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Jerry Seinfeld - "23 Hours to Kill" with Tabatha Marks
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Bryan and Nick chat with fellow Toastmaster Tabatha Marks about Jerry Seinfeld's special "23 Hours to Kill"
This is Laps per Minute. We serve up hot takes on comedy legends and rising stars. Every episode features a different guest, Daning to be armchair critics with us, Brian and Nick. So lean back or lock in or whatever you listeners do while we butcher callbacks to our comedy heroes. How are you doing, Nick? And also who do we have as our guest?
SPEAKER_01I'm doing okay. I think I think we might need to redo that. Daning is a hard word. Why do we even think I'm gonna be honest?
SPEAKER_02I don't even know what it means. I uh you're the one who did that, and I have no idea what that means.
SPEAKER_01We looked it up before, and it's not a good word to use. We're just anyway.
SPEAKER_02We're basically like right off the top telling everyone that we don't know what we're talking about. Just yeah.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Self-deprecation is 110% of humor. Right. Today we have Tabitha Marks. She is a fellow Toastmaster. We bump into each other quite a bit during different uh Toastmaster events, and we've just always enjoyed each other's company and each other's energy. She is like me, works in healthcare. She's a fan of Seinfeld, supposedly. We'll see. Uh for those of you listening at home or on your jog uh and and are single, she is available. Uh two qualified candidates only. Um things like credit score, medical records, and other documentation will be assessed by the review board. So just be aware of that. If you have credentials after your name, they're not required, but it is a plus. Speaking of credentials, Tabitha has R-H-I-A, C A C C C S, C P C C R C R, and more to come after her name. They may be C P A or J D. It's up to her and the way the wind blows. Let's all welcome Tabitha.
SPEAKER_02Yay, welcome.
SPEAKER_01Who'd you pick and why? Who are your viewing?
SPEAKER_00I am a Seinfeld lover. We shall see after this podcast. But I chose Jerry Seinfeld, particularly because I have seen his show more times than I am willing to disclose, at least 24 times all nine seasons.
SPEAKER_03Wow.
SPEAKER_00And I've I had the opportunity to go to New York City one year. And that was very interesting. Very different than Texas. And then the show made perfect sense to me. All of this whining and complaining about subways and having the transfer and everything. I'm like, okay, I understand your struggles now, even though I don't think they're that bad. But I love coming home to Texas to my big house, my big vehicle, my humongous yard in comparison to New York City. So yes, that's how I grew to love Jerry Seinfeld.
SPEAKER_01Gotcha. And what uh what special did you choose and wine?
SPEAKER_0023 hours to kill.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's right. It looks like you were looking that up to fact check yourself.
SPEAKER_02Oh, what which one did I pick? I can't remember it. Anyway.
SPEAKER_01So what was there anything about that that special that jumped out at you? Was it the most recent one or one you just haven't seen yet?
SPEAKER_00Honestly, no. I really wanted to critique the show. And you told me that I could not critique the show.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So then I was in the mad panic trying to find a comedy show for him. And I stumbled across that one, and I was like, okay, the panic is gone, the day has been saved. This is what we're doing.
SPEAKER_01I'm sorry to make you the first victim of our format. We'll put it before the review board. Maybe we'll we'll allow the review of comedy television series as well. Though I don't know that I've time to do that.
SPEAKER_00And usually a lesson learned that I will never do again. But you guys are funny. So and I'm just saying I'm I'm eligible, I'm looking. There's just some criteria that has to be met in order for me to find that that eligible bachelor.
SPEAKER_01So well, if you think we're funny, you're welcome back anytime.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_01Brian, you want to take us through the the sheet? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, sure. So for all you listeners out there, we have a Toastmaster style evaluation sheet that we've developed. I say we meaning me. Uh I just I've I forced Nick to take this as it stands. And uh on that note, Tabitha, if you see things on the scorecard that you think can be updated, improved, things like that, I'm always open to evaluation on my evaluation sheet. So uh so we'll you know definitely give me those those pointers. So uh it goes through about 13 different points, and we start with a couple of different things that are more general, like comedic style and subject matter, and then we're gonna have some hilarity ensue in the mid in the middle of that, I think, at some point. So let's start with comedic style and subject matter. Tabitha, you wanna you wanna take us off or start us off there?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. So again, I love the television show, but I will tell you I have come to also love his comedic style and his subject matter, which is observational and social commentary. And I will say that because political is that's kind of a huge no-no in my books. It can really stir up a lot of emotions, a lot of debate. And honestly, I don't really care to debate that stuff. Uh so again, that's another qualifying tip if if you're keeping note there. Also, I'm not really a big pop culture person. I I am way too far in life to hang with these uh teen boppers and all of that stuff. So that's another plus for Jerry Seinfeld. Um as far as the comedic style, you know, I'm definitely not a musical person. Um so don't don't try to take me to any kind of musicals or anything like that. That's not gonna happen. And as far as the rest of it, I mean, I kind of didn't really know like physical comedy. I don't really even know what that is. Yeah, yeah. That seemed kind of violent. And I again, I'm not really into that. Also, just a little side note physical touch is not my love language. Don't be trying to like hug on me and hold my hands and all of that. No, thank you. Nobody got time for that.
SPEAKER_01So all right, look out, fellas.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I am all about acts of service. Okay, especially filling up my gas tank.
SPEAKER_03Oh, there we go. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I always hate doing that. That that's just a chore I can't stand.
SPEAKER_01Especially when it's expensive. Right, exactly.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. I think gas is pretty cheap in Texas, though. So it is.
SPEAKER_00It's uh $3.15 as of nice, nice as of June 10th.
SPEAKER_02Even cheaper than Tennessee, anyway.
SPEAKER_01So so I think I heard you tick the box of observational for style and social commentary for subject matter.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Do y'all agree? And if you don't agree, it doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_01Because I'm right. Yeah, you're right. Your mind is made up, I got you. I I agree with you that those are definitely that the gravity of his content revolves around those two things for sure. Um I I saw a touch of it's it's a stretch to call it improv, but like the way he responded to the crowd in various ways was was good. I think he he used whatever tools he had in his toolkit pretty well.
SPEAKER_00Um did you hear the one girl hollering out?
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah, I took notes on that. Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_00Okay, see, that would be me. I would meet that person because I want to be noticed.
SPEAKER_01Why do you think I invited you to the podcast? Right, exactly. Um, I I did check the physical comedy box, but I was kind of stretching it there too. Yeah, the way he uses his hand gestures, his body language, like the little playful marches he did in certain situations.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_01I I thought that was fairly physical, especially for someone who's 65 years old.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, at the time, he's older now. Oh, oh, this was 2020.
SPEAKER_01So wow. Yeah, so I didn't look at when it released.
SPEAKER_02So he's so he's seven over 70 now.
SPEAKER_00Yes. He is a Medicare patient now.
SPEAKER_02Man, those letters after your name are coming in handy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. See, this is this is just the value that our style brings.
SPEAKER_02This is value add for our listeners.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, this is why we have a different guest every week. So um, yeah, I think I think he touched on some other stuff too, but they're they were even more of a stretch than the ones I mentioned. Um, like a touch of storytelling. Kind of he got a little satirical, a little sarcastic. And then he would sometimes do a different New York, a different New York accent or two. So I up on a character comedy. Some of some of my unsolicited feedback for this, these first two segments, the style and matter, subject matter, I think they should be like percentages or something where you can you know have a gradiation on anyway. This this person's a hundred percent observational and ten percent storytelling. They they don't all have to add up to a hundred percent, it's just something to kind of talk about, you know. Anyway, I'm gonna go.
SPEAKER_00Well, if you're gonna give a suggestion, let me go ahead and add my suggestion.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_00So on the scoring criteria, the 13 questions, yeah, you did give an interpretation of what that meant. Why not continue that with the comedic style and the subject matter? Because so again, the storytelling, yes, he was telling stories, but I didn't feel like that was his his overall feel.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. I mean, oh, he's definitely not a storytelling comedian. I mean, when you see a storytelling comedian and it's like, and we've seen, I mean, we saw Drew Lynch in person, he's a storytelling comedian. Um, Pat and Oswald, storytelling comedian. I mean, when you when you listen to them, you know, because it's the whole thing is long, drawn-out stories with jokes intertwined into that story. So yeah, but you're right though. I see I I I took I put these down and just thought, well, yeah, everyone knows what a storytelling comedian is.
