Dave Attell & Jeff Ross - Bumping Mics

[up_the_hampipe]

3-part Netflix docuspecial thing. It covers 3 nights of Dave Attell and Jeff Ross at the Comedy Cellar roasting each other, the audience, telling jokes, with lots of special guests (Gilbert Gottfried, Bob Saget, Michelle Wolf, Amy Schumer, Bruce Willis, Paul Rudd, to name a few). It's a nice peak inside those New York comedy club shows you hear about when a bunch of big names just drop in to hang out. It's nice that it seems so unpolished, just feels like being a fly on the wall of a club night. There's some great jokes, some lazy ones (your typical Jeff Ross menu) but plenty to enjoy. Check it out!

[cliggg]

I watched the first 2 last night. I love Jeff Ross, but have never really cared for Dave Attell. Like yourself I liked the laid back feel of it all and of course the humour (the Stephen Hawking joke had me in tears). I found myself warming to Dave too which surprised me.

[up_the_hampipe]

Dave Attell is a great comic, one of my favourites. I'd recommend checking out his album Skanks For The Memories, or Road Work on Netflix.

[cliggg]

Dave Attell is a great comic, one of my favourites. I'd recommend checking out his album Skanks For The Memories, or Road Work on Netflix.

Thanks i'll check them out!

[PlasticTom]

I've watched and listened to a lot of Attell since hearing the praise he gets from Mark and Joe on Tuesdays With Stories podcast. I'd be hard pushed to think of a more naturally funny, quick-witted comedian. Maybe Frank Skinner?

Anyway, this looks great, thanks

[rasta-spouse]

Big Insomniac fan, so I check out most things Attell. He's difficult though, because conversationally he's a brilliant sharpshooting guy, but I find his stand-up a bit dumbed-down.

Saw the first ep - it was okay. A bit too cosy and staged.

[Sin Agog]

Liked it.

I do wonder what it is about Attell that makes so many different types of comics, from Patrice O'Neal to Marc Maron, call him their favourite.  It must be the same reason why so many devout hip-hop fans will still cite Tupac as their number 1- he defines the genre.  Attell fits so many of the NY comic conventions, gruff, Jewish, acerbic, slightly broken, and is clearly someone who's spent his whole life marinating on the art of joke telling.  But he's too by the book to ever really kill me.  Bumping Mics reminded a bit of that Gervais Talking Comedy thing at times, in which Ross and Attell go mental for, y'know, a pretty decent joke, as if you must be missing something if you don't see the craft involved.

Still liked it, though.  Had a similar vibe to that Jeff Ross prison special.  Like how he is clearly a people-hungry extrovert, and Attell is locked away in his head.  Good guests, too.  Really surprised Gilbert Gottfried agreed to hang out at the restaurant afterwards.  He's not a hanger outer.  The free food must have won out.

[up_the_hampipe]

On Attell, how much have you seen? He's not best represented in this show, he comes off a bit restrained. He's so revered because he's a killer, the comics genuinely find him hilarious, if you watch his specials or listen to his albums (i.e. the ones I've recommended above) it's easy to see why he's respected. He's can own any club he performs in, feeding off the rowdy crowds, just a rapid-fire filthy absurd joke machine, with mannerisms and delivery that may seem "by the book" but only because so many comics have been copying him.

[Bennett Brauer]

Just a couple of guys breaking each other's balls, is all.

Seriously though, I love you man...

Did you hear yet another one about the 15-year-old Jewish girl who died in Belsen?

[Rolf Lundgren]

It was fun, I always like watching Jeff Ross and I like the idea of two comics on stage at the same time. The constant bumping of mics was a rubbish gimmick though. I know that's the point of the show but it was too self congratulatory, if a joke is funny just laugh at it.

[rasta-spouse]

Second episode was a lot of fun. Jeff Ross eagerly playing with nunchucks is funny in itself, and the Roseanne twitter joke was a slam dunk.

Just wondering about Attell, I listened to Howard Stern interviewing him - turns out he put 300k of his own money into Dave's Old Porn. And thus became broke. Don't know if anyone saw that show but it's really hard to appreciate comedy while blue movies are playing.

[Famous Mortimer]

Dave's Old Porn was a pretty weird idea, and I don't think it really worked. But this sounds great.

[rasta-spouse]

Dave's Old Porn was a pretty weird idea

Seems like it was a real passion project for Dave. Strange how Showtime let him put his own coin into though. And yeah, it kind of sucked (get it?!!).

[up_the_hampipe]

I liked Dave's Old Porn, depending on the guests. Some of the pornstars were unsurprisingly weird, but there were some great comics on there throwing around some good jokes.

*Attell and Marc Maron watching a threesome with two guys and a girl*
Attell: Which guy do you most relate to here?
Maron: The camera guy

[Bennett Brauer]

I liked Dave's Old Porn, depending on the guests. Some of the pornstars were unsurprisingly weird, but there were some great comics on there throwing around some good jokes.

*Attell and Marc Maron watching a threesome with two guys and a girl*
Attell: Which guy do you most relate to here?
Maron: The camera guy

Never heard of it before this thread, even though I'm familiar with Attell. Just saw a brief clip it on youtube and (shitty youtube stabilizer aside) it's difficult to look at. First impression anyway. Odd to put so much of his money into something so offbeat.

I do think he gets funnier with age though - his deadpan seems more real. And other comics say they worry about him, but he still looks in better condition than Ross and Gottfried.

