Aziz Ansari

[Timothy]

Is coming to Europe next year. Really enjoyed Master of None but never seen his stand up. Tickets are 43 euros. Worth going? And what other Anzari specials or clips are good?

[up_the_hampipe]

He had some good bits early on, although not sure it's generally CaB cup of tea. He moved into a woke "clapter" role later on, which caused his material to suffer.

By all accounts, his new material is a real improvement. The scandal from last year has lit a fire under him. I'm interested to check it out. He's doing two shows in London in April.

[rasta-spouse]

I thought the first season of Master of None was really good tv, and it's a shame he doesn't want to make any more of it.

Had written off Ansari as a bit teenage before that, since the hour I saw of him had him talking about Cinnabun, partying and R Kelly, y'know kids stuff. I think he even sings an R Kelly song at face value for a few minutes. Hope he hasn't dropped that bit.

[Maurice Yeatman]

He did at least one secret gig in London a few weeks ago. I'm pretty sure I read a review somewhere - maybe it was linked to on CaB.

[Utter Shit]

I thought Aziz has been #cancelled, don't remember the exact details but I hope he isn't a wrongun because his first stand-up was bloody great. The R. Kelly and Kanye bits in particular.

[up_the_hampipe]

I thought Aziz has been #cancelled, don't remember the exact details but I hope he isn't a wrongun because his first stand-up was bloody great. The R. Kelly and Kanye bits in particular.

His #MeToo story was very controversial. It's nothing he can't come back from. He's lost a few fans and compromised his status as a feminist, perhaps, but Netflix are keen to keep working with him and he's going on a proper tour starting next month. The upside is that it probably tilts his focus back to doing the sort of comedy that he was a lot better at, i.e. the bits you mentioned. His new material is "a cry against extreme wokeness", according to some reviews, so he seems to be lashing out in some ways. It sounds like a smarter take than Louis CK clumsily bulldozing into gender identity issues recently.

[Shit Good Nose]

Really enjoyed Master of None but never seen his stand up.

The opposite for me - seen some of his stand up, but no Master of None.

Ever since he was sold as "edgy, American-Tamil comedian" and then I saw him do a routine that Bob Monkhouse did in the 60s or 70s, and then tired stuff about embarrassing culture clashes between his Tamil family and American friends, I didn't bother seeing any more. 

So, no.  I only replied cos of the opposite experience...

[dirkgonnadirk]

Master of None is excellent, especially S2. Yes it's just another Louie show, but it's really, really fucking good.

His standup is generally meh. He seems like a pretty funny, likeable guy who can't write great material. In his most recent special there's a bit where he gets people's phones and starts to read their text messages and ad lib a little. I remember laughing more at that than the written stuff. As an aside, I really like the segment on Howard Stern where he reads the pathetic messages he sent to Blake Lively.

This is an interesting article - his new stuff seems like an enormous, enormous tone shift from where he was before. I'm intrigued to see it.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/aziz-ansaris-new-standup-tour-is-a-cry-against-extreme-wokeness

[Timothy]

Wow. Intriguing indeed. Think Im gonna go.

[up_the_hampipe]

The tickets are stupidly expensive. I'm also interested to see his new stuff, but £50 just for average seats, perhaps I can wait for the special.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

It seems a bit wanky of him to complain about wokeness, having been a prominent figurehead for it before he fell afoul of it. He was Terry Woke'un, until he got hoist by his own double edged sword.

[veletision]

Saw him in the Soho Theatre about 7 or 8 years ago.

It was fine.  7/10.

[PlanktonSideburns]

Still furious at him for master of one s2 ep1, wich felt like the TV series equivalent of being forced to look at all his holiday slides. Oh it's like a reference to that shit Italian bike film it it? CANCELED

[Thursday]

The opposite for me - seen some of his stand up, but no Master of None.

Ever since he was sold as "edgy, American-Tamil comedian" and then I saw him do a routine that Bob Monkhouse did in the 60s or 70s, and then tired stuff about embarrassing culture clashes between his Tamil family and American friends, I didn't bother seeing any more. 

So, no.  I only replied cos of the opposite experience...

Was he sold as edgy? I mean I'm not a fan, his first album was alright, but that's never how I thought he was perceived.

