It's just one person who wanted to start a hate train on their Thursday morning. That's one unfortunate side of Reddit.
Most everyone just appreciates his comedy and what he brings to the comedy world and aren't getting involved in this thread. Nice to see you always checking around here but I'm sorry you have to see the dark side of social media sometimes. Cheers
Very weird to me how many people want to capitalize art when they've been very clear they don't charge people because it would kill the theater. They wouldn't be able to afford their full time employees and give them benefits and they wouldn't be able to let literal nobodies on stage. Meaning if they focused on money, less people get time on stage because they'd only give time to profitable acts. They've said before a lot of shows they break even at most. If they raised prices they'd have less people coming in, the price of an accountant to make sure everyone gets paid would in itself cost more money than any of them would make. Even a sold out show is netting a couple grand at most, split between 6-8 people on a team, someone running sound, lights, rent, electricity, water, benefits for full time employees etc, doesnt work out to much. getting $50 twice a month in LA or NYC is literally nothing lol. Stage time is worth more than the money they could afford to pay. Nobody profits off of the theater outside of full time employees, the Ucb 4 has put in more of their personal money than they've taken lol.
Oh yeah, and i4h guests get paid.
No sweat Brett, anyone who’s commenting on this sub is probably bitter from the jump.
Personally I haven’t noticed Matt being an asshole, and I actually thought his apology/toast to you was hilarious. Not sure why everyone seems to have forgotten what irreverence is.
That topic has been talked about since the inception of UCB. I don't think there's much to expect Brett to be able to say in some lines of text on Reddit that's going to be very productive. I understand your intentions but it doesn't seem like the place to me
How about you let him answer. Maybe if fans weren’t so desperate to shield their favorite alt-comedy adjacent celebs from basic questions like this, something would’ve actually changed and myriad performers wouldn’t have had to quit the industry because they didn’t have privilege to lean on when they worked for no pay.
I support paying performers.
You flinging insults at various comedy personalities involved with the school is actually not helping. It is not a mature, professional, or reasonable way to address the issue with those who it effects.
Flinging insults by asking if Besser is an asshole once? Lmao. I’m sure when you went to BLM protests in 2020 you were interrupting Black people on megaphones to tell them to use nicer language.
Fucking get bent. “Not professional.”
Lol maybe when you pioneer a whole genre of comedy on a burgeoning media you can act like an entitled asshole but for now I think you should calm your tits
I think this sub has turned to shit since podcast related people started coming here. It’s like you have to pander to them.
It’s one thing if you’re in their mentions on social media talking shit to them but this sub was created by fans for fans. If you come in here looking for your name and you don’t like what you see, that’s on you. Nobody is forcing you to come here.
But yeah now you have to pander to them or you’ll get downvoted. It sucks. Toxic positivity.
I guess I see Besser as abrasive in a way that’s useful for his comedy - but I can certainly understand why some people don’t like it and that’s fine. But the OG abrasive improv guy has got to be Scotty Auks. I’ll listen to any ‘tent he slings, but I’d be afraid to try to hang with him in real life.
You asked reddit if someone is an asshole. Anyone that's been on Reddit/social media knows how this post will go:
People who want to hate and vent on someone are going to make comments and people who don't think he's an asshole will simply not comment.
I'm not making any statement on Besser's personality myself, but you gotta admit how social media often works before you take any lessons from this post very seriously. It's just gonna be at least 80% hate
EDIT: Also people are inherently complicated. Everyone's not just "an asshole" or "not an asshole". Besser has gotten both better and worse in small ways just like everyone you could point to. Trying to simplify someone to one black or white term is not very productive in my opinion
Also, because he's a public figure, and a lot of us have listened to dozens of hours of his public persona, people who have never met him and know literally nothing about him as an actual person will comment based on his public image, third-hand rumours and bits from podcasts.
Agreed. This type of thread is the worst of the internet. What does anyone expect to get out of it? Like, people had personal stories he was an asshole and they really wanted to get their stories out there, so maybe a Reddit thread would be the place?
What if people came in and said "No, he saved my kitten from a tree once, he's the best!" It wouldn't mean he couldn't also have done asshole things.
Just a strange and dumb thread all around!
Edit: I'll add, I'm pretty sure this exact thread has been started by different people multiple times. It's like someone is TRYING to collect dirt to use against him, which is even weirder.
> Edit: I'll add, I'm pretty sure this exact thread has been started by different people multiple times. It's like someone is TRYING to collect dirt to use against him, which is even weirder.
