Will Franken vs the Comedy Unleashed/"anti-woke" grifting dickbags [split topic]

[Retinend]

He's a different sort of right wing, because he's calling out other right wing guys?

I think it's clear that he has special privileges, like Sadowitz does, because he's just that talented (the voices, the absurd imagination and satirical insight). And - yes - it does show integrity to call out Young and the Triggernometry people so hard, and alienate oneself from them so thoroughly, when you could very well profit from the trend instead.

[Retinend]

BTW I just went through this with a big grin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHllZkHpsbY
THE COMEDY PODCAST: EPISODE 666

the first episode of this was making fun of Californian comedians' podcasts, but this episode, as usual, runs the original premise off road in order to cover his latest obsession: the CU/Trigonometry stuff . Clearly he is quite obsessive about his enemies, as this was made in September last year and his tone has been unwaveringly scathing.

[Chriddof]

Sorry, but this is all a load of shit. You can't be generally supportive of the right these days and pretend to be any kind of speaking-truth-to-power type. Can't be done. How can someone who thinks like he does on stuff like trans issues and climate change be a source of wisdom on fucking anything? Oh, but he has glasses like what Peter Sellers wore? Well, that must count as proof that he's a great bunch of lads.

his "Chinese corona impression" ...... Ugh. Just, what am I missing here? It's cool and hip to be racist and offensive again, because ooo complex and hip back story of in fighting among loads of wankers? He's a different sort of right wing, because he's calling out other right wing guys? "anti-woke" is great now? I don't understand, CaB, what has happened to you?

I'm in total agreement with you here.

I tried it once or twice, but let's not be wrong
You can't defeat the enemy by singing his song

[Autopsy Turvey]

And - yes - it does show integrity to call out Young and the Triggernometry people so hard, and alienate oneself from them so thoroughly, when you could very well profit from the trend instead.

I always admire comedians who bite the hands that feed them as obsessively as this chap, but anyone calling that set 'phenomenal' seems to be doing so from a 'my enemy's enemy is my friend' perspective. I've still not seen him "call out" "the Triggernometry people" "so hard", except that occasionally in his stoner rambling he'll reveal that Konstantin Kisin once said that he wouldn't book him for a comedy night.

You can't be generally supportive of the right these days and pretend to be any kind of speaking-truth-to-power type.

I should think it depends what truth it is you're speaking and to what power. But if Corbyn had won the election, would that mean all the right wing comedians become the speaking-truth-to-power people, or in that instance would the power already have all the truth?

[Famous Mortimer]

I should think it depends what truth it is you're speaking and to what power. But if Corbyn had won the election, would that mean all the right wing comedians become the speaking-truth-to-power people, or in that instance would the power already have all the truth?

No, because power doesn't simply mean "the party in government".

[Autopsy Turvey]

No, because power doesn't simply mean "the party in government".

Quite!

[Famous Mortimer]

Quite!

So why ask the question if you already knew the answer? Do you think whatever point you're making is a lot more obvious than it is?

[Autopsy Turvey]

So why ask the question if you already knew the answer?

https://literarydevices.net/rhetorical-question/

Do you think whatever point you're making is a lot more obvious than it is?

Exactly as obvious. "Power doesn't simply mean the party in government", which can be used to rebut the earlier assertion that "You can't be generally supportive of the right these days and pretend to be any kind of speaking-truth-to-power type".

[jobotic]

Because you have won everything. You control everything.

Why not enjoy your victories instead of pretending they haven't happened?

[Retinend]

It seems FM was implying that the culture is controlled by right wingers and AT that the culture is controlled by left wingers. Right?

[Autopsy Turvey]

It seems FM was implying that the culture is controlled by right wingers and AT that the culture is controlled by left wingers. Right?

Hopefully nothing quite so simple! But realistically social conservatism has been both dead and a laughing stock for decades (except in certain religious communities), while leftyism has been fashionable since at least the Red Wedge era. Some powerful institutions have been (re)shaped by leftist thought - including, some may argue, the Tory Party. 'Speaking truth to power' doesn't just mean speaking left wing truth to right wing power.

Because you have won everything. You control everything.

I control nothing old son, except myself, which is quite enough hard work.

[Retinend]

Yeah sorry: I just wanted to hit the issue dead on, and maybe ridicule it a little.

[Autopsy Turvey]

Yeah sorry: I just wanted to hit the issue dead on, and maybe ridicule it a little.

Always welcome!

[Retinend]

I've still not seen him "call out" "the Triggernometry people" "so hard", except that occasionally in his stoner rambling he'll reveal that Konstantin Kisin once said that he wouldn't book him for a comedy night.

It seems like - being as obsessive (bipolar?) as he is - he's been on the war path against CU for a long time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNoMGd3xdMA
The Comedy Podcast 707  (as the aforementioned Californian standup alter ego, Rick Shurdan - in addition to all the others)
Published March 26th 2019

"CLEARLY this is satire - but try to explain that to the metropolitan elite!"

[Ray Travez]

Then of course came the trans stuff which I will not comment on as I have no idea what he was going through. I want to give him the benefit that it was not a prank (I lean to towards it being a genuine process he was working through)

I met him on a bus in Manchester- or to be more accurate, I met Sarah, and I can confirm that it was genuine, not a prank or a stunt.

[Barry Admin]

This is very funny:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxtVpwy4FBE

Bumping, as I'm busting to watch this again now!

I also really want to give a bit more visibility to his latest video, which is an incredible satire of a modern-day Linehan fan - I'm gonna note here that it contains a lot of terms people may not be comfortable with hearing.