[Rolf Lundgren]

Still furious at him for master of one s2 ep1, wich felt like the TV series equivalent of being forced to look at all his holiday slides. Oh it's like a reference to that shit Italian bike film it it? CANCELED

Yeah that was wanky. I watched the first couple then quit because the pretentiousness became unbearable and Ansari was twee all the time.

£50 for stand-up makes me wince, even if it was someone I was particularly keen on.

[up_the_hampipe]

£50 for stand-up makes me wince, even if it was someone I was particularly keen on.

That's on the cheaper end of the scale. Tickets for these shows go up to £80.

[kngen]

Still furious at him for master of one s2 ep1, wich felt like the TV series equivalent of being forced to look at all his holiday slides. Oh it's like a reference to that shit Italian bike film it it? CANCELED

It was the one halfway through season 1 - Nashville - that did it for me. Such fucking cutesy self-indulgent SHITE! My wife thought I was being woke as fuck for refusing to countenance any of his work being shown in our home after his #metoo outing, but I think she's slowly cottoning on to the fact that my motivations might be slightly more self-serving.

[Monsieur Verdoux]

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/aziz-ansaris-new-standup-tour-is-a-cry-against-extreme-wokeness

sounds like shite. the only thing more tedious than woke comedy is try-hard aggrieved anti-woke comedy

[up_the_hampipe]

sounds like shite. the only thing more tedious than woke comedy is try-hard aggrieved anti-woke comedy

It's not anti-woke though. It's against online hysteria over things that don't really matter. Not exactly an original take either, but Aziz hasn't turned against his former ideals.

[chveik]

sounds like shite. the only thing more tedious than woke comedy is try-hard aggrieved anti-woke comedy

indeed. I knew that I couldn't really count on his old "woke" audience (what a shit word btw) so he's trying to build a new one with the anti-woke material. but this shallow u-turn won't make him a better comedian.

[BeardFaceMan]

It's not anti-woke though. It's against online hysteria over things that don't really matter. Not exactly an original take either, but Aziz hasn't turned against his former ideals.

That approach is only going to work if hes honest on stage about why hes now taking that approach. Does he mention how and why he was a victim of online hysteria?

[Timothy]

Still furious at him for master of one s2 ep1, wich felt like the TV series equivalent of being forced to look at all his holiday slides. Oh it's like a reference to that shit Italian bike film it it? CANCELED

That episode and the whole second season were great.

Here most expensive ticket is 40. But with most international comedy shows its probably half price a month before the show.

[rasta-spouse]

Still furious at him for master of one s2 ep1

That was the one that killed it for me. The sheer self-indulgence, and choosing to play in black & white - there's no room in post-golden age tv for tedious homage. All subsequent eps of that season became a real chore. Clearly the huge acclaim for season one had gone to his head (perhaps it affected his fuckstyle too). 

[Timothy]

Don't know what you all are talking about. That episode was great.

[NoOffenceLynn]

I never rated him in Parks and Recreation but I never really rated that either. His stand-up just meh.

But his pompous self-declared "feminist" persona stand-up, complete with an awful book cash in, dissolved very quickly. He's now on an anti-woke rant, which includes feminists.

Fuck, just own it. Like Paul Calf did over 20 years ago.

"I'm not sexist, I'm a radical feminist. You have to be if you want any chance of getting yer end away"

He has just zero insight/humour or creditably now.

[Twed]

He's now on an anti-woke rant, which includes feminists.

Hah, of course. And good. Things like this validate exactly what I think is true of most famous people being publicly woke. They're narcissists who drop the feminism as soon as it stops personally benefiting them.

[NoOffenceLynn]

So true Twed.
It is what me and my friends call a "Professional Femanist"

As see through as glass, and just as brittle when  that image is shattered.

[Mister Six]

Tried watching his stand-up and it was just boring anecdotes about hanging out with Kanye West and being a minor celebrity. Donald Glover's stand-up seemed to be much the same. Have I just fucked up and watched their worst work? I like them as performers, thought Master of None was all right and loved Atlanta.

[Shit Good Nose]

Was he sold as edgy?

Yes, over there when he started getting big.  But that could easily just have been because he wasn't a white comedian and he wasn't a black comedian either.

It's easy to forget that Asian (both East and West) comedians are a relatively new thing in the States. 

[ajsmith2]

Has anyone done a Netflix stand up special called 'Woke' yet?