[rasta-spouse]

Third ep quite good as well - I wouldn't mind these being longer and less edited. (also why was Hassan Minahj's appearance in ep2 edited to a microsecond - did he die, or were there off-colour jokes a plenty?)

Seems like Dave really nails the put downs, and then Jeff Ross just looks on smiling with nothing to say back. Am I right in thinking Ross has only got his Roast King reputation from relying on a squad of 20 to 30 harvard writers per roast and has no talent of his own? Whenever he's on a CC panel show he gets slammed more than anyone else and never has a witty comeback (I remember this on the Jeselnik Offensive especially).   

Anyone know any great Attell podcast appearances? He really needs one of his own.

[up_the_hampipe]

Never heard of it before this thread, even though I'm familiar with Attell. Just saw a brief clip it on youtube and (shitty youtube stabilizer aside) it's difficult to look at. First impression anyway. Odd to put so much of his money into something so offbeat.

I can't imagine there's any good clips on YouTube. Probably heavily censored.

Seems like Dave really nails the put downs, and then Jeff Ross just looks on smiling with nothing to say back. Am I right in thinking Ross has only got his Roast King reputation from relying on a squad of 20 to 30 harvard writers per roast and has no talent of his own? Whenever he's on a CC panel show he gets slammed more than anyone else and never has a witty comeback (I remember this on the Jeselnik Offensive especially).   

Anyone know any great Attell podcast appearances? He really needs one of his own.

Not really fair to say he has no talent of his own. He got into the Friars Club and became a notable roast presence on his own material, but he has got more help from writers as his profile has risen. He probably wrote most of the material you heard in Bumping Mics himself.

Attell can be quite dull and serious on podcasts, but Ross & Attell were on Joe Rogan last week if you're interested. It's 3 hours long.

[EOLAN]

Third ep quite good as well - I wouldn't mind these being longer and less edited. (also why was Hassan Minahj's appearance in ep2 edited to a microsecond - did he die, or were there off-colour jokes a plenty?)

Seems like Dave really nails the put downs, and then Jeff Ross just looks on smiling with nothing to say back. Am I right in thinking Ross has only got his Roast King reputation from relying on a squad of 20 to 30 harvard writers per roast and has no talent of his own? Whenever he's on a CC panel show he gets slammed more than anyone else and never has a witty comeback (I remember this on the Jeselnik Offensive especially).   

Anyone know any great Attell podcast appearances? He really needs one of his own.

From what I recall it was a reasonably sized segment for Minhaj. Not significantly long but appropriately enough with enough of the vibe and interaction shown of his time on stage. Essentially in what was an exactly 30 minute episode; with Bob Saget and especially Gilbert Gottfried getting their own time there wasn't probably much space to show too much of Hassan's. But again I didn't recall it as being particularly short.

Never knew of Attell before this. Think himself and Ross matched up very well energy wise. Particularly in the last episode as he slouches over in the chair for most of it with his body language suggesting he is withdrawing into himself in comparison to Ross's energy, bulk and movement. Also; liked that Attell didn't (or wasn't shown to) be necessarily hugging or overly praising guests moving off the stage, particularly with that soldier guy. Just enjoyed the contrasting dynamic that they probably have well honed on the road.

[rasta-spouse]

From what I recall it was a reasonably sized segment for Minhaj. Not significantly long but appropriately enough with enough of the vibe and interaction shown of his time on stage.

It seemed like he turned up, said hello, made an Aladdin reference that was lost on the crowd, and then went. Sure, Saget and Gottfried are big inclusions in the 30 minute equation too, but I did feel like Hassan's appearance was a bit pointless.  Usually this stuff is edited so everyone looks good in some way.

Attell can be quite dull and serious on podcasts, but Ross & Attell were on Joe Rogan last week if you're interested. It's 3 hours long.

Listened to it partially, and yeah, Attell seems pretty serious here. More looking for stuff where he's comedically "on". Good example is the Opie & Anthony Patrice O'Neal tribute show. It's been a while since I heard it (and I don't really get O&A's mean shtick) but CK and Attell and some others are there. But Dave's reassuringly the funniest guy in the room.

[up_the_hampipe]

Listened to it partially, and yeah, Attell seems pretty serious here. More looking for stuff where he's comedically "on". Good example is the Opie & Anthony Patrice O'Neal tribute show. It's been a while since I heard it (and I don't really get O&A's mean shtick) but CK and Attell and some others are there. But Dave's reassuringly the funniest guy in the room.

Not much on the podcast front, but he was brilliant on The Green Room with a bunch of other high level comics (in terms of recognition), here's a cut of him dominating the room https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-30Wgd9zNUA

He's great when he's around a group of people or an audience, but in an actual one-on-one conversation he seems to shut down the comedy.

[cliggg]

A few minutes of Dave & Jeff on Larry King, there are some good laughs here and some groaners courtesy of Jeff. As I said in my first post I love Jeff Ross and his roasts but his constant laughing at his own jokes does grate at times too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnCrRozOUpk

[dirkgonnadirk]

Am I right in thinking Ross has only got his Roast King reputation from relying on a squad of 20 to 30 harvard writers per roast and has no talent of his own?

he has been the #1 roaster for the past 15-20 years. whilst none of us could ever really profess to know, i'd be pretty confident that the material he uses is predominantly(?) his own, and was likely all his own for many years.