Don't Like - Depressing Male Comedy

One of my favorite events in Portland is a free monthly midnight comedy show in a dive bar called Stool Humpin.’ It’s a mostly miss comedy show but there’s usually one performer who is genuinely funny and the whole vibe of the show is so often so strange it’s fun to witness. However, there’s one really bleak trope among many of the male comedians: that they’re undatable losers who haven’t gotten laid in months and are probably going to die alone. Is it true? I don’t know. But the way the “jokes” are told, they don’t sound much like jokes. They’re cringe inducing but mostly they’re boring. For some strange reason, a lot of aspiring comedians think this is how they’ll get their careers off the ground. Maybe they know something I don’t. From my seat, these jokes never land and it’s hard to believe any given comedian is separating themselves from everyone else spewing the same unfunny trash. It’s like, what if they ever tried to write some interesting material and actually be funny? Is that too much to ask from someone who wants to be good at comedy?