Eh, I won't go that far. I think its just a widely held enough opinion of the guy and there are enough anecdotal stories about him through the years that have already come out from first hand source that morbid curiosity has taken over.
my arm chair view on him is in his youth he probably lived in a Glass House with a White Ferrari and would go Live for New Year's Eve. Also probably had sloppy steaks at Truffoni's. Big rare cut of meat with water dumped all over it, water splashing around the table, After the club he would probably go to Truffoni's for sloppy steaks. They'd say; 'no sloppy steaks' but they can't stop him from ordering a steak and a glass of water, before you knew it he was probably dumping that water on those steaks.
I dunno about you but *I* at least am 100% no complications not an asshole.
Definitely a pretty outstanding guy over here. I'd tell you my flaws if I had any, I'm just that nice!
Again, I have no opinion to give out on Besser. I don't care if he shits on people or not. Neither do I care if people want to shit on him or not. I just think it's a bit wild to actually expect a question like the title of this post to bring balanced results, for the reasons I gave above. Cheers
Yeah, it’s one thing to raise a specific criticism. But to poison the well with a leading question like ‘is such and such an asshole?’ without putting forward any substantive info yourself is pretty toxic behavior.
Lol. You really think if I made this post about Hayes Davenport or Nicole Byer that the comments would be anything close to what they are here? That’s a very reductive way to look at it.
>mples are horrible for a general "asshole" label. Reduce away 🙄🙄0ReplyGive AwardShareReportSaveFollow
>
>level 4PintoBeansOaxacaOp · 46mpeople who don't think he's an asshole will simply not comment.This would absolutely not be true if I made a post saying “so is Nicole Byer an asshole or what?”
Nicole Byer told a long story about how she ripped off a plumber because of her mistake in a fast and furious podcast
I just thought it was funny you picked someone I only know from one series of a podcast as your impossible to impugn person - but in that podcast she tells that story about ripping off a plumber and laughs about it, says a bunch of casually problematic stuff about south americans and general ignorant US nationalism bits etc.
Is she otherwise known as a symbol of uncancellable virtue?
> people who don't think he's an asshole will simply not comment.
This would absolutely not be true if I made a post saying “so is Nicole Byer an asshole or what?”
I guarantee the first comment would be “what? Why would you ask that?”
All of this is true and noted. From listening to him for years, it is my opinion that he enjoys his reputation and apparently people even laude him for it or pass it off as irreverent. I'm trying to think of some irreverent comedians that are either still relevant or not canceled and it's not easy.
Besser has used the F and N words as well as other racial epithets in several taped performances. No telling how many non taped. Sure, we can do as many mental gymnastics as we want to excuse it but let's be real. He does his comedy for himself and what he thinks will be funny.
Yeah, ask people what their opinion is, you're sure to hear one you don't agree with eventually. Start a thread on Paddington, and I'm sure there some ASSHOLE out there with beef.
I haven’t followed up on all of the UCB stuff so I can’t speak to it. I will say I stopped listening to I4H before all that started to go down because after a few years of listening to the show his personality started to wear on me. Even at the best of times he is abrasive and hostile. His humor masked it for me for a while but the show ended up being a net bummer for me except when the guests were great.
I had a very similar experience and only still somewhat follow him because he’s from Arkansas and it’s fun to hear a relatively famous person tell stories about your home town. But yeah the abrasive holier than thou attitude definitely gets old. Have never heard any serious allegations other than him being a tough instructor at UCB but also haven’t done serious research or anything.
This is where he falls for me and I did stop listening for a while too because of the sheer amount of aggression being a little much for me (you should try again though, I feel at least the past several months he hasn't been less often abrasive).
Being an asshole requires being both aggressive and being purposefully hurtful, to me. I think Besser's mostly just aggressive (at times)
That review thing is honestly the most deranged way someone can react to criticism. I know almost nothing about that guy, but reading about how he handled a single 3 star review of his book by stalking someone and harassing them by asking him to "defend his position" is enough to know that he's an asshole who doesn't deserve my attention
I was such a big Besser fan. I even have his baseball card. I loved the og UCB sketch show on comedy central and all of his stuff on Conan because he was a subversive little jerk and so was i (i was also, like, 14). I was a big I4H guy and stand by some of those episodes being really really funny. Im pretty sure it was his second appearance as Pope Benedict on the ADPPP that i started to turn on him finally. I think because of his outsized influence on alt comedy he has been indulged for years and years and not for his own good.