SPEAKER_01Everyone knows what one-liners are, everyone knows what observers, you know, and I'm like obviously not if if I'm calling Jerry Seinfeld a partial storytelling comedian.
SPEAKER_02Big assumption. Big assumption on my part. It's because you sit too much. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_00We should never assume.
SPEAKER_01Correct. Um, yeah, that that's my take.
SPEAKER_00By the way, don't assume anything, just asking questions. Like, if you want to know something, just ask me a question. Don't assume. Yeah.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_00That that was more for the listeners, really, not you guys.
SPEAKER_01Is that another qualified yes? Yeah, qualified candidates, yeah. Okay. I'm gonna have to since we're gonna have to see what this episode's really about.
SPEAKER_02I was gonna say, we're gonna have to post some kind of like uh a one-page like CV or something that's like here's what's required right after the disclaimer before contacting Tomat Tabitho.
SPEAKER_01No. Um I did uh he did say that he was getting into his personal life.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_01So I think I think we could check that box on your subject matter too.
SPEAKER_03Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, what about you, Brian?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I have I'm similar to you guys. I have observational, definitely. Um funny thing that you said like physical comedy. Uh like I literally wrote I checked physical comedy and I put a dash after it and put ish. And because he's not a physical comedian, but like as an example, the biggest one was the but the dying battery of the cell phone, where he's like going and he ends up laying on his back on stage and just like is like I'm dead, you know. So like that was that was completely physical comedy, acting like I mean, he's personifying a battery in a cell phone, and then he's acting like that, and he's dying, you know, on stage.
SPEAKER_01So on that too, the we we swipe through our contacts like a gay king.
SPEAKER_02Like gay, gay French king. Yeah, what is it, gay French King or something? Anyway, um, yeah. But yeah, I didn't really see any other major types of that of anything of note. I mean, yeah, he does tell stories, but I I don't consider him a story. And part of the way you can tell storytelling comedians too, is we've talked about this before, is like the length of time between laughs, and like the length of time between laughs for him is very short. Like it's boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. That's not a storytelling comedian, that's almost like borderline one-liners, you know what I mean? So um, so I I but I need I didn't check either of those boxes because I don't think he's technically either one of those, but he's he resembles them. And then subject matter, uh yeah, definite social commentary. Um, I did a little bit, I mean, uh it's funny, I've checked pop culture, but then I went back and I was trying to think. He didn't really make that many references to like quote unquote pop culture. Like he didn't mention like stars or like this person, he's he's the star when he's on stage. He's he's talking about himself and his own experiences. Um and uh I but on that note, I loved when he said, like, you know, your life sucks, my life sucks, perhaps my life doesn't suck quite as bad as yours, you know, or something like that, you know, not quite as much, you know. I thought that was hilarious. Um, because it it to me it shows like a recognition, like, yes, I'm a hundred millionaire and you're not, you know, and but it not in like a jerk way, you know, like just a real like really being a funny way. Like I recognize that. Um, so then yeah, and then also obviously personal life, just because I mean he he literally gave that one to us because he's like, hey guys, we're gonna stop the show right now and we're gonna talk about Jerry's world, my personal life, you know, and basically handed that to us on a platter. So so those are really the only three um that I really noticed in there.
SPEAKER_01I will say briefly on that, he he claimed to talk about his personal life, but every joke that followed was just what it's like for men being in general, like he he just sort of implied that he experiences this or what it's like to have kids. Yes. Um so yeah, I think yeah, he he still kept some distance. Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00I just want to make a quick comment, Brian.
SPEAKER_01Sure.
SPEAKER_00You said Jerry's world, you know, in Dallas, Texas, that means a whole nother thing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I should I should have known that. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00You said that, and I thought it was something totally different, and then I had to come back to this conversation.
SPEAKER_02All of a sudden you're like, oh, America's football team. Oh, awesome.
SPEAKER_00You know perspective, right?
SPEAKER_02Right, exactly. Nick's like, I don't know. I'm out of this conversation. Anyway, all right, let's move on to our our 13 pieces of criteria here. We're gonna start with uh, and this has already been mentioned if you're thinking of mentioning it, Tabitha, which we think maybe we should move the laughs per minute, like the one that's the big one towards the end, which I don't know why I put it as number one. It just is weird. But anyway, laughs per minute.
SPEAKER_00No, let's move that to number one. Let's go ahead and and then or let's move that to number 13, excuse me.
SPEAKER_02Do you want to move it now? You want to move? We'll just physically move it. I mean like mentally movement. Okay. Well, all right. Let's let's start with now now. I am like messed up completely. I'm gonna be like, okay, let's start with number two. Well, actually, it's number one, but it's okay. Our next one, our next one, our next one.
SPEAKER_00Okay, we're gonna go into content quality.
SPEAKER_02Content quality, right? And that is a out of score out of 10. Uh, how well written were the jokes and stories? So uh Tabitha, you want to start us out with that? What'd you score?
SPEAKER_00I scored a five, middle of the road. I hope that doesn't break anybody's hearts.
SPEAKER_02No, not at all. This is the this is the score, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Did it break your heart to put that five down?
SPEAKER_00It did. Yeah, it did.
SPEAKER_01What what would have made it a seven?
SPEAKER_00It would have been a 10.
SPEAKER_01Ah, yeah. I see. You're you're a Seinfeld TV fan, not necessarily a Seinfeld stand-up fan.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And see, I I'm not familiar a fan of either. Like I've not seen a Seinfeld episode in its entirety. I know I'm like evil for that, but I also hadn't seen a Seinfeld set in its entirety.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, I've been evil for that, but I will say you are missing out on a whole lot of life.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I gotcha.
SPEAKER_00Um so if you want to just continue leading a boring life, don't ever watch the TV show. But if you want to have an exciting life, watch the TV show.
SPEAKER_01Where did this Kool-Aid come from? I'm gonna drink it.
SPEAKER_00And the cherry. Those are the best Kool-Aid.
SPEAKER_02Sure, sure. Yeah, fruit punch, definitely.
SPEAKER_01So Tabitha, more like the TV show would have been more better.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01Um I I gave it an eight. I really liked it. And maybe it's because I'm closer to his demographic, you know, like there's a lot, and that'll get into relatability, but um I think he he wrote the jokes well. I didn't give it a nine or a ten though, because there were moments that even though he was high energy, um like they just kind of fizzled. Like whatever he whatever content he wrote the way he wrote it, there were moments where it just sort of like land flat and then he'd pick back up and go as opposed to more of an analog wave, so to speak.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02That it? Yeah. Yeah. So I gave him an eight also. Um part of the reason why is because I'm even closer to his demographic.
SPEAKER_03With old kids, get off the phone.
SPEAKER_02No, but really, honestly, the and I'll say this right off the top is that I was when I was watching this, I was like, yes, yeah, yes. This is you know what? Everyone does suck. You know what? And our lives do suck, and also people are rude, and also totally agreeing with the curmudgeonness of the whole thing, where I'm like, yeah, that's that's it's funny because it's true, you know? And so anyway, uh, yeah, I I really enjoyed um I really enjoyed a lot of the uh a lot of the stuff. Like uh, you know, the yeah, just him talking about getting older. I like I look the best bit about that was when he was talking about being 65, and he said, Yeah, people just ask you to do stuff, and you just say no. And then he said, Yeah, when I get in my 70s, I don't know, I don't think I'm even gonna answer. Like, I'm just gonna. So, yeah. Anyway, uh so eight. I gave him an eight out of ten on that. All right, performance and delivery, a score out of ten. How effective was the comedian's stage presence and delivery? Let's start with Nick this time.
SPEAKER_01I gave him a nine. Commanding stage presence and excellent timing. Like even though his his writing was a little flat, his delivery and his energy made up a lot for that in my mind.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. Tabitha?
SPEAKER_00You can be a star's voice.
SPEAKER_03It's okay.
SPEAKER_00I like giving him a six.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_00And I will now I did not base this on the TV show. I actually based this on other comedians that I have seen on stage. And maybe his age plays a little bit into it. My mother is 65. So I kind of understand, you know, walking gets a little more difficult, and you also get a little more hasty in your words, such as saying no all the time.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And so I gave him a six. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_02I don't know how this is happening, but I um with Nick, I gave him a nine, uh, commanding stage presence, excellent timing.
SPEAKER_01One of us is unnecessary.
