Please go here and read this if you live outside of canada
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080731.wmanbus0731/BNStory/National/home
It is the story of the beheading that took place on a greyhound bus a few days ago. Just so people know I did not make up this story to make jokes about it.
I will admit that I ran out tonight to do jokes about it and that is where the trouble started.
I had the night off and to be honest after all the hard work on my new dvd I have not been very productive in the new material department. So when this kinda thing happens and I write five new mintues...I have to get on stage.
Why did I choose ajax...well it is close to my house and I liked the comics on the show so it was easy. I have had trouble in ajax every time I go there for paid work and I don't know why. I love the owner as he is a great guy and loves comedy but the crowds can be indifferent from time to time or not big fans of little man hate.
So I did my seven minutes of which four was about the newstory and of course the one time I don't film there is trouble....
here are selective lines from the show:
We all know what happened and here is something you are never going to hear over the cb in a bus anymore "driver 4 can you do a headcount"
Some people are talking about the case and have asked if you think that the other passengers will ever be able to forget what happened....forget what happened it is a FUCKING beheading. How much of a fucked up life do you have that you forget a beheading
"well I have billy's hockey practice and a grocery list ...I was once fondled on a westjet flight as well....OH THAT BEHEADING"
Some have also asked if greyhound will compensate the others..I tell you what they should not do..give them free tickets..that would be like watching your best friend die on a ride and getting a seasons pass to Disneyland as condolence. "It's a small world after all...well one smaller"
They are reporting that after he cut the head off, the guy ate part of the body..and you thought airplane food is bad. That body had been marinating inside that meat tube of greyhound BO flavour for ten hours before it was beheaded
Finally did you know what the guy did who died for a living...he was a carnie. So he was a carnie on a greyhound bus ...how can your life suck any more then that?
Oh right a beheading....there are not 72 virgins at the end of that death
I wrap up the set with an older joke and then I leave the stage and go to the green room. The jokes did pretty well considering how soon it was after the tragedy and being a traditional comedy club they were a bit uptight which is expected.
While in the green room I hear some yelling in the office next door. The MC says to me
"Oh that is the guy who hated your jokes about the beheading"
and he is screaming at the manager/owner
"Do you think that is funny...the beheading shit..DO YOU THINK THAT IS FUCKING FUNNY..that is still in the news man...someone died cause of what happened...WHAT IF THAT WAS YOUR MOTHER OR BROTHER MAN...."
Just keep adding your own versions cause he just kept repeating and repeating some louder then others. Then he shoves the manager and moves out to the crowd while one of the headliners is on stage and yells the same thing to the audience. The owner and door person move him outside of the club. Then the icing on the cake: while they try to get him to leave, his gf tries to get him to go and he shoves her hard in front of everyone.
Nothing like getting on your morality high horse and then giving your woman a bit of a beat down. It is ok to hit but not behead Darren this is Ajax.
My other favorite thing people always say to me is "what if it was your brother or mother?". Well I would not be at a fucking comedy club two days afterwards. This happened to me before where a large group in london heckled me and I had to hammerfight them out of the room. Two days later I received an apology by email from the group and they had said
"sorry about what happened but a few days ago our baby died"
Now of course I feel bad for them but who fucking goes out for the haha after YOUR BABY DIES. During my set I was doing ten minutes of the health problems of my kids and they had to sit there and listen. Now these jokes are hard for normal crowds to take but throw their history into it..and it turns into me trying to sell micheal richards dvds outside of the soul train awards.
I can't even go out and do some free jokes anymore. Looks like I should of just stopped writing years ago and stuck with the lame stories and bits that work everytime like tons of other guys.
Hey have you heard my story about wayne gretzky......
43 Comments:
I hope you never stop writing! Your edgy harsh... but that's why we love you!
keep writing Darren, Ajax'll come around just like the ppl who lost their kid. Hopefully the wife beater will crash and burn as a drunk driver REAL soon.