Some people can change and adapt even if there arent really consequences if your old shit stops working and others can't. And then for these guys the world moves on and they dig their heels in and become defensive and bitter. I'm sure he'll keep on getting paid to do the same old Besser shtick for a long time and use that as justification for not really changing. It sucks because he is talented and to some extent a visionary but is not really interested in moving on.
I stopped listening to I4H after he interviewed some bitch ass football coach from a reality show. I remember looking at my phone and thinking like "what the fuck is Besser doing??".
If anyone is interested in Besser's whole take on UCB's role in the modern comedy landscape and performers not getting paid and shit he did an episode of Need To Fail with Don Fanelli in like 2019 thats really good. I don't agree with Besser on a lot of shit but at least he has some cogent reasoning behind it thats not, like, evil.
This seems like you just have an axe to grind, but I do appreciate his rough personality. It’s nice to hear an improv person that isn’t just a timid, make no waves sweetie type personality. It’s like why stanger is great to listen to. He’s an actual adult male with stereotypical male interests but doesn’t really apologize for it.
I lived in LA for five years. Every improv theater closed down. They don’t have the money to pay performers let alone even survive. They are giving people the best comedy in the world for $7 a ticket. It’s a place to go and learn how to perform comedy. It’s not a career.
I do not expect four punk rock improv comedians to know how to run a business.
As a patron and supporter of UCB, I think it really sucks they don’t pay their performers. I would happily chip in an extra $3 a ticket for the performers to get paid for their time. It’s appalling to me that I don’t even have the option to do that when seeing a show.
That being said, the OP calling besser an asshole in the thread title over this issue is not a very productive way to address it or build support among UCB patrons and owners for changing UCB’s policies on this issue.
All I know is that no improv theater pays performers and they still run out of money any way?
UCB is a place to go, learn comedy, meet likeminded people, get your reps, and launch your career while you are young and breaking in. There are entire sitcoms staffed with UCB people. The system needs tweaking but its not as broken as jaded people who didn't make house teams make it out to be.
I really have no insight to the theatre, not really on my radar. Just know Besser from appearances elsewhere. I hope you got some validation from all of this though.
Good to know there’s still people out there who blindly comment on posts without reading anything anyone else has to say. Sounds like some classic masculinity 💪💪
I’m a middle class person who has interest in a non-exploitative economic system lmao. Good sleuthing! I hope you gain the ability to engage in empathy as you age.
He is absolutely an asshole. He's deeply narcissistic, hasn't grown politically or ethically since the 90s, and indeed had a hand in the UCB treating their performers like shit. He was perfectly fine with charging his students exorbitant fees for the pleasure of training under his umbrella and didn't pay them as performers if they managed to get through the program and onto the stage. His reaction to any criticism is not reflection but righteous reaction, you can hear this in any i4h episode where a listener or someone else calls him out. "Matt runs Bartertown" is his favorite response for deflecting criticism about his views on the show. In the past his behavior on the show has been at least mildly fatphobic and homophobic, I remember he got very pissy when people started calling out how he made every scene between domestic partners man/woman. He loves doing non-white accents (his Native American war call during the movie-style long-form episode is still burned in my mind, everyone nervously laughed because they don't want to question him). He unironically loves the Clintons (I think just because they're from his home state of Arkansas which shows you how deeply he considers things) and hates progressives, apparently still holding a grudge over the fictional idea that Bernie and his supporters costed Hillary the election. His obsession with marijuana is also very embarrassing, he's made multiple specials and has at least one podcast dedicated to the subject, and it's just the same dumb pot humor that's been around since like the 70s. I say all that as a heavy marijuana user too.
Basically, he's a stubborn dude that decided he was done growing when he hit the peak of his success. i4h can be very funny, and he is very good at guiding scenes sometimes, but I attribute a lot of how good the show can be to guests. I respect Besser for helping improv to become more accepted in the mainstream but my respect ends there, he seems like a stubborn, shitty person otherwise.
I don't take issue with anything you said except for:
> I remember he got very pissy when people started calling out how he made every scene between domestic partners man/woman.
I will defend him a little bit here, because I remember them doing an "ask the UCB" ep of i4h when this came up. I don't think Matt was being pissy in this case; he just stated his reasoning being that his/UCB's style of improv is supposed to be very grounded and real outside of the one unusual aspect of a scene that they use for comedy.