SPEAKER_02And it is me.
SPEAKER_00And uh I'm starting to feel that this is a division not only between gender, but also age groups.
SPEAKER_02Oh, it could be, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean thanks, Tableton. Thanks a lot.
SPEAKER_00That's not not by much.
SPEAKER_02Definitely true.
SPEAKER_00Um although I do have a 20-year-old son.
SPEAKER_02But it's also gender, I mean, in terms of like, I know I don't say I don't want to say this like um oh no, you guys are guys, and he's a guy.
SPEAKER_00He's a guy, exactly.
SPEAKER_02And that's that's the only thing I that's what exactly what I was trying to say. Is like it's like like you said, uh, even though you like the the TV show, there's only so much that you can take of like, uh yeah, um you know, women are this, and you know, and like I'm always arguing with my wife, and she goes, Oh yeah, you say that I have this voice and I have that voice, you know, like that feels like I do, I know what that feels like because my wife's done that to me.
SPEAKER_01So I'm calling it now. This is gonna be the longest episode we've done.
SPEAKER_02I was gonna say, we're not even this is it's so far off the rails, anyway. Um, no, but actually, I but I also think uh on this like on this particular thing though, I mean, he is obviously has many, many years of experience on the stage delivering these things. I think it's just like, all right, here we go, guys. It's 24 minutes, 45 seconds. Toastmasters, um, just like in Toastmasters, when you're on stage, you're gonna mess up. But the the real professional speakers that are up there, they know how to recover really, really well. And it doesn't look like they messed up, right? So we don't know what his jokes were or how they were supposed to play or anything like that. He does, and so he he has all those years of experience to make it look like he doesn't mess up at all, right? And so that to me is definitely hey, you walk on stage, you command the stage, and you have excellent timing because of all those years of experience. So that's why I gave him a nine.
SPEAKER_00All right, and I dinged him because he was 65. Got it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you're not wrong, you're just ageist. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_00Exactly, exactly. That was part of the disclosure with the uh health qualifications.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Uh okay. Yeah. Sorry. Do we know why it's called 23 hours to kill? I can't figure that out. I couldn't figure that out. 23 hours to prepare for this?
SPEAKER_02I thought the only thing I could think of is like with the secret agent man and stuff at the beginning that it was like some kind of like reference to like potentially like a James Bond kind of sounding title, like you know, A View to a Kill, A View to a Kill, 23 Hours to Kill. Like uh that's the only thing that I could think of, but he didn't make reference to it. It didn't, there was nothing in there. It was just like, this is what it's called.
SPEAKER_00So let me ask y'all a question. Were you did you feel there was a disconnect between him his opening jumping out of the helicopter into I guess was it the ocean or the Hudson? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I think it was the Hudson. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean, I didn't know how that even related to Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So I was gonna talk about this.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02So this is this is interesting. Go ahead. So no, the thing that I I when I was watching that, I was like, okay, we've I've watched a lot of specials. And usually it's just like somebody that an announcement that's like, welcome to the stage, da-da-da, you know, and they come out on the stage. He had a full band, like a full, you know, swing band or whatever they're called, big band, right? He had he did the special effect, so he did the actual stunt because we saw at the end that he was practicing it, jumping off a high dive. And I'm like thinking that was just like flexing. That was just him going, like, I am Jerry Seinfeld, and I have a lot of money, and this is what I require for a Netflix special. I require an oh an intro and a this and a that, because that has to cost a lot of money, right? Um, I mean, granted, he's doing the thing, but uh, but at the same time, uh that's not something I've seen before in an intro. And it was like, like I said, fancified. And so but it to answer your question though, yeah, it it it didn't seem to have any connection to anything other than him just going, I want to jump out of a helicopter and have a big band when I walk out on stage.
SPEAKER_00Exactly.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So maybe he was flexing to show off how agile he is at 65.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, true. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00And there's nothing wrong with that. I I can I can give him a couple of points for that, a couple of stars for that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I was leaning more towards that as well, Tabitha.
SPEAKER_02Yes, it it wasn't explained, like you said, and that the only thing that like I said, talking about the title, the only thing I could think of is there was some kind of like a spy theme, because he was like secret agent man is the is the theme song, and he's jumping out of a helicopter and he has this like title that seems sort of sounds like a James Bond like it could it could be a James Bond movie. I I don't know.
SPEAKER_01Well, remember the two the cut from him landing in the Hudson to the stage is him walking in from the backstage entrance, right? Like pulling his wetsuit off and spitting water out of his mouth like like a cartoon character walking on the stage in his tucks like he just got out of the Hudson.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I mean, interesting opening. It was it, but like you said, disconnected and like not ex not sort of like it was like definitely not necessary.
SPEAKER_00It was at the top, but not necessary.
SPEAKER_02That's correct. Yeah, absolutely. I'd agree with that.
SPEAKER_01It definitely was attention getting and set set a kind of tone, but yeah, had nothing to do with this comedy.
SPEAKER_02Right. Um audience engagement. Oh, did we get both of you guys? You guys gave your scores right on performance delivery? Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00Okay, that's nine when I say six.
SPEAKER_02So audience engagement out of five. Did the comedian connect well with the audience? Tabitha, what did you score?
SPEAKER_00Middle of the road three.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Strong engagement, audience invested. Yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Uh I gave a four point five out of five.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01Um cap the the text captivating full audience buy-in. Oh looks like full audience buy-in. I think um that was a little strong, so I anyway. I gave it a four point five.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Okay. I gave it a four. Um, I think he I think definitely again, a comedian of his caliber, people buying tickets to go to a filming of a Netflix special, um, they're gonna be definitely engaged. Uh I mean, I I don't think that they probably paid a lot for those tickets, and it's an exciting event, and they're gonna be on, and the especially the one lady who laughed crazily. She's like now, you know, immortalized on a Netflix special. So that was Tabitha. That was Tabitha. That was me. Yes, that was me.
SPEAKER_00No, not really.
SPEAKER_02I did like that when he was like, Hey, please please, let's stay together, people. Like, we're gonna they're gonna be going through a lot of stuff. We need to sort of all stay together with this. Stay in the group, yes.
SPEAKER_03Right, exactly.
SPEAKER_02Uh, all right, so how about diversity of material? Out of five, did the comedian cover a range of topics? Um, Tabitha, we'll go with you again.
SPEAKER_00I gave him a two.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I will be honest, I based this on the TV show.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. All right.
SPEAKER_00Because I just thought his comedy special was it it was pretty monotone, didn't have much variety. Yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00It was kind of stale.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. It's it's funny with this question in particular. I always score it from my perspective, and I always think of it higher until I hear the guests' perspective. Like, oh, I guess it was kind of like like you we we've all kind of already talked about it, Crummogeny. Um, like just an old man talking about how he sees the world, and right it's gonna be women and energy and anger. Um, although I'm gonna stick with my score this time, and I I said four.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01Um, because he let's see, what he talked what about restaurants and social norms and kids, yeah, and golf.
SPEAKER_02Um and porta portable portable toilets, yeah, tickets and portachons and buffets, uh, girlfriends, having a girlfriend versus being married, cell phones and texting, postal service, device dictatorship, being married, pop tarts, pop tarts.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah. We gotta talk about the pop tarts. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I actually I put back at subject matter.
SPEAKER_02I tried they can't go stale, they were never fresh.
SPEAKER_01Yes. Um because of Pop Tarts, I I did a little tiny check on absurdist under subject matter.
SPEAKER_02Uh yeah.
SPEAKER_01Because he was talking about like, we were not ready for Pop Tarts. Yeah. We were chimps in the dirt. Pop Tarts came. Yeah. So anyway, I I um diversity of material. I'm I'm gonna stick with four out of five.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Just keep this train rolling.
SPEAKER_02I'm with you on that. I I also gave him a four out of five for that exact reason. It's like or that exact reason I had you know all kinds of different I wrote out, wrote down like basically sort of the bits that he did. Um I got all the way, I mean, comparing kids to a baby alligator, you know, that's pretty awesome. Um especially me. I've got two kids that are leaving for college, so I'm like, yeah, it's actually sort of is like baby eye. I'm like, they it's time to get them out of here. Like they they shouldn't be here anymore. You need to murder other creatures for being exactly, exactly. So yeah, so I felt like it was a pretty wide range. Um, I think I'm with Tabitha though, that kept fresh part. So maybe half of that four, you know, wide range, but I don't know if it keeps it fresh. So, but I think that may be due to his delivery because his delivery is very similar no matter what joke he's telling. It's uh he always goes into that high voice. I mean, you everyone's heard everyone's seen a Seinfeld impersonator or impression, right? And it's always the yeah, exactly. You you're doing it right now, so it's like you know, he every single one of the jokes he does, whether it's about his wife, whether it's about his children, whether it's about you know texting, it's that, you know. Um the yeah.
