The Jerk Store Called.

[oceanman]

I really like how quater23 put it!Uncomfortable creepiness.

[danelectro]

I don't think that rant proves he's anything but a bad stand up comic. At first it seems like he was trying to turn it into a bit but he lost control of it and the audience. I don't think he's any more at fault than the audience member it was directed at. He did as much as he could to make it ugly in the end. When he got up an decided to turn it into a confrontation is when it got worse. Go ahead and walk out if you're offended but confronting a performer is never a good thing. Sure Richards could have handled it better but the guy took part in it too.

 

I can't say I approve of what he said but that's part of going to see stand up, you expect to be shocked. Sadly thanks to guys like Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce people started mistaking vulgarity for humor. Unfortunately racist remarks have become part of comedy. Unforntunately for Richards and all that had to see that he doesn't do it well. But I've seen and heard worse from other comics of all races.

[Guest tandylacker]

I can't say I approve of what he said but that's part of going to see stand up, you expect to be shocked. Sadly thanks to guys like Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce people started mistaking vulgarity for humor. Unfortunately racist remarks have become part of comedy. Unforntunately for Richards and all that had to see that he doesn't do it well. But I've seen and heard worse from other comics of all races.

 

 

This wasn't apart of stand up. You can expect to be shocked by a lot of comedians, but not verbally attacked. Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce were funny and so is being vulgar every now and then. Your statement that began with "Unfortunately racist remarks have become part of..." would make more sense if it ended with "...our current job market." Not with comedy. It is not unfortunate that racist words/stereotypes have become so prevalent in comedy, its funny shit! There is nothing wrong with laughing about things that are 'surface funny', but ultimately are not funny, racism, wars, OJ Simpson, etc.

 

Its good times to point out the connection between black people and fried chicken. Its not good times to yell racists names at a black person.

 

Richards was not trying to be funny. That's bullshit. He's had an extremely unsuccessful career after Seinfeld only to end with a ridiculously unfunny tirade that was, unfortunately for him, caught on tape.

 

Learn to separate the nut jobs from the people who are just having a good time.

 

P.S.- Not all directed at you danelectro.

[Analogman]

LOS ANGELES - Two men who say they were insulted by actor-comedian

Michael Richards during his racist rant at a comedy club want a personal apology and maybe some money, one of the men and their lawyer said Friday.

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Frank McBride and Kyle Doss said they were part of a group of about 20 people who had gathered at West Hollywood's Laugh Factory to celebrate a friend's birthday. According to their attorney, Gloria Allred, they were ordering drinks when Richards berated them for interrupting his act.

 

When one of their group replied that he wasn't funny, Richards launched into a string of obscenities and repeatedly used the n-word. A video cell phone captured the outburst.

 

Richards, who played Jerry Seinfeld's wacky neighbor Kramer on the TV sitcom "Seinfeld," made a nationally televised apology on the "Late Show with David Letterman" earlier this week. He has since apologized to the Revs.Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, both civil rights leaders.

 

But Doss, 26, said Friday he wanted a "face-to-face apology."

 

"To have him do what he did to me ... I can't even explain it," Doss said. "I was humiliated, even scared at one point."

 

Richards' publicist said his client wants to apologize to both men, who are black, but hasn't been able to locate them.

 

Allred, speaking by phone from Colorado, said Richards should meet McBride and Doss in front of a retired judge to "acknowledge his behavior and to apologize to them" and allow the judge to decide on monetary compensation.

 

"It's not enough to say 'I'm sorry' on 'David Letterman,'" she said.

 

She did not mention a specific figure, but pitched the idea as a way for the comic to avoid a lawsuit.

 

"Our clients were vulnerable," Allred said. "He went after them. He singled them out and he taunted them, and he did it in a closed room where they were captive."

 

The video of Richards' outburst shows several people getting up and walking out as he shouts at the audience.

 

Richards' publicist said the comic wasn't considering any demand for payment. "He's not dealing with that," Howard Rubenstein said. "He wants to apologize to them directly and then see what happens."

 

NEW YORK - The first call came from the Midwest. Before long, the phone was ringing, and ringing, and ringing again: Satellite radio. Fox News. Extra.

 

Yada, yada, yada.

 

For Kenny Kramer, role model for the "Seinfeld" character who shared his surname, each call was a reminder of the intersection between his real life and his sitcom doppelganger. Actor

Michael Richards

[anodyne]

it's preposterous that hecklers would sue a good actor/bad comic because he offended them. allred is way out there by saying those guys were captive. comedy clubs do not lock you in. it's so fucked to see dollar signs as compensation for such offense. the only money they could possibly be entitled to is a refund on the cover charge at the door.

[Analogman]

I saw those dudes on CNN the other day with one of those celebrity lawyers - people amaze me.

[jakobnicholas]

"According to their attorney, Gloria Allred, they were ordering drinks when Richards berated them for interrupting his act.

 

"When one of their group replied that he wasn't funny, Richards launched into a string of obscenities and repeatedly used the n-word. A video cell phone captured the outburst."

 

 

 

I like the little sentence that says, "when one of their group replied he wasn't funny..."

 

C'mon. I'm sure it was more than that. First, I heard the guys came in late...drawing attention to themselves. And I can't believe it to be true that ONE heckler says "you're not funny". That's it? That's all that was said? Don't you imagine there was something more said to Richards? And once Richards started in on the guys, the whole group probably chimed in with colorful language.

 

The article says Richards can't find the guys to apologize. Well, of course not. Their attorney's probably telling them to not answer the phone so they can eventually sit in front of a judge and get some big-time cash.

 

I'd have more respect for the hecklers if they all approached the stage and decked Richards.