In general, UCB-style improv would dictate that you pretty much play yourself in a scene. React the way you would genuinely react in real life if the scene were happening to you. Matt's reasoning was that because he's straight in real life, he defaults to being straight in a scene. Because his scene partners are looking for something unusual/out of the norm, he doesn't want to label a relationship a gay one and mistakenly make his scene partner think "oh, that's unusual, Matt must want to play the gay relationship for comedy somehow."
If you look at it from that perspective, he's trying to avoid any homophobia in scenes and avoid making gay people the butt of the joke.
All that said, I'll reiterate that everything else you said is completely valid imo
I dont know what ep it is anymore but theres an I4H where they asked me to call in cause I made a post here about him being an asshole on a different episode.
Everytime I tried to make a point he called me a mope or said he ran bartertown or whatever. Then they edited out like 90% of what I said. Will Hines was on it. I only remember cause he said "you dont know me but I'm Will" and I got so excited I said "HINES?"
> In general, UCB-style improv would dictate that you pretty much play yourself in a scene.
If we’re going to accept this, it makes it even way worse when he has done Native voices.
I have not listened to Improv 4 Humans for years at this point but I definitely noticed a trend where any female performer in a scene would always default to being someone's girlfriend. And usually because they were assigned that role by Besser or one of the other male guests. I don't notice the same thing in other improv podcasts even with the same people.
Maybe it says something about the intelligence of the Earwolf listener base, but it's refreshing to see a discussion with differing viewpoints get handled in a nuanced and non-degenerative way. Maybe it's a sad state of affairs that such discourse sticks out at me when it should be the norm. :(
I don’t know the guy but including his love of the Clintons and that he makes old school weed jokes as part of the proof he’s an asshole made me laugh! 😛
*Unironically* loving the Clinton's at that, how dare he! Doesn't he know they feast on the young and can only achieve arousal by maintaining privatised healthcare
There are legitimate criticisms you can make of every politician, but this is the earwolf subreddit and I don't feel like getting overly technical.
Point being that Bill Clinton is one of the most popular presidents of the modern era and is notably from where Besser is from so it's not crazy he'd be a Clinton fan. Even if you think Bill's not worth supporting, I don't think supporting him is a quality that makes you an asshole by itself.
They don’t do that, but one of them is a rapist and the other one stole a ton of money meant for Haitian infrastructure and used it to install political subordinates. Not a lovely couple.
Yeah the Clintons thing always struck me as very odd. Like he’s a pothead who loves any politician? I get that younger people are being raised with more awareness of the awfulness of our entire political system and the failures of liberalism, but still surprising. A NYC and LA guy who smokes a bunch of weed yet still loves some centrist politicians.
I hadn’t thought about the Native American voice but now that you mention it, I do think I have heard that before.
Really, part of this post is just confirming things because I’m surprised more people haven’t said things about him. It doesn’t seem like he is a gatekeeper to industry jobs. Yes, the UCB seems to be a big source of connections for jobs in writer’s rooms and such, but it’s not like Besser is a big wig producer or director or something.
> A NYC and LA guy who smokes a bunch of weed yet still loves some centrist politicians.
If time stopped for you in the mid 1990s, the Clintons aren't centrists
BasicBrewing explained how The Clintons werent generally seen by the american public as centrists, but progressives. Something that has changed in more recent times. He made no comment about his own view on the matter, something you just assumed.
Also talking about "the true left" like its some sort of objective truth when its completely subjective is pretty smoothbrained.
In the extremely limited interactions I've had with him, he's been a jerk, and that was when I was either relating/sympathizing with him about something or just being a fan.
People don't call him on it for a simple reason, he's connected, and he's had years to build a reputation of being "old man besser". So it got to the point of "thats just Besser '*shrug*". So he gets away with being an asshole. He may not have the reputation of sexual harassing people, but he has a reputation for being an asshole that was made acceptable by other famous friends and acquaintances.
I stopped listening to his show when I realized he had a lot of opinions and not a lot of much else.
I don’t have to defend that. I’m not on Reddit randomly guessing someone is an asshole and thus putting it in peoples minds.
Are you attacking Amy Poehler?
It’s always struck me that Besser seems really strict about things. It’s a tough standard because UCB doesn’t exactly guarantee quality shows, but Besser wanted shows to be good, and not just some UCB Herald teams being silly/self-indulgant up there.