SPEAKER_01I I too have full respect for your score, Tabitha, because like as as a student of and a man myself, to me, what he talked about was very nuanced and diverse. But like for you, it I could see how it was like, yeah, he's just talking about what it's like being a man, beat after beat, being what it's like being an old guy, old guy, old guy, old guy.
SPEAKER_00Well, let me also say one other thing, because I think Brian just sort of hit the nail on the head. So in his TV show, there's three other characters.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And Jerry is not animated, he is very monotone.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And there's even one episode that goes into how he never gets angry, he never gets mad.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But the other characters are very animated. And actually, Kramer is my favorite character. So uh yes, if there's any Kramers out there, you you can you can step to the front of the line to the qualifications board.
SPEAKER_01Kramer with letters after his name. That's yeah, I know that's quite the unicorn.
SPEAKER_00I am looking for a unicorn. I know I'm looking for a unicorn. I know this is an impossible task. I I understand that. So uh but yes, so I feel like he's not very animated, he's very monotone, he's just and that's just how he is. There's nothing wrong with that. Yeah, it is what it is. So we have to keep the thought. Did I just say the key phrase?
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes. If I hear one more person say it, it is what it is to me. I love actually, I was thinking about Nick when that we're doing that bit because I was gonna be like, I was gonna pull out a whole bunch of like, you know, Nick, at the end of the day, we got you know, we gotta circle back, we gotta put a pech pin in that, and it is what it is.
SPEAKER_00Nick hate love that quote, just so y'all know. I don't I say that a whole lot. Because it's true. I mean, I'm not trying to be funny, it is very true. Yeah, the world is the way that it is, period. You're not gonna change it. It just yeah. I mean, people are the way they are, everything business is business, a deal's a deal. Yep, exactly. If you show up to the emergency room for a um cut on your finger, and your fingertip is not hanging off, so you show up with something that could have been remedied at home with a band-aid, you are not going to be given priority. I'm sorry. You might think it's an emergency, but to healthcare it is not. So right again, it is what it is.
SPEAKER_02Certainly, man. That CRCR, C A C C S, C C S. All right. Impact and memorability. Was this a performance that sticks with you? This is a score out of ten. Uh let's go with Nick first.
SPEAKER_01Uh I gave a tablet a score of six out of ten. But I might have to bump it up a little bit. Because we're we're like making so many references and and things. Right. Like clearly I remember a fair amount about it, but I'm gonna go with six. That's uh the high end of some standout moments. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Okay, I need to ask a clarifying question on that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So if you wanted to bump that six up, what would the number be?
SPEAKER_01Um I mean, probably a seven, actually, because I mean seven's the low end of strong memorable set. Like that feels like a stretch. A memorable set, I feel like I would remember nearly half or almost half of it. And I have to do that.
SPEAKER_00I mean, we've kind of already remembered the whole entire show. We we literally just discussed that.
SPEAKER_01Sure.
SPEAKER_00So okay, so you're just gonna bump it up six to seven.
SPEAKER_01Okay, no, no, I'm gonna leave it at six.
SPEAKER_00You're gonna leave it at six. So now you're gonna retract what you said.
SPEAKER_02With the six seven?
SPEAKER_01You got really close to saying the thing that I'm legally obligated to make fun of the youthful generation about uh oh, I don't know what that was. You don't know what six seven is?
SPEAKER_00Oh, it's oh gosh, no.
SPEAKER_01What did what did you score for impact and memorability? Was it six or seven?
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so I scored a four. However, since you miss mentioned, excuse me, that you wanted to bump up your six, I was thinking, and then after all of our conversation, maybe I would want to bump my four up. So I was thinking of bumping my four up to a six. And what I was hoping that you would say, Nick, but obviously my telepathic skills weren't working or you weren't receiving something. I was hoping that you were gonna say, I'm gonna bump my six to an eight. So, see, then we could like be in sync, but you just totally messed it all up, and then you went the six, seven route.
SPEAKER_01And I was I was gonna save this for later, but uh, you should probably know I'm not a qualified candidate.
SPEAKER_00No, I know you're not okay.
SPEAKER_01I just you just but you just messed up like the whole rhythm of that question, so you know, like in any conversation, in any relationship, there's gonna be ebbs and flows, ups and downs, and sometimes they're not they get asynchronous, you know. That's the way it is.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so that's why I'm single. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01Brian, do you have a score for number six?
SPEAKER_02I do, yeah. I actually uh ironically now I'm lower than both of you. I gave him a five out of ten. And here's why, though. Jerry Seinfeld is cursed by the fact that he has so much material. And what I wrote next to this is it's hard to distinguish this. Like in a year, I won't know that this came from this set or a different set of Jerry Seinfeld's because they're all they all sound the same, the delivery's the same. It's the same as like I've listened to multiple albums of Dimitri Martin, multiple album albums of guess who, Pete Holmes, multiple albums of they were all edited, by the way.
SPEAKER_01Let me give my bingo card.
SPEAKER_02They were all edited. Um and and uh multiple Patton Oswald, you know, things, and I can't tell you which album any particular joke came from. I know all the jokes, but I can't tell you which one it came from. So in this context, like, was this a performance that sticks with you? Yes, I think this performance sticks with me, but also there's the curse of Jerry Seinfeld, which is basically like, I'm not gonna know that it was from this special versus another one. And so um, to me, like there are certain comedians that they know their selves, they know themselves so well and they stay in their own lane so well that they're and their albums are still funny or their specials are still funny, but they're they're a lot alike, and they're that style for them. So that's why I gave them a five. Not necessarily a reflection on the actual set. So yeah. Alright, this one's gonna be fun because I want to see if anyone else got so use of callbacks out of five. Did the comedian effectively use callbacks?
SPEAKER_01Um first of all, Tabitha, do you know what a callback is? Do we need it?
SPEAKER_02That's why I was gonna go to you first, Nick. I was gonna let you I was going first to you to so that she could like if she needed to get context, she could.
SPEAKER_01So callback is a little yeah, I won't define it.
SPEAKER_00No, please define it because it's a good one. Yeah, man, Nick explain it.
SPEAKER_02Nick explain it for us.
SPEAKER_01Nick explain it. Oh man, we're gonna go all the way to Nick's plaining out the gate. Okay. Uh now we'll see if I can do this off on the fly. It's we're the audience with the comedian is now having a shared experience, right? We're all together experiencing the comedian's jokes. When the comedian makes a reference to their own material from that very same event, then it's like an inside joke together. And so that's called a callback. When they they make a reference to some a joke they made earlier, it becomes funny all over again. If it's done effectively. There's ways you can do it poorly. Some people some comedians overuse callbacks and it just becomes like, Hey, remember the thing I just said? Yeah, that was funny, right? Hey, you remember the thing I just said is funny, right? That's not funny anymore.
SPEAKER_00A plus. You got that right.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00I was judging you. Yes.
SPEAKER_01Great. Uh well now I'm stunned into silence. Uh oh no.
SPEAKER_02Oh no.
SPEAKER_01I gave him a two out of five. This was a very low score. I think the lowest callback score I've ever issued.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I feel like I'm reaching the only callback I could find or detect, and it was kind of subtle, was multiple references to restaurants. He he said things like talking about golf, which is towards the end of the set, he he requoted that, you would love it.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_01People were saying about restaurants to him, and he didn't understand why. And then also talking about getting older and how he feels much more comfortable telling the waiter he he did not like his experience, he would like to press charges. And he had earlier said he doesn't like restaurants.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01So again, I I'm straining it. Like I probably should have given him a one out of five. Um but that's to say no callbacks were used, right? Sure.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. All right, Tabitha.
SPEAKER_00Well, that's what I gave him was a one. And now I did have to look this up. I did have to Google what was meant by a callback. And to be quite honest with you, I just don't really remember any callbacks. I know that there were callbacks. I just did not remember them. So I gave him a one.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm glad to hear you guys say that. I I was in the same boat. I was the reason why I went to you first, Nick, is because you're usually really good at like catching them, and I'm not because you're a punster. So punsters have different hearing skills than the regular average human being. So um it's called attention.
