Hello fellow parents. Sorry for the missing FriDad post last week, I genuinely have no excuses...maybe the looming NFL game, the fact me and Laura had a free evening followed with a lie in. Anyway I digress.
This week I'm going to throw in a list of my top 5 parent stand up comedians. When I say stand up comedians, I mean comedians whose greater body of work is essentially stand up. Their acts include discussions of parenthood and their children. I shall link you to each of the top 5 as well.
I think being a parent and talking about it is pretty tough. Making jokes as a comedian is even tougher, especially if you wear that flag. A lot of British comedians don't roll with that for long, their gags are simply quite fleeting. Americans love to embrace their role as parent, Bare in mind I don't get to survey every Jongleurs, pubs or arenas to keep tab. Of the 5 I have chosen, I felt they wrote the best routines regarding parenthood.
Of course, before I get started I do want to throw out an honourable mention to a cascade of comedians I have heard chat parenthood on stage. Here are some comics you can check out:
Gabriel Iglesias (not a biological dad, but an adopted dad), Jim Smallman, Rufus Hound, Rob Rouse, Gareth Richards, Marlon Davis, Meryl O'Rourke, Lee Mack (one of my favourites, but not for jokes about his kids), Simon Evans (possibly the closest to being top 5. Nearly every gag about his parenting experiences are great) Jack Dee and Ava Vidal (most interesting coming from a YP background)
And now to the list...
5. Lee Evans
This one probably doesn't need a link, his material has probably been watched over countlessly. Since his first recorded special, he used his persona to intrigue people into thinking he is a parent. As the shows went on we reached the discussions he had about his daughter punching him in the nuts and having to describe what a naked monkey masterbating was in 'Live and Kicking'.
I couldn't find it, but personally, his finest work as a parent was the evolution of 'get down' to 'get up' to 'get out' to 'get in' for his show BIG. What it did was exemplify the phrases you find yourself commonly using as your child grows older and their behaviour changes. He also expressed how he had to get used to his not older daughter dating.
What I like about it, now as a parent is that I know the first part and I know the rest is coming (excluding the fact Max is a boy). I remember the 'get up' and 'get out' phases of teenhood. I'm going to start practising them now in the mirror so I'm match fit.
4. Louis C.K
This one isn't for the faint of heart. Louis C.K is blue in content and brash in puns. He's the Frankie Boyle you could say of US comedy. He's divorced with two daughters and just about everything he's discussed about them is great.
I wanted to pick a segment that is unfortunately a bit on the strong side, so if you are easily offended skip it. The content is an inane description of how he deals with the question 'why?' which I'm lucky I haven't had to endure yet...Max rules the roost in stubborn, no questions asked just give me my way.
There are tons of clips of fantastic jokes about protecting his kids, boys vs girls and teaching his daughters about beating them at Monopoly. I urge you to check him out, he also has a cool show called 'Louie' which, as a parent, ended it's first season on a lovely note.
3. Kevin Hart
There is a slight bias I have on Kevin Hart. He wandered in to my vision when scrolling through stand ups whilst ignoring Uni. work. He since has exploded onto screens and DVD sections worldwide, simply because his timing and joke set up is beyond what I call the norm as this next clip will show. Like C.K, Hart is divorced with two kids, one boy, one girl. This clip is prior to the divorce, which is more about being tired than angry all the time. Then again, what's the difference? To us parents, there's little difference in those words. If you watch 'I'm a Grown Little Man' see how proud he is to be a dad...just so you don't believe him when he gets irate.
2. Michael McIntyre
Ah, McIntyre. Truth is, there's no avoiding him. He really manages to capture a nation quite easily with his personality. The one I really wanted to use he only used live when I saw him. However, he certainly hasn't fallen short in content. He has had memorable moments with teaching kids words and his son inappropriately shouting 'no juice' in a sort of dictatorial, Hitlery way. I have saved the best clip to share though, this is one you should show any non parent friend who looks at you and think they can hack it. This will open their eyes and in the meantime, tickle your sides. It's correctly named: People with kids don't know.
1. Jim Gaffigan
It truly goes without saying that Gaffigan wears this crown hands down. Why? He has 5 kids and a 2 bedroom apartment...and can still not contemplate lobotomy. His 5th arrived just after finishing a huge section about having four kids. Now, he has a book out about Parenting called 'Dad is Fat' which for the record is the funniest book I've ever read. He's very family friendly so he's good to share about and really knows how to give you an insight into his life with his wife.
Expecting to see him in April for the first time in UK after following his work for years makes this an even bigger pleasure to share his work and hope you seek all his work out (Available on Netflix)
Here it is, a section on having four children that if watched further on, his show 'Mr. Universe', you see why I named him my number parent comedian.
Now that you have plenty of comedy to watch. If you think I missed out anyone and have video footage to show me, feel free to add it in the comment section.
As always, have a great weekend.
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