owners of these words guard them and defend their exclusive right to them with the very same hatred they say is being directed at them if they are used by someone else. Jo Koy’s livelyhood is being threatened over a word. WOW.

    You may have to get a signed release form from a member of the group whose word you might use while onstage so that you have rights to it for a period of time and documented proof a keeper of the word gave you permission.

    Where is Don Rickles when we need him?

    Reply
  3. jenna says :

    although it was a very LONG blog post ;) it was very well thought out and well written. kudos. i think it’s so funny that journalists think it’s ok to participate sensationalist journalism and post irresponsible and unresearched articles, but when they are called to back it up we are met with silence.

    Reply
  4. Provenza says :

    Thank you for adding actual facts and truth of what exactly happened to this debate. The real criminals here are lazy, opportunistic, banal journalists who damage people like Jo Koy’s reputations just for the sake of their own crappy jobs that demand they fill 24 hrs of every day with something – anything – that will sell papers or get viewers. Doesn’t anybody care about facts anymore?? Thank you, Ramon for being one of those who do. Respect.

    Reply

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