SPEAKER_01Pay attention, Brian. Yes, exactly.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, there's that.
SPEAKER_00So see, I have attention deficit dishonor because I I did not pay attention.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and honestly, like I was looking for callbacks at a certain point. I was like, wait, he hasn't used any callback. Like, and I was trying to like look at them, and I didn't even get the one that you it was, I think it definitely was a callback though. You you would really like this, you know, like pointing out like that. Um, I think also the other one I got, you remember I'd rather have somebody blow air, like clear air in my face than say, Is it it is what it is? So like later when he's driving you know, so later when he's dri he's pantomime driving, he's talking about people who are married and people have girlfriends, and he's like, Oh, they're playing paintball when we're in Afghanistan with full clips and magazines and using live rounds, you know, and he's talking about we're driving a I'm driving a truck full of you know, full of nitro, you know, through the war zone or whatever, and he goes, and in that thing he goes, you know, and he like blows air out. And I didn't know if that was a callback or not, but like I felt like he was that was him saying it is what it is, like kind of like subtly. I don't know if if it was or not, but like it was the same exact like blowing air in the face. So that was really the only one I got. So I gave him a one out, I gave him a 1.5 out of out of five for that.
SPEAKER_03Nice.
SPEAKER_02So all right, let's go move on to style quality. This is out of 10. How effective was the comedian's style?
SPEAKER_01And this is observational, right? We have a consensus that his style is observational. Okay.
SPEAKER_02Tabitha, where'd you end up?
unknownFive.
SPEAKER_02Five. Okay.
SPEAKER_01We're gonna have to have you back just so we can get you like a comedian you enjoy more. Yeah, I know.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00This was not a very good evaluation. This is terrible.
SPEAKER_01I appreciate and respect that you are being honest. Yes, there can be a lot of pressure to uh like the comedian you chose, right? Yeah. Or to be pleasant on records. I think it's great that you're being true to yourself.
SPEAKER_00Let me just enlighten both of y'all and our audience. What you see and what you hear is what you're gonna get from me. I ain't sugarcoating nothing, I'm not going to stroke egos and nothing like that. If it was a complete bomb, I'm going that's what I'm gonna score it as. Yeah. Plain and simple. And that's not a bad thing either. Because let's go back to Toastmasters for a brief moment.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_00All right, so if you just completely blow your speech, either you're having technical difficulties, you ran over time and took like 12 minutes when it was a five to seven minute speech, we have had one person that did do that. Or your content is just it's just not good. It's not a bad thing because now you have a baseline for improvement. So if you've come out before with like all tens, I mean, where's the room for improvement? Like you're already perfect.
SPEAKER_01So so you're saying if if Jerry Seinfeld really applies himself, he could be really good as a student of the comedian.
SPEAKER_02He can make it in his comedic.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so yeah. However, if we're coming back to his age, why no, he's not going to do that.
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah, he's true. You said he's at the stage where he's not interested in learning new things, right? He is what he is.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. Exactly. So there we are. All right, okay.
SPEAKER_01Five out of ten. Got it.
SPEAKER_02Yep. Nick.
SPEAKER_01Uh I I put a seven out of ten, I think. For for his observational style, his observations were on point and humorous. Um yeah.
SPEAKER_02Okay. I'm top of the top of the mountain here. I gave him an eight out of ten. Um, I think he did did an awesome job. I feel like it it this is quintessential Jerry Seinfeld. Um, and yeah, the the show, like you've already mentioned, like the show being scripted and being the way that it is, obviously his he's playing a character in the show, even though it's even though the show is called Seinfeld, like he's still playing a version of himself, you know. And so I feel like um I feel like he knows who he is on stage. I feel like he uh obviously is like, why why do I why do I need to change anything? I'm do this is this is what I do. This is people come see me, you know. I mean, as you said, I could be anywhere else on this planet right now. Like, I don't have to be doing this right now, but he was. And so um, you know, so anyway, I think he did it well. Eight out of ten. All right, timing and pacing. Something that we are terrible at in this podcast. Um, was the pacing effective for humor delivery?
SPEAKER_01For humor delivery. I'll start on this one.
SPEAKER_02I haven't started one yet. All right, so I said he has strong, well-timed delivery, four out of five. I think that again, I already mentioned this earlier, but just the fact that you can hear just uh almost like sort of one-liner-ish where he's like ba-buh-ba-bah and laugh, ba-ba-ba-ba-laugh, ba-ba-ba-ba, laugh, ba-ba-ba, laugh. You know, it just sort of was almost like I bet you could almost put a timer to it, and it was like the uh almost very consistent time period between the audience laughing. Um and, you know, I I also think interestingly enough, there are I felt like it was controlled laughter, if that makes sense. And the then what I mean by that is sometimes you hear a comedian where like they are literally having to stop talking, they're having to stop moving forward because the audience is laughing so much at the joke that they just told, they actually literally have to wait for that laughter to die down. He doesn't have to do that. He he like almost meters it out where it's like, I want them to get I want to get them to laugh this much, but not too much, because I need to have this continued pacing, and it it seems to be a master at that. And so anyway, that's that's where my four out of five. Tabitha, what about you?
SPEAKER_00Okay, I actually chose two. However, I think you you made a strong case for four. I wouldn't mind changing that to a four, but I put it two, wasn't bad, wasn't really great. Again, just kind of eh.
SPEAKER_03Nice. All right, Nick, where'd you land?
SPEAKER_01Um I first want to comment on your assessment. So that was a really nice way to say he was mildly amusing.
SPEAKER_02No, I think he was funny.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I think I think he but he had them in the palm of his hand. Like they I think you're right that he he knew he was he had the dial and he was just metering out the laughter. I I also gave him a four out of five uh for that reason. There was just again a few times where he seemed to just lose a little bit of steam, like he he made the delivery, and there's like an accidental downward inflection and delay that he had to kind of recover from. So um otherwise, four out of five.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. All right, how about physical comedy? We talked a little bit about this at the beginning. Let's score it. How well did they use physical elements in their comedy? So this isn't that they're a physical comedian, but that they're using some physical elements in their jokes. Uh, Tabitha, you want to start us?
SPEAKER_00All right, I did a two, and I think there's a lot of interpretation that could be made here.
SPEAKER_03Sure.
SPEAKER_00I scored it a two simply because there were no props, there was nothing very physical on the stage. We did talk earlier about stage presence and how he worked the stage, and then also had the uh acting of the dead battery.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_00I just don't know if I would put that in a physical comedy bucket.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I I don't know. I'm not I'm just not well versed with comedy and everything that they do and stuff like that. So I don't really know where to put that in the bucket. But as far as him, it it was just it was minimal. I mean, he just he just was a normal guy.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I think one way to to look at it is if if you had only listened to the the cassette or the the special and not watched it.
SPEAKER_02Did you say cassette?
SPEAKER_01No, the set.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I thought you said cassette. I was like, what? How old are you, Nick?
SPEAKER_01Oh you think uh making a reference to the cassette in this day and age. The set. I will put some emphasis on my syllables. Is it the or the what I said was the yeah. This is this is not this is not a grammar assessment podcast, and I'm not the one on trial. So oh yeah, but but if if you could listen, if you feel like you could have listened to the comedy special and gotten just as much out of it as you would if you was watching it, yeah, then it I would say, yeah, there's like I did I did both.
SPEAKER_02I did because I listened to it. I had put Netflix on my phone and I listened to it when I was driving, as well as I watched it twice. And so, and I I think that's a really good point. Well, I just I just kept on like putting I had a lot of driving I had to do, so I was like, and it's about an hour-long set, and I had 45-minute long drive, so I was getting almost a whole run in like one drive. So you had 23 hours to kill. I had 20 exactly, exactly. But I no, I think that's a good point because uh in both ways, like I I didn't you didn't have to have it, it did add to it, I will say. Um that's why I scored. Did you give your score, Nick? Not yet, but go ahead. Okay. Oh no, go ahead, give your score. I won't, I don't I stepped on you.
SPEAKER_01I don't I don't think you did, but I gave it three out of five.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_01Some some moments, and when they were used, they were well used.