Living in Durham, I frequent the Ajax Yuk Yuks regularly and have seen you perform there a handful of times. Every time I've seen one of your shows I've left with sore ribs from laughing my ass off.
The last time I saw you there you read a note I believe that was from a teacher who was unhappy with some of your material from a prior appearance in Ajax. I assumed it was just a bit you do in every town/club you visit but after this blog I assume it really is an Ajax thing.
I don't get it man...I just figured every time you walk into a comedy club to see a show, you take it all with a grain of salt.
I could understand if it was Gord Martineau forming his opinion and saying these things on the 6:00 news, but it's a comedy club for chrissakes... Wow! Unbelievable man...
The only conclusion I can come up with is the people that are upset with your material in at Ajax club have to be from Oshawa.
Oshawa people are simply a different breed of human, bar none. It's an altogether different culture and planet out there and the outlook and way of life is incredibly unique to say the least.
This is coming from someone that has relatives and has known many people from Oshawa from over the years, therefore my opinion has been formed by a lot of Oshawa experience and is fully justified. The bar scene is an altogether different story too...
To get an idea, all you have to do is go to the Oshawa Centre one afternoon and just sit on a bench in the middle of the mall and watch the people strolling by and you'll get an idea.
Also, visit the Facebook page, "Only in Fuckin' Oshawa" and you'll see what I mean.
Therefore, don't take it personally in Ajax, it's just visitors from Oshawa.
Mystery solved.
Hey D,
I personally laughed my ass off at your greyhound bus jokes! I mean it's not like you promote yourself as a happy bubbly friendly comic who does "cute positive emoting" humour - there is a reason that little man hate pushes the harshness levels...even on the nasty show!
I've seen alot of shit comics in my day with lame jokes that barely get a courtesy laugh and that pisses me off more as I'm a paying customer!
I say ignore Ajax - there are plenty of comic venues in the sea.
H
Heres some Free Speech for you Mr Frost
You're lucky the guy didn t get to you, last night in Ajax sucked balls It was the worst show ever and your jokes were in such poor taste so soon after. Get on your free speech high horse all you want but you Damaged that clubs rep last night. Don t forget to read this on stage and try to put a poor Darren spin on it
TISK TISK TISK
Sign me ITS NOT FUNNY ITS DARREN FROST
PS I believe Mr Breslin would have kicked you off the stage were he at the club you did the "jokes" at.
Well you didn't make fun of the victim, and you didn't make fun of the situation itself. From what I can tell, you are making fun of the media circus and stupidity of people looking for pop psychology cures for their significant traumatic experiences.
Good for you for taking the piss out of these things. Most people wouldn't be so courageous. Comedy (like a good horror film) is cathartic in its own unique way, and I love that you skirt the line between the two with such ease.
chris where were you? NOT at the show he said the kid was a carnie..how much more could your life suck...
So I guess you can spin it any way you like without all the facts
Hey Derwood
If your goal is to be banned at Clubs you're well on your way keep it up.
That pays the mortgage and feeds the kids... hmmm no work on a Friday night long weekend?! I guess you're career is on fire eh Big Shooter ?
Hope the wife has a real good job
Hey fuckie in the front row,
Its "the wife" here, and for your information I do have a pretty good job.
Thanks for your concern, but we'll be fine.
i love how people who know me still have to shiver behind anonymous...
what comic wants to work on a friday long weekend playing to 40 people in a giant comedy club. Why not wait till the fall and do it for more shows and therefore more money. I am not above it but those are the facts
you have the right to say you don't like/agree with what jokes I did that is your perogative
whoever made the breslin comment doesn't know what they are talking about
my job is to somewhat generalize sometimes and I will take that on the chin but that will not stop me from saying what I want to say
and to the person who says they signed It's not Funny I'ts Darren Frost...i am sure there were tons of people who said the same thing about carlin, bruce and kinison.
I have my fans and I have people who hate my act. That is fine with me..go watch some material that will not offend you there is tons that I like as well
We can all run with our tail between our legs but this is a world news story and don't think for one moment there will not be tons of comics doing bits on it
carlin, bruce and kinison.
