Austin's Comedy Bucket Pulls into National Politics
31/Oct 2024
Last week, I went to a comedy club (been over a decade) to see KillTony comedians and it was the peak of my two month fascination. Three days later, Tony did some of his set at the MSG Trump Rally. Thanks for the laughs, but now that I have to explain why you’re funny, it means you are not anymore: it was a gut-punchline straight to the Paradox of Tolerance and an unsubscribe.
The Setup
Austin is known as the live music capitol of America (Nashville is a friendly rival for the title), but over the past few years, it has accelerated as a comedy incubator for the US and probably the world. Austin is now the third or fourth comedy capitol behind NY and LA, because I suspect Chicago’s longer history is a bigger scene (SCTV, etc.). There’s a lot of self proclamation around popularity these days without evidence.
Joe Rogan’s career started in the late 90’s as a comedian in Los Angeles and he has had incredible success since 2010 as a podcaster. His move to Austin in 2020 has anchored Austin’s comedy scene rebuilding during COVID-19 because Texas generally allowed business to remain fully open. Rogan opened the Comedy Mothership club on 6th street in 2023 and his pod cast’s original producer, Brian Redban, is partial owner of Sunset Strip comedy club down the street. The building’s history as the flagship Alamo Drafthouse theater (went into bankruptcy during COVID-19, recently purchased by Sony in June, 2024) goes back further.
KillTony is a live comedy show/pod cast with mostly amateurs performing a one minute act followed by a panel interview and critique: similar to America’s Got Talent format. It is a popular, free pod cast (typically over a million views after a day on YouTube) and it takes place Monday nights each week at Rogan’s club. Over two-hundred people sign up to be a random bucket pull and a chance at comedy stardom. The host and creator, Tony Hinchcliffe, shares Redban as a co-host and started the pod cast in 2013 in LA and moved it to Austin in 2020. I heard an interview that revealed the show’s name is based on Kill Bill, but it is an effort to train a school of comedy assassins.
The Dysfunctional Tolerance Comedy Show?
It is funny, because on the pod cast everything is fair game for comedy, including Tony, who frequently adds self-deprecating humor. This tolerance allows experimentation: a random meritocracy of comedy from the commons. It results in some brilliant, smart humor that I found addictive and democratic because of the random, wide spectrum of people and experience (from the homeless to professionals). Because I try to stay open minded, I would endure the inevitable degrade to derogatory tropes. If the tropes were astute and fair, I would laugh, but I had to tolerate jokes that missed because they were made at the expense of gender, race, weight, sexual orientation, foreigners: usually political, ethnic, and religious mis-characterizations. Comedy is subjective, but cheap, low-brow, unfair, illogical, or disprovable “jokes” do not qualify as comedy; they qualify as noise and poor quality and impulse control.
As I tolerated all of this, free speech and anti-censorship advocacy would occasionally happen, which I support. But I do not support free speech as a guise to justify intolerant speech: it is an exploit tactic and an excuse to evolve to hate speech. I learned that Tony’s been canceled before and the show definitely trends conservative and Republican endorsing, anti-gun control, etc. with a major exception: ridicule of anyone banning abortion rights. As I watched more episodes, I asked myself: how much was I being indoctrinated to these viewpoints through comedy because of addiction to those few, brilliant moments? Can smart comedians still have inherent, perhaps unconscious, bias which prevents empathy, critical thinking, and intellectual honesty for those low-brow situations?
I imagined what material I would create and how I could perform a minute of comedy. I have public speaking skills, but one constant piece of advice on the show is to speak your truth: use your experience. Is my life funny and appealing enough to merit topics for a general audience? Most of my life is “boring” because we work to have an anti-drama household, my family quirks are fun criticism, but it takes time to wash away and reach the underlying truth and raise the quality. I’m working on it, but I try to make everyone laugh more now (with some success), and I like the change! I don’t think I am quick witted enough to compare with the best comedians, so this long-form blog entry is my public writing mechanism.
I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time. –Blaise Pascal, provincial letter, 1656
Many comedians admit that they have dysfunctional lives in some form: the interview portion of the show frequently reveals this. There are a few comedy truths that dysfunctional people ignore:
- If a joke requires explanation (afterwards) for why it is funny, then the delivery or topic was missed in some manner, because it is not funny for the audience.
- When the person or group topic of comedy is not mutually shared with the audience, then it is roasting.
- If the event is a roast, asymmetrical jokes are focused around the honoree, who is allowed a final rebuttal which makes the format fair.
- Public political discourse is not a roast unless that is format of the event, e.g.: White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
I do not claim that I, any political party, religion, or etc. is immune from dysfunctionality: we all have work to do to improve. My point is that intolerant “comedy” doesn’t promote truth where we can celebrate and laugh at differences, it promotes division, which fosters hate. That’s not subjective; most material comes down on a positive or a negative side of the topic. Comedy takes intelligence to establish a novel viewpoint on the truth of our shared experience, this is why I look to comedy to help society heal. But intolerant “jokes” damage and widen societal gaps, preventing us from doing the hard work to improve.
My hypothesis: if you have a catastrophic family failure in your upbringing, your ability to love (yourself and have empathy for others) is stunted and impaired, replaced by coping behaviors for emotional survival. For most, this is a lifelong condition, and our brains become resistant to change as we age. These coping behaviors can go to various extremes (like paranoia or extreme fundamentalist identity), but my general observation is a greater selfishness, distrust, and pre-judgement. This emotional immaturity impairs critical thought and self-awareness, no matter how “smart” one is. Self-reform is rare, security is based on tribalism, and authoritarian manipulation to reform society is appealing.