SPEAKER_02And that's that's exactly where I landed for that exactly the same reason that you were saying, which is just he he had some, he's not a physical comedian, you know, but honestly, I think if I'm thinking back, I haven't watched one of his other sp any of his other specials for a while, but if I'm thinking back, he was less physical back then. And I don't I think that might be a little bit of like talking, getting into the older age thing, like you were saying, jumping out of the helicopters, him proving that he's still nimble at age 65 and all this stuff. Part of me feels like he was like trying to ramp the energy up a little bit, saying, like, I'm 65, but I can still bring it on stage. And and so, um, so he was doing quite a bit of like relatively physical, like I mean, going all the way down on the ground and getting back up. That's you know, that's that's uh that's something that you know you gotta you gotta sort of keep uh you know your body to be able to do. So but I yeah, some physical elements well used. I think he put them in the jokes and they and they added to the jokes, but they didn't uh they weren't absolutely necessary for the jokes to be funny. So all right, how about relatability? This one is one where Tabitha's gonna score really low, I'm telling you. Um let's go with Tabitha.
SPEAKER_00You want to take a bet on that?
SPEAKER_02Uh one out of ten. Did the material resonate with a broad audience? Oh, okay. Well, maybe not. So um what what'd you score, Tabitha?
SPEAKER_00Well, okay, so you think I'm gonna score low. Nick, what do you think I'm gonna score?
SPEAKER_01I think you're gonna say six out of ten.
SPEAKER_00Okay, well, this was actually my star question.
SPEAKER_03Wow.
SPEAKER_00I was already I scored an eight.
SPEAKER_02Okay, okay. Hey, there's a puppy.
SPEAKER_00Oh yes, sorry. Yeah, so I scored an eight. I mean, all of his stuff was relatable. I could totally get down with all of it, and that was a little scary because I'm not in the 60th decade. So yeah. Not really sure what to think about that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, okay. Well, I was wrong then.
SPEAKER_00But I and if y'all don't know this, um we are all vintage because we were born in the 1900s, and then these kids say that to us as if it's an insult. And I'm kinda like, well, I actually was born in the 1900s, so I don't know where the insult is.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00And vintage is like, that's actually kind of cool. So yes, so he got an eight from me.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Nick, what about you?
SPEAKER_01Oh, so an eight right on the money.
SPEAKER_02Nice. I was right with you guys. I got I did an eight and a half, eight point five out of ten. Um, I think that I think definitely uh it, you know, most people can relate with this. Um I think it was interesting him talking about the difference between being married and having a boyfriend or a girlfriend, because I think I feel like maybe that was a way to bring the like we're not just I'm just not an old married man. Hey, I'm gonna include people who are in relationships of some kind, you know, um, as well. So anyway. Um, all right.
SPEAKER_01On that, the bridge, I'd say the bridge there was when he said when he was single, or he he finds his single friends, his former single friends in their singles' lives meaningless and trivial.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_01When he was single in his looking at his married friends, he thought that their lives were pathetic and depressing.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_01He thinks that both are true, even today.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, whichever, whichever side of marriage you're on. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_01It's like we're all losers, all our lives suck. That was a very, very subtle callback, I guess.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. All right. Innovative techniques. Did the comedian bring something new or unique? I'll start on this one. Um I the I this is really low. I gave him a two out of ten on this. And that's yeah. Well, it's not a it's not a a reflection on how good the special was, but like I don't think there was anything that was new. Like he is, it's the same Jerry Seinfeld. This is and it's pretty straightforward stand-up comedy. There's no there's nothing, there's no innovative, unique approach or anything that he's taking. Now, there's unique perspectives in what he's saying, which is why it's funny, but uh, you know, I d I just don't think that he brought anything that was new or groundbreaking. So that's why number you know, two is a completely standard approach. Um, three would be slightly unique, but nothing groundbreaking. So I I think I fell in that completely standard approach, which also does not mean not funny, you know. I I laughed my butt off. So, you know. So uh Tabitha, how about you?
SPEAKER_00I also scored a two pretty much for the same reasons.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Okay. How about you, Nick?
SPEAKER_01You took me together, I guess. You each took me down a notch. So I was a five, now I'm a three. Okay.
SPEAKER_00Um wow, we got you to downgrade.
SPEAKER_01You're both you're both influential in your own right. I hate to say it, but it's just the way it is.
SPEAKER_00Well, it was really Brian. It really wasn't me. I I was just adding to the mask.
SPEAKER_01That's for the record, that's the story you were telling yourself. That is not my truth. Um, but I I think there were some things that were slightly unique. It was definitely Seinfeld. He he has a technique. Um I even wrote it down. I took notice, like, okay, I I got the pattern. It was it was at the end, but he does a premise, and then he does a ridiculous restate of the premise once or twice. Then he'll do a short uh embodiment, either physically or sort of describing the scene, and then he'll do a humorous explanation or visual. And I wish I'd like kept a clip. Um but like you if you're listening at home or whatnot, write write down that formula and see if you can find the the pattern. There's there are crests and there are troughs, and it's just a wave that keeps repeating throughout.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um that seems to be my theme today. But but some of his, you know, the content within that formula though, I liked a lot, and I felt that there was some refreshing perspectives, not necessarily fresh, but they were refreshing. So I think my relatability sort of influenced my score.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So again, y'all knocked me down to a three out of ten. You put some cold water on my assessment.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Excellent. Okay. Cinematic quality. So this has nothing to do with obviously the performance, the comedy, the anything like that. This has that just really just talking about the filming of the actual special. How well was it the performance filmed and edited? Edited. Edited. Anyway. Um to Pete Holmes. Anyway. Um, all right. Uh Tabitha, you want to start us on this one?
SPEAKER_00I would love to start us on this one. I scored a one. I could bump that up to a two, but I'm gonna hold firm on my one. And the reason is, and you said this, Brian, if you were to just listen to it and not actually watch it, yeah, it would have still been the same reaction, the same material, everything like that. So I didn't feel like there was anything visually that was impactful that gave it cinematic quality.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Excellent.
SPEAKER_01That's very um I went four out of five. Okay. Wow. All right. I mean, it's I don't know, it like it wasn't top notch. I I I admit or agree or recognize that like the whole intro story scene with him jumping out of the helicopter is disjointed or whatnot, but like I liked it. I thought it's like, okay, this this has got my attention, this is different. This is interesting.
SPEAKER_02Something new.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, what what's he doing? You know, and it and I thought it was kind of cute and cool that he he made a transition from what whatever that was to the stage. Yeah. With him walking in. Like it it was like a little story. Um anyway, I liked that and I liked how it showed the prep that he went to doing his own stunt.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01At the end, the credits. That's two-thirds of the cinematic quality, is how it starts and how it ends. Yeah. And then the rest is whether they show the audience or not during laughs and the changing the camera angles. And to me, the changing of the camera angles were was kind of jumpy. Like it was I won't say it wasn't unnerving, but it was just distracting, it got as distracting a little bit. So and not put it down to a four out of five from five.
SPEAKER_02That's interesting. So I did a two out of five, some good, some bad. Um, and what the thing I noted noted there is some sudden cuts. Like they were just like the the editing was abrupt. Like there were some things where it was just like just like no, I don't know. It just seemed like really like he's at a different angle. He's at a different angle, he's at a different angle, you know. Like, and that distracted me for a minute, like when I was watching it, and I was like, okay, this that's not it needs to be like some somehow smoother or something. I don't know. Um, so it it I that bothered me a little bit. Um it still was you know, still looked nice, but um, but yeah, some good, some bad. Two out of five. So, all right, now we're all the way back to the beginning. We're wrapping back around per Tabitha's suggestion to the titular question. Laughs per minute out of ten. How frequently did the comedian generate laughs? Uh Tabitha, you want to start us out?
SPEAKER_00Do you really want me to go first?
SPEAKER_02Nick, you want to start us out?
SPEAKER_00Go ahead, Nick. I'm gonna pass the ball to you.
SPEAKER_01I did an eight out of ten. I think there were any laughs throughout. Um not quite frequent strong laughter. I felt like they were, it was frequent, but it wasn't strong. So I did an eight and a half. Um and we we sort of touched on some of those reasons already, right? Like the how he seemed to have a dial on the audience and getting them to laugh as much in quality and as much in quantity as he wanted. Um so yeah, I gave an eight and a half out of ten.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. All right, Tabitha, drop it. Let's go.
SPEAKER_00All right, I'm gonna drop it. It's a three.
