Why You Should Buy Nick Griffin’s Comedy Special Right Now

• Lori Palminteri
• Uncategorized
• May 27, 2019

Okay, okay, okay… there’s an obvious bias here coming from me, I know, I get it.  But I am not wrong when I tell you Nick Griffin’s “Cheer Up” is as good as any special you’ve seen in recent years or will.  He’ll deny praise because he’s stupid and shy, even though he’s not stupid at all (I can call him this, he threatens to punch me in the face).  But there’s a reason he reigns in late night spots (Letterman 11x, multiple Conan’s, Late Late show).

You really can save yourself some time and skip reading this blog all together and just pre-order Nick’s special and watch it and you’ll see how right I am (as usual).

Usually when I talk about Nick, I just say, “my writing partner and I, blah, blah, blah, screenplay, blah, blah, blah.”  Some people never inquire, but when a comedian says, “who’s your writing partner?”  I very proudly reply, “Nick Griffin.”

Comedians unanimously agree:

“That guy is one of the most underrated comics.”

“Amazing, top notch joke writer.”

“Funny as hell.”

“Have you ever seen him blink?”

Fellow funny friend Lenny Marcus and father of a ridiculously cute baby (who also has a great album you should check out) was lamenting how Nick should get more work, “people don’t understand… he’s a genius.”

I’m sure that Nick would like our partnership a lot more if we sold a script at some point (as would I), and I’m also sure that he would call me gay if I told that I genuinely enjoy the writing process more with him as a writing partner even though 90% of  the ideas I pitch to him, he blank stares at the floor, but in his defense, I also do a lot of blank staring when he pitches ideas to me.  In fact, he often says he would get more feedback if he was pitching to a wall.

This is our delightfully strange partnership.

I can go on and on (and I will) but there’s a bigger picture here as well.  Great comics are getting buried.  They’re getting buried.  And wait for my controversial statement… older white guys have it the most unfair in comedy right now.  Oh my god!  Dare I say it!  I dare.  I dare.

Look, comedy is hard for EVERY BODY.  Stand up comedy is really fucking hard.  That’s why not all of you are stand up comics, let alone have the balls to do it, or have a lick of talent to begin with.  It’s difficult across the board.  As a female in comedy, there are for certain drawbacks that men don’t experience.  Every comic is going to face adversity, for different reasons and at different degrees… but here’s what’s especially true: it takes a long ass time to get good at comedy.

Comedy hero Colin Quinn once said, “what no one tells you when you get into comedy is that it takes 5 years to get good at comedy, and what no one tells you at 5 years into comedy is that it takes 10 years to get good at comedy.”

[Watch Colin Quinn’s Red State/Blue State on CNN Memorial Day.  Colin is continued proof that you can always keep getting better and better at comedy.]

Show business is a shitty business full of a lot of shitty people.  And it favors the young.  There are too many mediocre stand up specials which would be fine if there weren’t so many fucking great comedians who don’t get the attention/play time they deserve.

I’m putting Griffin on top of that list, but other comedians that should be selling out rooms across the country include (but certainly not limited to): Mike Vechionne, Dan Naturman, Ryan Hamilton (great Netflix special: Happy Face), Mike Yard, Joe DeVito, Todd Barry, Kurt Metzkger, Dennis Regan (Brian Regan’s brother) who are just some of my favorites to watch because they are perpetually turning over great material.  For fucks sake, Jake Johannsen did Letterman 45 times and you guys probably don’t even know who he is!  Man’s a genius!

Look, I don’t really give a shit what race, gender or age you are: funny is funny, and PC culture is making it harder for these guys at the top of their game, because they’ve been in the game a long time which doesn’t even make sense. No one has helped me more than white guys in comedy, mostly because it is mostly white guys.  And that’s not their fault that they out number us. There are more women in comedy than ever but there still aren’t a lot of women in comedy.  I don’t know why!  I love comedy!  I can’t believe more women don’t do it!  Also, even though I’ve always been a tomboy and feel at ease in a boys club, you don’t think I wouldn’t love a female comedian best friend/mentor?  You don’t think that if Wendy Liebman didn’t live on the west coast, I wouldn’t creepily stalk her until she was my best friend because she’s awesome?  (This is how I make friends, I creepily stalk them until they talk to me.)

The industry is ageist (even more so for women).  And I’m not rallying for any group in particular besides people who are outright funny (and also good people).  My rally is to support comics who are fucking rockstars of the art. I don’t give a shit about what your message is, what your journey is, what your politics or spiritual beliefs are… give me great jokes and make my day.

Make yours with Nick Griffin’s Cheer Up (I personally guarantee you your money back if you don’t enjoy it).  Do it for comedy! CLICK HERE TO CHEER UP.

Often times, I don’t really feel like I belong in this business.  Sometimes, I don’t even really feel like a comedian, more like a fan.  A lot of the times, I feel like Nick Griffin’s half retarded little comedy sister.  But there’s no one’s half retarded little comedy sister I’d rather be than Nick Griffin’s.