Intolerance and disdain for the other, often with hyper-critical mis-characterization, is something I see across many of my Republican, conservative family, friends, and legislator’s rhetoric. Of course, this can be anyone, so there are exceptions and traitors to any stereotype, but that is the side of the political spectrum they fall on. Gut check: my political bias isn’t exclusive, I prefer to vote independent and have voted for candidates in each party. I have disdain for the ultra-left who justify fundamental extremes and fascist speech.
So I ask: how many short-term intolerant wins cost our society long-term damage; how much can we delay national reconciliation by advancing a breakdown, which could lead to mob violence and escalation to civil war?
“Violence,” came the retort, “is the last refuge of the incompetent.” –Issac Asimov, Foundation, 1951
Tony’s “anything goes,” anti-censorship stance for comedy doesn’t mean that a jackass deserves any more attention than was initially good-willed to them for a tolerant atmosphere where comedy can flourish. As a gatekeeper, he can decide that an increase in low-brow humor and the controversy that follows might be good for the show, making it more popular, and a fickle race to the bottom. But when he is the comedy performer, he should apply the rules of quality to himself and his audience.
Have I finally uncovered why the US Presidential Race is so close?
Critical thought reveals faults with each candidate, but there can be no comparison when the pros and cons are tallied. I conclude that dysfunctionality applies to nearly half of the US voting population for Trump: aside from his constant lies, impeachments, and felonies, he has told us how he will hurt the economy, punish comedians, and end the democratic transfer of power.
The former president is a hypocrite because he will: not defend the https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/, put people in place to implement Project 2025 who wrote it, and promote American intolerant exceptionalism to reverse most of what built the greatest democracy, economy, and global beacon of freedom in history.
The ‘3.5% rule’: How a Small Minority can Change the World
My Punchline and a Look Back
So that’s our setup for Austin comedy bucket pull joke, now for the punchline: I went from nothing, built to a two month peak, and quit five days later: I killed Tony in my life with an unsubscribe.
One of my colleagues, who occupies the opposite spectrum on political issues, shared the KillTony episode 672, which followed the first Presidential Debate (disastrous for Biden: it led to the Harris pivot). It starred two professional comedians satirizing the candidates and judging the bucket pulls. Nothing makes the same impact as your first impression of a media property, but after two months of exploring current and past episodes, my fascination was building. In hindsight, because I cried tears of laughter a few times, that episode was the height of the pod cast.
My comedy peak happened last Thursday night, October, 24 with Redban’s Secret Show at his club. It was a cash US$20 cover at the door plus ~$25 for two drinks+tip. There probably wasn’t a better comedy bang for the buck: ten minute sets from these great performers, most from Tony’s show:
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Drew Nickens
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Hans Kim
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Enrique Chacón
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Brian Holtzman
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Martin Phillips
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Tony Hinchcliffe: practicing and testing new material, some showed up a few days later.
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Kam Patterson
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Unknown comedian: high energy, professional from Canada
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Ari Matti
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Unknown comedian, intelligent, I would like to find him again: Chris?
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Unknown comedian: a little random when stood on front row seats and read from his phone, from LA
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Andy Rodriguez?
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Unknown comedian, big dude: closer
After a musical opener, Redban did a quick welcome, comedy set, and said sixteen performers were scheduled! I am still tracking down some of the names, perhaps I forgot a few performances, but it is more likely a few didn’t make it to stage. The club prohibits access to mobile phones, the web site doesn’t reveal who was there.
Three days later, Tony punched down on Puerto Rico (skip to 3:24). It isn’t funny because this was a punchline to the gut; it wasn’t a roast and it wasn’t fair. I saw the news on Monday and the same day, I unsubscribed from his channel/pod cast because the magic was gone: you can’t tolerate intolerance. This is the paradox of tolerance.
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/08/1014208767/trumps-america-and-why-the-cruelty-is-the-point
The Next Show?
To conclude, my two month fascination with Austin’s comedy incubator peaked last Thursday night and flipped to unsubscribe the next week due to intolerant “comedy” at a national presidential political rally. It was a straight line that spanned a few days with the same comedian and innovator.
I plan to see comedians (maybe some KillTony veterans) at other venues in Austin, I want to be supportive of the show’s band, but I will not take my business to Rogan, Redban, or Hinchcliffe anymore on or off-line. Thanks for the laughs, but now that I have to explain why something is or isn’t funny, it ain’t [sic].
Maybe I’ll make an exception in a moment of weakness or when I host visitors in person, but I’m unhappy about my new stance because of the loss. It is mature to promote tolerance across our society by demoting intolerance. It is a conscious burden to carry, because it would be easier to tolerate this vein of comedy business for the brilliant moments. I don’t think my choice could be the same for half of America most of the time: because it so much perception of reality is wrapped up in identity, lifestyle, and inherited value systems that I reject or remain skeptical of and evaluate on it’s merits.
Would I be happier if I didn’t care and could be a hypocrite? I already know the answer, because I can be self-critical and ask myself that question. I think my choice will become a less painful as I come down from the peak and establish a new equilibrium: this is what responsible adults do.
November 5th continues the democratic process; what kind of punchline is coming for the United States?