SPEAKER_02Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I I did. So let me let me just explain this for a moment. Sure. I laughed three times. And when I mean, okay, laughter for me, yeah, is just I mean it just comes out and the whole house hears it. It is like true laughter. And so I only had three laughs, so I gave him a three, and the description fits how I was thinking.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Because and then also just me. I always have a smile, I'm always kind of giggly or whatever. So it's gonna be a pretty strong laugh for me to capture it as a laugh.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I I just didn't really get that with him. It was funny, but a true laugh, a three.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I probably need some clarification on that because like because a lot of times we've been rating this based on how frequently did he generate laughs in the audience, and you interpret that as how frequently did he generate laughs in me.
SPEAKER_00And so I did, yes.
SPEAKER_02But that's fine. That's I I mean, it's it. I I was reading it and I was like, oh, yeah, I could see how exactly how you would think that part. And like, and it also doesn't matter. Like, that's that's perfectly legitimate, you know.
SPEAKER_00So the audience, right?
SPEAKER_02Right, right. Yeah, but it's like I said, Nick and I have been doing it based on that, but it's like I said, when I read the question again, I'm like, oh yeah, that's that. I mean, how frequently did the comedian generate laughs? It doesn't say from who, and so you you're like, Yeah, how he didn't make me laugh, so I'm the one that matters here, you know.
SPEAKER_00Like it's all about Tabitha, yeah, right.
SPEAKER_01Maybe if he had recognized that, maybe you would have had a better set.
SPEAKER_00You know, maybe I should send this to him.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we should actually, that's what we should do from now on, Nick. We should start signing these and then just mailing them to the comedians.
SPEAKER_00Just here's our he's not gonna change. He is now in his 70s, he said at age 65, he didn't care, but once he hit 70, he definitely didn't care. So he's that's what makes it funny. Yeah, yeah, that's what makes it funny. I know, but at this point, he's not gonna change just because we send him our review.
SPEAKER_02Maybe you never know, you know. Um, so I I'm actually I was at an eight and a half, but I'm actually based on what you said, Tap, I'm gonna drop mine to a seven. Um, and part of the reason why I said I did laugh. I I laughed more than three times personally, but then I'm gonna combine that with what the audience was doing and at the live event. I I I feel confident that if I was at that live event, I would be laughing right with the audience and you know, uh as many times as they did. So um, but I I think also maybe I was patting that score a little bit, so with an eight and a half.
SPEAKER_01So seven. I have I have to know, tablet. Do you remember any of the three times? What what joke or what bit out of the three you laughed at? And maybe this is a good thing.
SPEAKER_02Actually, that goes, I was gonna say it goes right into our next thing.
SPEAKER_01What was your favorite joke, right?
SPEAKER_00Well, my favorite joke was the Pop Tarts. Uh because I so I have not crossed over into the Uncrestables, but yeah. No, like everybody talks about them, and I just haven't crossed over into them, particularly because my son actually was not a peanut butter and jelly child. He was actually a ham and mustard child.
SPEAKER_02Uh yeah, that's a good one.
SPEAKER_00That's a good one. I mean, I was like, okay, why did you give me this corrupt child who doesn't like PB and J's? Like every child loves a peanut butter and jelly. No, not my child, no. Um so, anyways, so I haven't crossed over to the uncrestables. But let me tell you, the Pop Tarts that is a game changer. I mean, come on. And then he talks about there's two in the package and there's two slots in the toaster. I mean, it was perfect. Like there is no fault with the Pop Tart. The Pop Tart is just an incredible uh invention. I would say the same about uncrustables, but I have not yet tried them. So stay tuned to that. Maybe they are the greatest thing to a Pop Tart. So the Pop Tart was definitely my memorable one.
SPEAKER_03Nice.
SPEAKER_00And it has to be a frosted Pop Tart.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah. Unfrosted? Are you crazy? Like who needs an unfrosted Pop Tart? Seriously.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, probably. And I am also very classic, so it's gotta be the strawberry.
SPEAKER_02Oh, that's yeah, yeah, that's good.
SPEAKER_00Maybe that's you don't need to mess up a good thing.
SPEAKER_02Uh um, I like the I like the brown sugar, brown sugar one. That that one's really good.
SPEAKER_01Hey, so long as they're frosted, we can all continue to speak.
SPEAKER_02Right, exactly. Exactly.
SPEAKER_01My favorite was at the very start, which uh was the ordeal of going out. You know, that you got the tickets, you hungry? Oh, I'm stuffed. I didn't need I don't have his Jolly Ranchers all day.
SPEAKER_02I need something solid.
SPEAKER_01Like you one car, two car, your car, my car.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, it's on the way. No, it's the opposite side of town. Like, yeah, uh totally related to that.
SPEAKER_02So I'll tell so since you brought that joke up, uh, that's there's two things that I'll say. This is sort of like not to be like a downer or whatever thing, but there were two jokes in there that were if they weren't stolen, they were very, very close to being stolen. So the first joke, his opening one, is a joke that Pete Holmes did in one of his albums. Very the opening bit, everything about hey, you got out, this is great. And it's not exactly, but the premise is exactly the same. Like, oh man, it's so hard to go out, it's much easier to stay in, and you're out here with us, and here it is, and we're out. Guy, this is great, you know. And um, and he he put his own twist on it, I'll say that, but it was that. And the other one is when he made mention of uh the the motion sensors in the bathroom, and saying, like he's he he actually specifically said, like, oh, sometimes with the sink you have to do this David David Copperfield magic kind of thing. Well, Dimitri Martin did an exact bit about that, being a sorcerer and having to get having to do like he's his exact quote was sometimes in the in the in the restroom you you turn into a shitty magician because you have to get the stuff out. So um, so anyway, I would that sort of took me out, especially somebody who listens to a lot of comedy. I'm like, I've heard this bit before. Like, you can do better than that, Jerry. Like you, you you're Jerry Seinfeld, you have hundreds of millions of dollars, and all you have to do is write. So you like, and I know you can't know every single comedian that sold every single bit, but that was pretty standard fair, you know? Um, and they they were very, very close, like I said. And and I know for a fact the other comedians did it before he did because I looked up the dates on their albums. So whoa.
SPEAKER_01Anyway, fact-checking or I guess joke-checking Seinfeld.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exactly. Um also, oh so did you finish your favorite? Yeah, you finished your favorite one. So my favorite one was was was talking about going into the porta-potties and coming out like a combat combat veteran with like like somebody that's got PTSD, like, oh no, I'm gonna be, it's fine, I'm gonna be fine. I just I need a little time. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'll be, it's okay. I'll I'm gonna be fine. Like, you know, like that kind of same, like that self-talk or whatever. And then, and then also never marry someone that comes out of a porta-potty and says, Hey, it's not that bad in there. You're like, no, don't marry that person, you know. That's hey, if you want to put that, Tabitha, if you want to put that on there, that's something qualified candidate cannot go into a porta-potty and say, it's it's not that bad in there, you know. Um, I thought that was hilarious. That that was cracking me up just because we've all been in that situation where it's like a hot summer day and you go into a porta-potty. Yeah, see, Nick is Nick.
SPEAKER_03That's what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_02That's what I'm saying. We've all been there, and when you do come out a different person, you're like, uh, uh, uh, uh, I gotta go home and shower. I gotta I touched nothing, and then you just liked I also liked, and I thought Nick would like this too. This is like adjacent to this, is he does a lot of what are those called? Acronyms, where it's like the letters of things turn into the words, and he did portable toilet spring door TTSD. And then he also did, he also did for golf, get out, leave family. So like he had a he had multiple times where he did these like sort of things like that, which I thought I think that's very clever. I like when people do things like that. It's I I do things like that, I think it's funny. Um I try to do things like that. I also like that he changed the B on bucket list to an F and he had that list as well, but it which is to me really, really cool comic comic technique. He didn't have to say the word, but he got everyone thought the word at exactly the same time, and it was just as funny as if he had said the word, and so he kept his comedy somewhat clean without having to drop an F bomb. Yeah, and but he got the benefit of an F bomb. So I thought that's I think that that's the kind of stuff that I love. I love to see that in com comedians like doing stuff like that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I like I like it when you can make dirty jokes to HR and not get in trouble.
SPEAKER_02Yes, exactly, exactly.
SPEAKER_01And then the this the special only had a TV 14 rating, by the way.