HAHAHA
You couldn t hold their shit wipe you wanna be hack
Lets see when the next time you get a paid night in Ajax
If every comedian refrained from jokes in fear of insulting a "sensitive" audience, there would be no such thing as comedy. Tell all those new agers to f*** off and listen to their enya cds while they burn patchouli incense. My mom died, I made jokes at the funeral. I know you would too. Keep up the good work man. Leon.
Ps. Did you hear Greyhound was slashing their ticket prices??
Ajax Nov 6-8 headlining...
so there you go but I am pretty sure at least one of you here is a rat employee
so you will have to sit through five full shows of "poor old darren" routines
sad really sad
If I was working for any club you were performing at
Id take the shift off from now on you are nothing but a problem act its not worth any amount of money to see people angry from your stupid excuse for comedy
If your act insights anger from so many people YOU SUCK plain and simple You weren t even suppose to be there you came in and threw your GARBAGE No one came to see you last night
Lets see if you get canceled for Ajax and other clubs once this little bonehead move of yours gets out
What's all the uproar about? It's not like you screamed a Holocaust joke while performing at The Simon Wiesenthal Centre, and said, "What?... too soon?" That would never happen, that's not you.... You simply made light of a sick and salacious media event that is teeming with hilarious possibilities.
Politically correct, hypersensitive, superpussys should stay home and knit sweaters for their ferrets. Why do these people insist on hiding in every shadow on a crusade to, almost trying to, get offended by words? They should all move to China if they love everything being censored, and smothered in MSG.
Everyone should be supporting Darren, and every other fellow citizen, to speak how they want. Unfortunately we have no freedom of speech protection laws in Canada (the US does, Canada does not). In fact, it's quite the opposite from freedom of speech here. Don't believe me?,,,, just Google "Canadian speech laws". Technically almost anything an edgy comic in Canada says on stage these days could be construed as some form of "hate speech" by a sensitive special interest group or motivated faction. Our Parliament has recently passed a shitload of laws against a citizens freedom to speak in Canada. So far, these laws are selectively enforced to "protect" political groups, religious groups, feminist groups, ethnic groups, and gay folks from the "danger" of an opposing opinion....so far. Should the Carnies and Women Beaters of Canada unite and place Darren Frost in their political crosshairs? Maybe have him jailed in a federal re-education facility for 2 years less a day? That's where things seem to be heading.
Speaking of beheading...don't trust the papers, this whole decapitation thing is just another case of two immortals being stuck on a Greyhound bus together, feeling the quickening, and doing what's next. Hasn't anyone seen Highlander? "There can only be one".
Frosty, good blog, keep stoking the fires.
fuck people are stupid... you know who you are.
Hay, anyone wanna buy a buss pass?
Frosty kickes ass
Damn am I sorry I took Friday off. Sounds like I missed all the fun.
Some people probably feel it's too soon, but from what I understand, this angry guy decided to wait until some time had passed after you left the stage... Whatever. Forget him. T and I still love you!
You're in again in November? Awesome. That's actually the weekend of my birthday, but I'll take the shift just to see you perform.
ok to those keeping up here is what mark breslin emailed me tonight
"Why do I miss all the good times?
I hope you'll reprise these lines at the downtown club soon."
so that ends that little question
also you can keep calling me a hack but you don't even know what it means. You can call me insensitive..a dick ..a cunt but I am not a hack..what i did was not unoriginal or been done before
the thing that is great is that some of the comics who have posted here are hacks or have no respect in this business and have to hide
and you can tell me my act is shit and what i did to the town was terrible but if you look more people are pro what i did then con
you don't like it I get it now go and buys some other comics cd or watch a documentary to wash your mind at my little feeble attempts at comedy
rent "stevie" it is a documentary that makes my act look like carrot top
Friday was fucking excellent!!! Too bad about that retarded meatbag though... it comes with the territory unfortunately.Abusive idiocy and all. Bah,I'd say audiences are more fucked than anything I've seen on ANY stage.
