Hello foll
Extreme comedy has arrived in the shape of DOUG STANHOPE. Brace
yourself as one of America’s most shocking comedians goes to war on civil persecution and television terror while outing Jerry Springer. Words: Maureen Ellis
hadn‘t expected to like Doug Stanhope. I’d almost go as far
as saying I didn‘t want to like Doug Stanhope. Outrageous I
can live with. Offensive? What comedian isn‘t‘? Filthy’s OK. provided it’s funny. Maybe it was more to do with the fact that he‘s American. Where most British comedians rattle out jokes at a rate akin to ScatMan John on amphetamines. US comics tend to milk one-liners and the ensuing rapturous pause for all their worth in a self-satisfying ‘l’ve got the mic, goddamnit, show some respect‘ manner.
But Stanhope is different. ‘Look at his website if you want to get a feel for what he’s like.‘ the promoter said. So there I was, minutes later, giggling like a schoolgirl who‘s just found a copy of V3. The first thing that smacks you in the face is the nudity: bare breasts, male genitalia, pom ’toons, naked Elvis impersonators — it’s all there. Delve a little deeper and it’s almost like an encyclopaedia of the life of Doug Stanhope. The journal articles alone look comprehensively exhausting. while the sheer number of road stories, baiting transcripts (in which Doug and his mates pose 13-year-old girls to lure paedophiles in web chatrooms). and soundbites suggest a man dedicated to enticing you into his warped mind.
And it works. Bolstered by this background on his character and life, I prepared to speak to Stanhope at his home in Los Angeles. In hindsight, maybe ‘prepared’ is the wrong word to use.
Our phone conversation takes place on the day before his TV series, Invasion of the Hidden Cameras, airs. He seems more animated than excited by the prospect, slightly despondent about the three-year shelf-life the project endured before being screened by Fox. in which time programmes such as Jackass and Spy TV have stolen the prank reality TV limelight. ‘It’s a Candid Camera type of show, only a lot more hardcore,’ explains Stanhope in his laid-back drawl. ‘It‘s edgy. They’re the type of pranks that would make Allen Funt roll over
20 TN! LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 8-15 Aug 2002
in his grave.’ Whether British viewers ever get to see the show — which shares a prime time slot with Friends, The Simpsons and Seinfeld and features skits such as Stanhope dressed in hospital garb and IV drip. asking for a cocktail in a bar to test out his new liver — depends on ratings. Currently, it‘s rated 78th in the US. just ahead of Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Buffy.
If television is comedy‘s barometer, then Doug Stanhope‘s stature is gradually rising but unlikely to explode into mainstream viewing. Stanhope has lived the life less ordinary — the tales of strippers, hookers. drugs. gambling, drinking and fraud on his website are testament to that — and the crude and brutally honest way in which he shares these experiences on stage make him anything but wholesome entertainment.
‘1 did a Comedy Central half-hour special and when I talked to the censors it wasn’t just about language,’ says Stanhope. ‘They wouldn‘t let me talk about drugs unless it was from a negative standpoint. I had a pro-suicide bit that they wouldn‘t allow because if someone killed themselves they could get sued. When you‘re censoring thoughts and points of views, then that's when it gets scary. Censoring language is just silly. You can’t say “shit”. you can’t say “fuck”. you can't say “goddamn”. Saying you can’t say “goddamn” on TV, that’s like saying you can’t walk under a ladder on TV. It‘s pathetic.‘
Without American television’s puritanical censure. Stanhope is unadulterated dynamite. He‘s graphic. shocking and wildly untameable but his unrelenting candour manages to make him bizarrely likeable. personable and (dare I say?) warm. Shocking material will guarantee walk-outs in live gigs, but I'm intrigued: are the rumours of death threats true? ‘I‘ve never had a serious death threat,’ he laughs. “but yeah. people get upset. But I think they like to get upset. People are just as entertained being angry as they are laughing. Especially in this climate now, since 9/l 1. every moron with a flag in his hand has knee jerk reactions in