Unfunny Comedians: Joe List

I once lived in Chicago, which other than the parts of town that you definitely should not go to after dark (and be very leery of during the day) is a fantastic place to live. Oh, the winters suck also and Illinois is a very boring state outside of Chicago... ok, so there are a lot of reasons to not live in Chicago but that is not the point of this.

When I lived in Chicago there were a lot of comedy clubs. Many of them had very popular open-mic nights that anyone (and I do mean anyone) could put their name in a hat and get 4 minutes or so to present their material to the sometimes standing-room-only crowd. I tried my hand at this a couple times and my very first bit bombed. I ended up refining my material and was actually invited to a paid competition where I placed 2nd. I was very proud of that time and wish I had pursued it further. However, this too is not the point of this entry.

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Every now and then at the Lions' Den (the name of the comedy club) there would be people on stage that were really bad and unfunny, yet they didn't ever quit. They would be there every week with refined jokes and while the regulars like me already knew the unfunny punchline, the rest of the crowd did not. Eventually they got some people to laugh via their perseverance. I have to admit that eventually I laughed at them but I don't think it was genuine, it was sympathy.

I feel like Joe List is one of the guys that refused to give up despite the fact that his jokes are pretty lame.

"The Standups" is a series on Netflix that features lessor known comedians of our time. Joe List was the first person in whatever season Netflix had chosen for me and the fact that he was unable to even get a chuckle out of me indicates that the rest of the season is likely as bad. His material is also quite misguided when he talks about people working out at the gym. He is a tiny person, so he is trying to make the people who are not feel stupid for the things they do there. I think I was insulted by that a bit because he is dead wrong about the things he talks about in regards to that.

Normally when a series like this is going on they start strong and save their lessor material for the central part of the season and if Joe List is meant to be an indicator of the best the series has to offer, I don't think i will watch any more of them. It is rare that I can listen to a stand-up comedian who has gone through the ranks and is being allowed to present 30 minutes of material.... and they can't even get a smile out of me. I mean, I find Amy Schumer to be one of the least funny people on the planet and she still occasionally makes me chuckle.

Joe List is not a household name and if this performance is indicative of his entire body of work (and i suspect it is because his other stand-up features on late-night shows and what not include the same material) I can see no reason to continue to look for him.