It's only befitting here to say one good "Fuck Internet cowardice" by the by. To date I don't know what people really think they're making a stand for when they verbally attack you, threaten you ... whatever. It's as though they just felt like exercising their "right" to be pissed at someone..vent shit. Just miserable anyway. Again people sort your shit out, if you have an open mind real comedy will make ya laugh, otherwise go back to the funeral home or wherever you should be. Long rant short Darren I fucking concur!
Anywaaay November 6th-8th good shit. I'll see ya then. Take care bud!
S'all about the Funny!!
~W
I am a fan of Darren Frost, I have also had the opportunity to perform on a couple shows with him and thought he was great. After talking with him and reading about this, I have to say that anyone who follows comedy should know that it is the job of the comedian to address things that we may not be comfortable with. Some comedians are not able to go as far as Darren or maybe not willing to go as far as he does but when you are a comic who walks the razor's edge and have the ability to get away with it 9 times out of 10 and do not take the shot then I feel you would be doing a diservice to yourself and fans of true comedy. People are obviously bothered a great deal by this touchy subject but I feel laughter is a collective sigh of relief and it is the goal of the comedian to talk about these issues in a funny way or make us see things in a different light.
It may be "too soon" but funny is funny and I know other comics will be doing less daring material about this in a months time and reaping the benefits of the shock value, yet the same people who cry out about Darren saying it too soon will be desensitized to the event by then and will be laughing. I read all about the bus incident and it was pretty fucking horrifying but I also read Darren's material on it and I will say it was pretty fucking funny.
Any comic who has a problem with him doing this material should worry about their own act because statements made on this comment board previously are laced with jealousy probably over the fact that that comedian is too afraid to say the things Frost is not scared to say. Hell, you are too afraid to even put your own name down beside the statement you seemed so passionate about. Next time you take a run at someone own up to it, don't just take cowardly cheap shots and hide behind a computer, I am sure Darren would appreciate it, he always backs his shit up. These things happen and I cannot see this being a setback at all to one of the most honest and inspiring careers in Canadian Comedy.
Tyler Morrison.
darren frost in the same sentence as lenny bruce, george carlin and sam kinison...
really?
oh yes if you know me then you know that i am as good if nto better then as all of those combined...in fact I am shooting up heroin right now and doing blow off jessica hahns ass while finding a place for my stuff....at the same time
wah wah
simply making a point that comics who walk the line of good taste will have fans and detractors
if you knew anything about comedy you would have figured that out
if you read even this blog you know how I feel about my act and going over the line
but most of you don't....you come here and shoot off your mouth from cyber space ...
how is the view turtle
Wow! I'm speechless really. From what you wrote the punchlines are very good actually, but.... to say "too soon" would be a major understatement.
I think it is a testament to Darrens writing ability that he can even make comedy out of this tragedy. However, even attempting to do so will be upsetting to many many people.
I'm Darren Frost..blaw blaw blaw...I know everything about everything...blaw blaw blaw...Listerine anyone? Let me write another blah blah blog...I'm edgy and out there...not a hack comedian like everyone else...blah blah blah...let me stew in my juices...blaw blaw blaw. Ive never crossed the line in my entire life...everyone else is just uptight...blawblawblaw...I can do now wrong...blaw blaw blaw, which is why I'm a household name in 3 out of 3 million Canadian homes...
you know me too well
3 out of 3 million is still better then anonymous
I think I'm upset because I still take the bus alot.
Dear Anon.
Darren has been in a Listerine commercial. YOU probably can afford to only drink Listerine. Darren has been in a movie with John Travolta. You only rent John Travolta dvds. Darren headlines clubs. Your only claim to fame is singing Kim Mitchell karaoke songs in a club. Face it. He is better than you. The next time you see Darren, he will say to you "fill her up and check the oil"
my name is anonymous blah blah blah, i sit behind the protective veil of the internet.
