He was iconic in his time, that's for sure. But man, he fell off in a bad way, which surprisingly isn't mentioned in the Wikipedia article. His interview with Marc Maron on the WTF podcast is...
He was iconic in his time, that's for sure. But man, he fell off in a bad way, which surprisingly isn't mentioned in the Wikipedia article. His interview with Marc Maron on the WTF podcast is pretty telling. Here's a link to the biggest moment where they discuss Gallagher's later material which is...well...not great.
An actual article because that link has near zero context and listening to Marc Maron wants me to use a sharpened pencil as a q-tip. Comics are often generational and should be. Adapting to...
An actual article because that link has near zero context and listening to Marc Maron wants me to use a sharpened pencil as a q-tip.
Comics are often generational and should be. Adapting to changing times and senses of humor are something a lot, if not the vast majority, of comics simply cannot do. Most seem to be fine/deal with a smaller circuit instead of the specials/TV shows or know when it's time to retire.
As a comedian you need to find your audience, ride their wave until they're too old to go to comedy shows, save your money, fade away, do a cameo or two, but otherwise keep your mouth shut because you're going to have a views that don't reflect the current accepted meta and unless you were a comic that built a career on edginess/pissing people off then all you're going to get is backlash. What your parents find funny is rarely what you do as you mature into your own personality and they age out of what is current.
I love stand up comedy, it's probably in my top three categories of watched material, but there are a lot of comics that I simply don't find funny or are outright shit that I don't understand how they make a paycheck. And that's fine, not for me and I move on. That said, I am older than most on Tildes, I have seen a Gallagher special (can't say I knew there were 14...), likely on VHS, and I remember his schtick, but not any actual jokes. He wasn't my kind of comedian, but he was for some and definitely seems he didn't get the adapt-or-retire memo. Of course while there was internet uproar over his newer material, it's entirely possible that there wasn't any among the people that went to see him live as they're likely of an age where the material is still funny to them.
He was iconic in his time, that's for sure. But man, he fell off in a bad way, which surprisingly isn't mentioned in the Wikipedia article. His interview with Marc Maron on the WTF podcast is pretty telling. Here's a link to the biggest moment where they discuss Gallagher's later material which is...well...not great.
An actual article because that link has near zero context and listening to Marc Maron wants me to use a sharpened pencil as a q-tip.
Comics are often generational and should be. Adapting to changing times and senses of humor are something a lot, if not the vast majority, of comics simply cannot do. Most seem to be fine/deal with a smaller circuit instead of the specials/TV shows or know when it's time to retire.
As a comedian you need to find your audience, ride their wave until they're too old to go to comedy shows, save your money, fade away, do a cameo or two, but otherwise keep your mouth shut because you're going to have a views that don't reflect the current accepted meta and unless you were a comic that built a career on edginess/pissing people off then all you're going to get is backlash. What your parents find funny is rarely what you do as you mature into your own personality and they age out of what is current.
I love stand up comedy, it's probably in my top three categories of watched material, but there are a lot of comics that I simply don't find funny or are outright shit that I don't understand how they make a paycheck. And that's fine, not for me and I move on. That said, I am older than most on Tildes, I have seen a Gallagher special (can't say I knew there were 14...), likely on VHS, and I remember his schtick, but not any actual jokes. He wasn't my kind of comedian, but he was for some and definitely seems he didn't get the adapt-or-retire memo. Of course while there was internet uproar over his newer material, it's entirely possible that there wasn't any among the people that went to see him live as they're likely of an age where the material is still funny to them.
My memories of him end with his live shows from way... back. I'm not familiar with his downfall but it's really unfortunate to hear. :(
The other old fogeys in the tildes audience may have fond 1980’s memories of Gallagher. If you ever saw him live, you got your money’s worth.