WARNING: Extreme Havoc

beardedlamb · Post by **beardedlamb** » November 20th, 2006, 11:51 pm

Michael Richards explodes on stage in a racial tirade.

I know! WHAT?!?

I was watching Letterman tonight and Seinfeld was on promoting the release of the season 7 DVD. They talked for a little bit about stuff and then they introduced Michael Richards live via satelite from LA to apologize for something he said in a show recently. I kept waiting for the punchline and I wasn't buying any of it but it turns out it's totally true and the video of it happening is insane.

this is for real some crazy thing. if you can't handle hearing the n-word or you're at work or there are children nearby, don't watch this.

phlounderphil · Post by **phlounderphil** » November 21st, 2006, 1:34 am

And here I was thinking Michael Richards wasn't funny...

I never likedh im in Seinfeld, but this video single-handedly changed my opinion. In a sad coincidence, he has toppled Richard Pryor from my comedy hero list.

arthursimone · Post by **arthursimone** » November 21st, 2006, 2:58 am

ooooooooooooh, this angers/disappoints me.

it almost doesn't matter what the content of his outburst was, I just hate watching professionals act like this. Sure, there's a failure on the part of the hosts and the club employees to control an unruly table, but if this is what you do as a standup comic, if this is what you want to do as a standup, you've gotta deal. I get infuriated watching the same little-boy outbursts from Bush at press conferences where his handlers haven't personally approved every single question.

that being said, and to add the icing on top of my anger-cake, it's as though he's trying to cover up his hissy-fit by half-assedly wrapping himself in the Lenny Bruce banner... even as he walked off the stage he was muttering "those words again, those words", pathetically trying to mimic the Master to cover his whiny butt.

lenny bruce had razor focus, every single word that came out of his mouth served a purpose- to effectively and efficiently frame his argument, his pitch-perfect critique of society. Richards' words come off as a sloppy attempt at justifying an embarassing gaffe.

and his defense that there's been lots of tension between whites and blacks after katrina? please. don't paint yourself as a martyr, don't sell yourself as a stand-up messiah, don't insult our intelligence. You lost your temper like the spoiled, sheltered once-celebrity we all once thought you were but now know for sure... baby. jerk. asshole.

York99 · Post by **York99** » November 21st, 2006, 3:35 am

arthursimone wrote:lenny bruce had razor focus, every single word that came out of his mouth served a purpose- to effectively and efficiently frame his argument, his pitch-perfect critique of society.

I'm with you except for this. As much as I love and respect Lenny, much of what he said was enshrined in a heroine cloud... and toward the end of his career/life it was often the nonsensical mutterings of a tired man who had fought the system and lost.

As for Richards, he's not a professional stand-up. He's a professional comedic actor. This retarded outburst reveals how big that difference can be.

Mo Daviau · Post by **Mo Daviau** » November 21st, 2006, 11:14 am

Anyone know if there is online footage of Bill Hicks skillfully tearing apart a heckler? I understand that he was the master of belittling hecklers and making them wish they'd never open their fat mouths in the first place.

kbadr · Post by **kbadr** » November 21st, 2006, 11:19 am

McNichol posted that months back...lemme see if I can find it...

Here we are:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 3174695773

He goes ape shit around 3:30

Wesley · Post by **Wesley** » November 21st, 2006, 11:35 am

if you can't handle hearing the n-word...

...then you probably are not part of this improv community or have ever seen a show starring Phil.

Seriously, what a douche.
I love racial humor, but I think racism and racial are worlds apart. Like Borat...my God there are some OFFENSIVE moments in that, but you know that he always has a point, that he is always uncovering the hidden prejudices of society and the people that comprise it, so it serves a purpose and is justified.

But this Richards thing...I didn't see any point to it at all. It seemed (as I didn't see what they were saying that led up to it) that he was just ripping on those people heckling him who happened to be black. So he used that as the button to push. Wrong button, dude.

Also, in his defense to the man in the audience. Seinfeld was NOT the only thing he ever did. He also played Stanley Spadowski in Weird Al's movie, UHF.

ChrisTrew.Com · Post by **ChrisTrew.Com** » November 21st, 2006, 12:09 pm

Why isn't anyone mad at the audience members for saying the C-word?

kbadr · Post by **kbadr** » November 21st, 2006, 12:14 pm

ChrisTrew.Com wrote:Why isn't anyone mad at the audience members for saying the C-word?

Because that's ok.

There's definitely a double-standard, though. But I think it's justifiably more offensive when a performer blurts out racial epithets from the stage.

York99 · Post by **York99** » November 21st, 2006, 12:14 pm

Mo Daviau wrote:Anyone know if there is online footage of Bill Hicks skillfully tearing apart a heckler? I understand that he was the master of belittling hecklers and making them wish they'd never open their fat mouths in the first place.

I have that on DVD. It's from Chicago. Great.

Wesley · Post by **Wesley** » November 21st, 2006, 12:34 pm

Why isn't anyone mad at the audience members for saying the C-word?

This is why I said seemed earlier. I really want to know what they were saying to rile him up and heckle him. Did they go racial first? What button of his did they push to generate that response.

Also, I don't find being called the C-word offensive anyway. It is the most pale attempt at a racial slur I've ever heard. It makes me titter.
Them's titterin' words, not fightin' words.

But I also grant something of a pass because that racial retort was in response to a racial attack. Not that two wrongs make a right any more than two chinamen could make an entire railroad.

Oh no he didn't!

arthursimone · Post by **arthursimone** » November 21st, 2006, 1:05 pm

doesn't matter what they say in the jealous games people play. be up above it, not down in it.

....
a pissy artist who throws a fit and walks off stage is never justified. you destroy your credibility, you shun your responsibility. suck it up. deal. set an example, don't go there. when the audience is on your side, they'll deal with the bad eggs themselves.

York99 · Post by **York99** » November 21st, 2006, 10:42 pm

ChrisTrew.Com wrote:Why isn't anyone mad at the audience members for saying the C-word?

If you don't get offended then you take away the power of the word and the power of the offender. If people REALLY hated the word nigger then they would embrace it and say it as often as possible.

I think one of the most assinine, childish, queer, lame, ridiculous, etc. things in our culture is saying "the n word" instead of just saying "nigger" when quoting, etc... almost as stupid as calling a black person a nigger... particularly when you're trying to revitalize your career when all you had was the movie UHF and some sitcom.

PS: I would prefer to be called "cracker" or "honky." White is for those piece of shit albinos.

arthursimone · Post by **arthursimone** » November 21st, 2006, 10:48 pm

York99 wrote: I think one of the most assinine, childish, queer, lame, ridiculous, etc. things in our culture is saying "the n word" instead of just saying "nigger" when quoting, etc... almost as stupid as calling a black person a nigger... particularly when you're trying to revitalize your career when all you had was the movie UHF and some sitcom.

I'm with you, but I still enjoy being able to say "n-bomb", as in "dropping".

I love the idea of words as bombs, exploding and causing chaos and panic people screaming running in circles with hair on fire.