"kramer"

[PBurke]

anyone have an opinion on this? i feel like they are making way to big a deal about it. maybe he should have been more proffesional. maybe those guys should have acted like they had some home training. everyone is too scared to hurt someones feeling these days. if you are harrasing someone, be it a comedian or a sports star, or anywhere in between. these people are only human, and humans have a breaking point. the man apoligized. let it go. your turn guys......

[PigPen]

I couldn't agree more with you. On all points. He was provoked, and he apologized. So many people are too worried about being politically correct that no one knows what the hell to do when they hit the breaking point. I would say he obviously didn't think about what he was saying until it was too late.

[PBurke]

i just watched the video on you tube. he did go too far but what the hell where those guys saying to him. that was not shown.

[PigPen]

Of course, they never show that part.

[PBurke]

i'm curious to see what noner has to say about this.

[Tyler]

I really wish someone would release a video from when he walks up on stage so that we can get a true perspective of what went on.

It's really tough in this country because people are expected to be politically correct, regardless of what race they are and when they slip it can be career or social suicide.  And if you're in the South, it's really hard.

My family is very diverse.  My wife and her family are Filipino (if you can't tell by the picture), my brother-in-law is black, my future sister-in-law is chinese.  We talk about this type of stuff all the time.  My brother-in-law is from Alabama and says how different it is there compared to here in California.  He says there's much more racial tension down south than over here on the west.  I've also experienced this in Texas where I was asked to leave a client's site because I had the book Freakonomics with me and someone picked it up and read it and saw that it has the word "nigger" in it (in a historical context).  This absolutely devastated me because they took it out of context and I was labled as a racist; and it was by the white director that blew it out of proportion.  I almost lost my job over it.

I don't want it to sound like I'm advocating what "kramer" said, because I think he reacted the wrong way and should have handled it better - like refuse to do his show until they shut up.  It's unfortunate that he had to choose the words that he did.

[PBurke]

well said . i live in the south. and let me tell you it can get bad. but not everyone( black or white ) makes it that way. the good people have to suffer for the few bad ones.

[Noner]

Nothing feels worse than sucking on stage!

In stand up, it is you and just you alone. You can't  hide behind the lead guitarist if you blow a note, you can't rely on other actors to pick up your slack when you flub your line and you can't hope someone else on your team will recover the ball if you fumble.

So what do all those BS cliches boil down to? It means that if you suck on stage it is because you suck! Now you could suck as a comedian in general or just suck one set on an off night.

Stay with me here.........

Upon the moment you realize that the audience isn't laughing and its becuases of you, your mind goes through total panic and then throught a few coping stages.

Your brain after no laughter illistrated by emoticons

1. Why aren't they laughing? 
2. Just get thought it 
3. Do I really suck? 
4. I suck! 
5. I don't suck, they suck. 
6. F.U. audience! 

Still with me?

If you look above, once the comic realizes he is sucking, he incresingly turns hostile blaming the audince because that is a coping mechanism for the comic's self esteem. No one want's to suck, so they lash out in self defense. In stage 6, which is a stage that comics try to stay out of, there are two choices.

1. Attack the audience
2. Get off the stage

Most comics will opt for #2 because they know that they are mad or upset and not thinking straight.

Of course Kramer chose option #1 and let loose.

Do I think it was right? Of course not!

But I do know when you are in stage 6, you are emotionally fried and ignore your common sence.

My final thoughts are, Kramer should have left the stage.

Noner

p.s. Welcome to my world.

[Tyler]

Thanks for spelling that out for us Noner!