People are such pussies. what are you afraid of, you think if you give up your name, Darren is going to come hunt you in the night, perhaps when you least expect it... say sleeping at the back of a bus, Darren enacts his bloody revenge upon you for your lame ass internet comment. fucking grow a pair.
Hi Darren, too soon probably, but that is what you do and it is funny, to me... to some, not so much. but that is the business of your style of comedy. its unsafe and that is what makes it so funny to the people that are open to it. the ones that are not, it shocks their fragile existence. some to the point of glass throwing others it makes them want to beat their wife. Others, the more pathetic ones, anonymously voice their opinion on the internet trying to stir the shit. there is always going to be people who freak out on you for your more "edgy" material. its all part of the show, so just keep it coming Darren
opinions are like assholes... everybody has one
Todd Pidgeon
Just cause you take a dump on stage doesnt make you famous tard!
waaaah hate me cause negative attention is better thatn none Daddy put it in my poo hole when I was little feel sorry for me Im Darren waaah
I'm suprised everyone isn't tired of you're angryman rants. Frost is a high-pitched Howard Stern wannabe loudmouth.
You're way too full of yourself with your 'I tell it like it is' bullshit. You're not Carlin, you're not Stern, you're not anyone, so stop demanding people respect your meaningless opinion. I'm suprised people like your sorry excuse for comedy (read: personal opinions and rants).
You help in the healing, Frosty.
Fuck - I'm impressed that you wrote a new 5 minutes in one day. Me's can't do that.
By the way - I mentioned the Greyhound head removal on Friday night at Absolute - somebody from the audience actually shouted "too soon!". Gotta love it.
Brian Hope
I thought maybe you needed something worth posting for all your efforts trying to be popular you loser
Love Mom
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If desired, top with ice cream
Grey Hounds Cuts prices
But you have to book a head
I doubt that anyone who goes to comedy shows regularly doesn't occasionally have a moment or two when they aren't comfortable with someone's material for whatever reason. It's happened to me.
But, who cares? Sit and wait for the next joke, or the next act. If nobody likes the material, it's easy for the club manager to see this, and the comic will eventually stop getting bookings. If you are so offended by something at a comedy club that you have to make a fuss about it, then maybe you should reconsider going to comedy clubs.
And if you don't like someone, and you think they have delusions of grandeur, and you think their opinion is crap, why would you spend time reading their blog? And commenting on it? Do you really have that much time on your hands that you can take the time to read something that you know you aren't going to like, written by someone you know you don't like? And then monitor the comments to see if anyone has replied to your anonymous rants?
By the way Darren, I had my head cut off on a bus once, and your jokes didn't offend me at all!
If you don't laugh at these things (beheading, flesh munching, bus travel in general) then I think you're in denial.
Yeah, a nutcase killed some hapless victim... but a twisted joke somehow shows that it is crazy and not the norm - that's why we laugh.
I've known Darren for at least 12 years and love him or hate him he is anything but a hack. Small? Yes. Sweaty...sometimes especially when he's on a roll. But a hack? Look it up cause you don't know what it means. "Jesus man why would you make jokes about the Greyhound Bus thing? What are you an asshole, you insensitive prick." Say something like that and ya sure I buy it. I'd even sell it. You know what the worst part is about this whole thing...now he'll never be that new member of Air Farce. Way to go fuck face.
I can't believe how lame some of these above posts are... I'm refering to the comics that come on Darren's website (intended for his fans and friends) only to high-jack his blog and verbally assault him under the protection of "anonymous"... those comics must have a lowsy career and definitely no confidence that people will respect them if they knew their name (really people probably don't even respect them without knowing that). Instead of visiting this site, why don't you try to get some gigs to get your mind off it... or write some material that might make someone laugh.
I've been at shows where a comedian bombed (or the crowd wasn't into them for whatever reason) and a real comic with talen can pull the crowd back... so those of you who claim him being on stage ruins your set - well obviously your not good enough to stand on your own.
If I don't like people I ignore them and pretend they dont' exist, not prowl their website... that sounds like career-envy to me.