It's just so fucking well-observed.  Bits of it keep coming back to me, such as the sheer physical ugliness of the character when she uses slurs, contrasted with the serene and pleasant demeanour that she takes during the one moment where she actually talks about her interests and hobbies outside of obsessing over trans people. Or the idea of

I watched his climate change/Greta Thunberg set again also, and it's just extraordinary.  There's one particular moment that's breathtaking in terms of what he's doing with the format.  Also, it's notable that he manages to make jokes that many of us would disagree with ideologically, but which are still smart and funny. 

Spoiler alert

Thinking specifically of the line about Pride being renamed to Arrogance; it's just a funny line, and you can see why and how the Comedy Unleashed type of people would agree with it. 

[close]

He is just a class act.

[Retinend]

I also really want to give a bit more visibility to his latest video, which is an incredible satire of a modern-day Linehan fan - I'm gonna note here that it contains a lot of terms people may not be comfortable with hearing.

"Donna Warpath" haha

This is the best satire of TERFdom I've seen. It nails how much misplaced pride they place in the phrase "biological woman".

Franken is always surprising - the last time I paid attention to him he has ranting obsessively about mask mandates and Bill Gates, and I had all but written him off. He's a massive contrarian and "don't step on me" sort, but he hates pandering to the mob à la Linehan even more than he hates "globalist" figures like Gates.

[Oosp]

My brain is mangled after sifting through all this libertarian every which way scattershot rage stuff. Can't get a proper handle on his mindset + I have a life to be getting on with. He's clearly undeniably talented and driven, and can be forensic and incisive, but so what.

His Celebrating Diversity bit works because it rightly takes aim at the naked cynicism/insincerity behind corporate ESG scores. The Greta bit rankles because there's a sense of bad faith mud-slinging in place of a genuine reckoning with issues around climate change, opting instead for an easy-route attack on Thunberg and the kidz - and a fucking "Sweden/Mecca" joke??? Then there's the Glinner video: was Franken anti-trans but now he's pro-trans rights (hope so but is that genuinely the main thrust of the piece)?

I mean, generally the target of his satire (when it can be defined as such) is usually clear, even if wrongheaded, but the totality of his output paints a confusing picture. What is the deal... with Will Franken?

Aside from drawing parallels with other comics (most of whom are shitheads), so far all I've got is:

Freeze peach x Enemy of my enemy = Stopped clock

[lazyhour]

I don't imagine Franken was ever anti-trans as he's wrestled with own transness for many years.

[Oosp]

I don't imagine Franken was ever anti-trans as he's wrestled with own transness for many years.

Well, this is the thing. I'm somewhat familiar with Franken's own story + have read several interviews, particularly from c. 2015. I had intended to put quotation marks around Will Franken, to indicate stage persona (cf. Stewart Lee), but I goofed. My bad - clarity is key.

[Jumblegraws]

Then there's the Glinner video: was Franken anti-trans but now he's pro-trans rights (hope so but is that genuinely the main thrust of the piece)? 

If he's no longer transphobic then he should probably say so, but he has called being trans a mental disorder and I'm not aware of his ever taking that back. The Glinner video is funny but the target is definitely what he sees as Linehan's self-aggrandisement and demented priorities, and by extension the people who enable all that, as opposed to transphobia on any broader level.

I don't imagine Franken was ever anti-trans as he's wrestled with own transness for many years.

There's a few transphobic detransitioners out there, so this doesn't have much force. And that's assuming his transition was authentic and not just some comedy stunt. Still not convinced it wasn't the latter.

[Catalogue Trousers]

@Jumblegraws - a very good post, in my eyes anyway. I had a definite uncertainty regarding Franken's stuff - not in an 'ooh, you can't handle the Truth' way so much as a 'just how sincere is he?' way.

In recent years, it seems (to go briefly generalised and off-topic) that the quick, easy meme or YouTube comedy skit has become more valued than a considered response. Donkey Kong says 'Trans Rights!', and that becomes a nice, neat phrase to parrot, without ever necessarily thinking things through more thoroughly.

I think that Franken is undeniably talented and funny, but I think that some people here are being very optimistic if they think that 'he's on our side'. After all, as the old joke has it, if you've got the audience behind you then you're facing the wrong way.

[lazyhour]

And that's assuming his transition was authentic and not just some comedy stunt. Still not convinced it wasn't the latter.

I'm friends with someone who knows Franken pretty well and was very close to him for a few years.  I'm absolutely confident that his female persona isn't/wasn't a stunt.

[ajsmith2]

His terf/Glinner fan woman character didn't really hit home for me cos they were so New Yoik. Surely that archetype HAS to be British to really hit the target?

Nice to see him playing a bit of 'Lola' though.

[RicoMNKN]

I had assumed it was a stunt until recently. I changed my mind when I read the articles and saw his general anger against the bad faith positions of the Comedy Unleashed lot.  I disagree with a lot of what he says, but he doesn't seem thoughtless, careerist or hack enough to do something like that just to shit on people a la Toby Young.

[Jumblegraws]

I'm friends with someone who knows Franken pretty well and was very close to him for a few years.  I'm absolutely confident that his female persona isn't/wasn't a stunt.

Fair enough. Transphobic detransitioner it is then.

[scarecrow]

I'm sure I remember Wanken commenting on the attention he got when he transitioned, as though it showed how easy it was to manipulate liberal magazine editors into giving him more coverage - a nonsense point as everyone was just being supportive of an underrated comedian doing something brave.

It was weird seeing him at the Fringe the following year, with a show which certainly had a reactionary bent, sporting a tweedy, mutton-chopped John McCririck look. He seemed to be embracing a sort of tawdry, pork pie scoffing English patriotism.

He's very talented and funny, but lost me for good with all his covid stuff. Does he still perform?