SPEAKER_02Oh, really? Yeah, no, and he didn't, I mean, he didn't really say, I mean, I think he said like he dropped a couple of GDs in there. I think he said son of a bitch one time.
SPEAKER_00Um I think that's not a bad phrase.
SPEAKER_02No, I know it's not. What I'm saying is like he that's like the little yeah, he kept it tame, is what I'm saying. So like, you know, um the other thing I'll say the last thing that I say is in the in the this is what this one wasn't funny, but to me identifiable as the curmudgeonly thing is when he said, let's see, what else is annoying in the world besides everything? I was like that, and then I'll do one more. So one more thing I noticed. This is not no, these aren't my favorites. These are just these are just highlights I'm pointing out. Okay, sorry. I'll go, let's go to the next thing. What's the what was the most retellable joke?
SPEAKER_01Oh that was this is the only time Tabitha hit her funny bone.
SPEAKER_02Right. She's laughing more at this than she is at the Seinfeld, you know.
SPEAKER_01Mine was I'd have to only change one one part. Um he he says fathers, but for me it would be all all men my age essentially dress in the clothing style of of their last good year of their life.
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_01Whatever a man was wearing the time he was married is what he wears as his fashion for the rest of his life. Like, yeah, that's me. That's yeah, that's something I can like admit to when anybody comments on my cargo pants or my flip flat shirt.
SPEAKER_02I'm like, oh yeah, 1999? Okay, got it. Yes, Charlotte.
SPEAKER_001999 was just yesterday.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, right. A couple of years ago. Just a couple years ago. Yeah. I'm partying like it's 1999.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. Every day. Every day.
SPEAKER_01That was not only my retellable, that was my best attempt. Maybe not my best, but that was my attempt at retelling that joke.
SPEAKER_00Now, I did have a split personality moment with that bucket list changing over to the edge.
SPEAKER_03Yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Because so I still have dreams and aspirations. Apparently, Jerry does not.
SPEAKER_03Right, right.
SPEAKER_00Just based on that statement alone. So at first I was like, oh yeah, that's funny. And then I'm like, well, now wait, hold on a second. I still got dreams over here. I still got a bucket list and I'm crossing off things. Why are you calling this something else? So yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Well, that's what I was gonna say. It's like speaking of philosophical, I'll tell you my the the retellable joke that I said is the sucks and great are so close, you know? Where he's like, you know, talking about like you have an ice cream cone and it falls on the ground and you know, like like uh great, you know, like it's like, well, that sucks, great, you know. And um the the other thing I was gonna say about that is on a philos philosophical level, I think that's funny. Like the sucks and greater so close is like tapping into something right now, which is the homogenization of everything. So everything is getting closer to the center, everything's getting closer, you know, and and we're all going through that same experience where we're like, yeah, life sucks, but also life's also great. But it's like, yeah, but it's sort of like intertwined, and like I get like three minutes of great every day, and I get 12 minutes of suck, and then the rest is just sort of gray. And so I said, like in here, like you know, there's there's a whole article that's happening right now, or thing that I read recently that was talking about the color leaving America. Like, there's no everybody drives a gray, white, or or black car. Um, if you look at movies, even like look at movies now, and then look at movies from like the 60s. The they had technicolor and they had like everything was bright colors, and all the and fashions were bright colors, and now everyone's like gray and black and dark green, and like Nick's wearing right now, you know? Um so you know.
SPEAKER_01I I showed you a particular finger for those of you listening. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00No, I think that could also be a guy thing versus a girl thing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, I think you're right.
SPEAKER_00Because I cannot stand to wear monotone clothes. I gotta have some color in my life. Yeah, and some fun.
SPEAKER_02I like how I was making fun of Nick's Nick's thing, and I'm wearing a navy blue shirt and gray pants.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, you're kind of right there in the same same place.
SPEAKER_02Hey, pot, here's the kettle.
SPEAKER_01Um the the the neutral kettle calling the the pot gray.
SPEAKER_02Right, exactly, exactly. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um where did our total scores end up at?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's good. I know she's like taking the taking the week. Like, let's wrap this thing up, people. Come on. You're like, my dog, my dog is getting hungry. I gotta go feed her. I gotta do fed.
SPEAKER_00He did, I don't know what he wants. Um so no, I'm a statistic analytical person. I love numbers. So I came in still under the 50 mark.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Came in at 48.
SPEAKER_01Even that's after your recent adjustments?
SPEAKER_00Yes. Before my adjustments, it was a 44.
SPEAKER_01Are there any subjective points you just want to throw one way or the other? You're not a you're not a CPA, so you can do this like because because you like the guy, do you want to throw in four points? Or because you're so disappointed in meeting your hero, do you want to take away four points or ten points or two points?
SPEAKER_00Okay, well, uh here's what I will say is uh my score sheet would have been completely different if I was scoring the TV show.
SPEAKER_03Sure. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Just just throwing that out there.
SPEAKER_01Okay, if if we experiment with TV shows and not just com comedy specials, right, you'll you'll be the first recall.
SPEAKER_00I'm on the but I do want to do another comedy special. Okay, we will talk about that offline.
SPEAKER_03Sounds good. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Because I felt a little not cheated, but I just I was like, you know, I picked a really good dud, in my opinion.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, we should have a good time before the record and on the record. So let's get through the full experience. Um you so you said what 48?
SPEAKER_0248, all right.
SPEAKER_01Mine mine was 71. I I didn't do any modifiers. I think this is the first time I've I've not done any modifiers one way or the other. Um but yeah, that's that's what the total worked out to be.
SPEAKER_02I ended up at a 67, and you have to know, like, I was since I changed a lot of stuff. I'm gonna add uh just because I like Jerry Seinfeld, I'm gonna add three to make it an even 70, which is basically seven out of ten for a score.
SPEAKER_01So hey, that's math.
SPEAKER_02Math, guys. Anyway, yeah, so 70, I think, is where I would like this to be. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Tables, is there anything you want to say to the audience, particularly the potentially qualified candidates of how I mean I've already sprinkled little caveats throughout this podcast.
SPEAKER_00So if you didn't pick those up, you're probably not qualified.
SPEAKER_02Hey, you know, sometimes sometimes men listen and most of the time they don't.
SPEAKER_01I see. So they can get they could if they paid close attention to everything you said, they could get your email address out of it, right?
SPEAKER_00Like the first letter of each sentence, and then I don't know if that was actually embedded in there. I mean, maybe if you read between the lines, which again, I did say this, I don't make assumptions. So if you want to know something, you just ask and I will answer. It may not be the answer that you're looking for, but it's going to be an honest answer. So, because again, I'm not gonna sugarcoat, not gonna none of that stuff. I don't have time for that. Um no, I mean this was really great. Thank you so much for inviting me. I do want to do a a redo because I felt really bad literally coming in under 50 points for this special, and I picked it. So that's even worse. I picked a sp special and it got a terrible score from me. So I would like a redo.
SPEAKER_01I I understand I also greatly admire your integrity.
SPEAKER_00I'm accountable, I'm reliable, I'm dependable, and I have integrity and ethics. That probably scares off 90% of the eligible people out there.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay. So qualified candidates, she also hates men. She loves men and she hates men, just to be advised. Right. I think Brandon, you get your score, so that's that's that's it, right?
SPEAKER_02Yep, it is what it is. Yep.
SPEAKER_01Mine was not clear air in your direction. That was strawberry in your direction.
SPEAKER_02All right. Well, I think that's what we got. We did okay. We're like, we're we're under an hour and a half. That's good. We only did like half an hour more than the actual special we were reviewing, so that's good. No worries.
SPEAKER_00Because we had to add in my humor, my you know, selling technique for any eligible bachelor's that.
SPEAKER_02Right, right. Yeah. Oh, there's bachelor's too.
SPEAKER_01Valuable so not Mary, that's just an important thing to call it.
SPEAKER_00So if you yeah, if you need- Oh my goodness, did that really need to be said? I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it didn't. I'm going for a low hanging, poorly executed joke. And yeah.
SPEAKER_00She needs to be legally single.
SPEAKER_02If you wanna if you want to be put in contact with Tabitha, just send a message to last for a minute. Go on our Instagram page or something like that, and we'll get you in contact with it. Okay.
SPEAKER_01That's making it just many of the service as we provide here. Exactly. Exactly.
SPEAKER_02All right, till next time. See ya. See you.
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