Hey Darren,
It was suggested to me that I read this blog, as I also did a joke on the same topic last night at Yuks downtown, and, although I didn't rile the crowd up too, too much, it did get a little uncomfortable.
Not that I feel the need to defend my telling the joke, but I would like to explain why I did the joke, as I feel it may shed a little light on the subject from a comics point of view.
First off...I wanted to tell it! That simple. I thought it was a fairly funny bit (which is why I tell any joke really), and it wasn't harmful or mean in any way. Second, I rally wanted to see if I had the gonads to tell it (And they're quite lovely gonads at that! They're names are Little Stevie and Josephine). Turns out that I do. As you well know, it's often times rewarding to push yourself into doing something edgy, no matter what your definition of edgy might be, and to truly grow as a performer, you have to take risks on stage, and i'm glad that I did. I also wanted to see if by pushing the crowd away with the bit (I actually opened with it) if I could bring them back. And I did!! Partially anyway. They'd soured a bit for sure, but they laughed pretty hard at most of my set. I debated it in my head until I took the stage, but when I grsabbed the mic, I said let's fuckin' do it!
I knew full well what the reaction might be, but I'm proud of myself for going threw with it man. I felt ten feet tall after my set. Actually, my fellow comics were a litte stunned to say the least (as I was the only one to mention it) but I felt great about testing them as well as myslef :)
Another reason for doing it...being a comic, humour is the way I deal with the craziness that pops up in the world from time to time, it's my defence mechanism, and the minute we can't find just a little humour in something so fucking tragic...the crazies win, and I'm not about to let that happen man. Not on my watch anyway.
Kudos for being you Darren. Love ya for it!
See you in the clubs brother,
Stu Rost
I don't think you should have to censor your jokes but I don't think you should be that sour that someone in the audience got that upset it.
I don't really think the whole example of I wouldn't go out if my mother just died type of thing applies in this sort of case. The story is pretty over the top fucked and it disturbed the hell out of a lot of people despite the fact that they didnt know the victim or anyone else on the bus. Personally I couldn't stop thinking about the story for a couple of days after I heard it and the first joke I heard someone crack about it kind of bothered me. I have made jokes about it since then because it helps ease some of the anxiety I feel when I think of it. In this sense it is a very easy subject for someone to be writing jokes about because the tension is already there you do not have to build it up yourself. This is why you will find a lot of people cracking jokes about it in the next few weeks. I find some of the jokes you wrote about it pretty funny and some of them pretty not funny and in poor taste.
Anyway, I think it is a pretty normal human reaction to get angry at someone finding humour in something they are extremely disturbed by. Think of news photographs you may have seen of people hamming it up with dead bodies or prisoners of war; you have probably been pretty offended by their sense of humour. Obviously, you are not doing anything on that level but when you making a graphic joke like the one about him eating the body parts you are sort of mentally picking up the disturbing images that have been stuck in someones head all day and hamming it up with them, it is perfectly natural that someone would be offended by that.
i have no problem with someone being upset but i do have a problem that is that upset that they shove the manager..shove their girlfriend and then chastise the xrowd for laughing at the jokes
the jokes you thought were in poor taste someone else did not
that is how how it works..everyone brings their opinion and their angle to the table
also the fact that you have made jokes aboout it since also proves the point that funny is funny and with a hews story hyped loike this one the day after or two weeks later should not matter
i still believe that the mother/baby thing is valid.
different strokes for different folks
Have we beat this to death yet?
YAWN
Like your career not going anywhere for 12 + years.
Funny, the one thing I miss most about being in Toronto is that when something horrific and morally challenging happened in the world I could run to Yuks, Spirits or the room of the night to hear someone other than the vanilla media's take on what happened. There are a handful of great comics in that city that keep it current. Frosty, Boyd Banks, Aaron Burg, Mark Walker ... there's more.
I said it to a friend tonight; the average audience is too naive to realise how bloody lucky they are to be seeing what they are seeing.
Cheers, Christie Chewka
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