Netflix Instant Nudge: Comedy Central Presents

Let's go back to the well for this one. Go watch Big Jay Oakerson (#14 on the list) do a solid 20 minute set.

His delivery is calm, indifferent, confident, sarcastic, and consistent. It's a little bit Dave Attell, a smidgen Ron White, a splash of Robert Schimmel. And he's putting out good stuff. He throws a lot of very quick jabs into his material getting laughs along the way without breaking rhythm.

Oakerson has a following, and it's gotta be growing. He did some writing for Chappelle's Show, he has toured with Korn, performed at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal, and in the last few weeks he's been jumping across the country headlining. A New York comedian, he's headed out west for some shows on that coast. He'll be at Punchline, this week in San Francisco, next week in Sacramento.

There's an interesting moment in his CC set, towards the end, where he makes a claim and someone in the audience disagrees with it unnecessarily, simply saying "No" while Oakerson's in the middle of the bit. And it's one of those ridiculous Nos that's obviously false, and not intended as an actual belief, but put out only for the sake of making a stubborn little joke. It's barely a heckle.

Oakerson brushes the comment aside, unfazed, and plows thru the bit as if the opinion didn't matter at all. He doesn't argue, pursue, or acknowledge any minimal value of the dissent. He stays in charge and does his act from his perspective. He moves so forcefully and smoothly thru it, that I probably wouldn't have noticed it if my OCD for marking each line hadn't been kicked up a notch by a pot of coffee. The word to hold on to: unfazed. That's how I'd describe his act. With all the benefits it implies.

Still. They should spray that type of audience member with a permanent dye to mark them and keep them out of any more shows.

Uncut Schimmel Interview at Punchline Magazine

Over at Punchline Magazine, Dylan Gadino has posted an uncircumcised video of an interview with Robert Schimmel. It was shot in January of 2009, and presented as one of the Tight Five interviews. The video as posted contains an extra, never-seen, 20 minutes.


Schimmel talks about ignoring the advice he got early on to not be so sexually graphic. He talks about ignoring the advice he got later on to not talk about his cancer. He talks about his kids, his appreciation of Dane Cook, and he explains what a strawberry shortcake is. It's not sweet.

Gadino writes a nice tribute to accompany the video, remembering Schimmel as "frail-looking and diminutive" but with a calming and "Zen-like" presence.

Robert Schimmel Dies of Injuries from Car Accident

Robert Schimmel died on Friday, September 3. On August 26, he was in serious car accident and seriously injured. According to Schimmel's sister, health issues with his liver, for which he was awaiting a transplant, had complicated his injuries.

Schimmel was a cancer survivor, having undergone chemotherapy for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. The cancer went into remission. Earlier this year he revealed that a hepatitis-C infection had led to cirrhosis. On his Facebook page and on Twitter, Schimmel provided his fans with regular news about his treatment. On August 26th he announced that he had just received news that a "living donor didn't work out."

Later that day he posted on his facebook wall,

"they're going to have to knock out my immune system so i don't reject the donor organ. there goes that fantasy with two hookers at the chicken ranch."

His humor was typically at least that irreverent and focused on sex. One of the first jokes I remember hearing of his was about having a string of beads shoved up his ass which he was promised would make him "come like a wildcat." It worked. Sorta.

But it wasn't all sex. He also told a story about shitting in his cat's litter box. The guy had class. From most accounts, the kind that matters.