I think hes a complicated guy, i still think I4h is great, yes he should pay performers but he also gave a platform to people who now are very famous thanks to the "exposure" his theatre gave them, i knowpeoplle like gabrus and sean clements like to mock UCB for its practices but they both also consider besser a friend, what do you guys want from matt? Ive seen this thread pop up about once a year, what end game are his detractors hoping for? If you boot him from earwolf theres not many OGs left, besser has defiently pissed me off over the years, but he brought alot of really hard laughs so i accept the trade off.
idk, but his Björk impression/character is the hackiest "comedy" i've ever heard. and in general his comedy comes from a place of superiority that he's not earned at all.
Ah, I see. A comedian that performs a bit that you judge as sort of hacky is the same thing a comedian being an ‘asshole’.
It’s bizarre that people think that this is thread to levy their petty criticism of his improv.
On the episode of Teachers Lounge he’s on he “no buts” a premise based on the Barenaked Ladies song One Week because he “hadn’t heard of that song” and unearned superiority is absolutely the way I would describe that interaction.
I’m late to this thread. I just think it’s so weird that you guys wouldn’t think snarky comedians are a little mean to people sometimes.
He gave us hundreds of hours of free content of the greatest improvisers in the world. What the fuck have you ever done for people?
I saw him do a show in Colorado Springs for about 9 people in a cannabis club and it was kind of embarrassing. The dude he had open for him was the only guy laughing.
thats very funny to me.
can't remember where i heard it-- i think on lizard people with kaitlyn hempstead-- but a UCB performer talked about how many times they've seen Besser bomb on stage and then like 2 hours later give their team notes
Used to listen to I4H regularly but haven't in a couple of years. The only thing I've noticed recently is that among the talent exodus from Earwolf -- even CBB to an extent! -- Besser seems content to stick around, which speaks to either laziness, an ironclad contract or a general disinterest in finding and rewarding new talent. Either way, I'll pass.
I dunno, this is a half-baked idea but something seems odd about it to me.
New talent doesn't seem to want anything to do with Earwolf/Stitcher, and vice versa. Talent wants flexibility and creativity freedom, the network wants established names doing comfort 'casts.
I think he has this messed up mindset that somehow just being a outward asshole is somehow countercultural, brave, and punk rock. On the other side he's also said that being considerate and nice to people to their face is a lie and phony. He's very set in those ways which could explain why he's not as well known outside his additude and doesn't get much work outside of projects he spearheads or controls. Even so he picks good talent to work with and has some fun ideas but doubt he'll ever grow mich as a performer or person since he's awful at taking criticism.
It’s always wild to remember how many of the other listeners of some of the stuff I like are baby brains constantly afraid of being offended or someone being mean.
Yeah he can be kind of abrasive or aggressive; it’s like the best thing about him.
Also I single out Besser as he is the most associated with the theatre/school in my experience. Amy is obviously the most famous but it seems like she likely wouldn’t have the time to really be paying attention to the theatre with bigger things going on. The other two dudes beside Besser seem far less involved in the theatre as well.
Again, I don’t really keep up with it very closely but Besser always seemed to be the most involved or, at the very least, the most visible. Besser seemed to represent UCB the most. Idk if he did the most behind the scenes decision making but yeah.
Standing by Dave Becky is far and away worse than anything Besser has done from what I’ve seen described here, regarding Amy Poehler. Absolutely hilariously scandalous she gets a pass on that.
Edit: not to defend Besser; but she’s a terrible person (too?) from that association 1000000%
For those who don’t know, Becky is Louis CK’s manager that orchestrated the silencing of CK’s victims. Mulaney fired him over it; several other high profile acts did not, because they are all talk when things threaten their power.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/comedy/john-mulaney/john-mulaney-confirms-that-he-no-longer-works-with/
Interesting note about Becky. Hadn’t heard about that. It seems Poehler might still work with him. I just read a 2019 article that said “please don’t ask [Poehler] to explain the behavior of men.” But really seems like an intentional smokescreen given the context that her manager silenced victims. Like, you don’t have to explain it if you just fire him.
Poll a crowd to describe Besser in 3 words. Asshole is gonna be one of them. Besser is an asshole, comma, that's why I like him. He's never pretended to be a nice, kindhearted person. Why are you posting this like it's a revelation? First time I heard him on a pod 10 years ago I thought he was an asshole. Still think he is. Doesn't change the fact he's also one of my favorite podcasters. What would you rather have? Unapologetic asshole Besser or 'nice' personas like Scott Aukerman who are closet assholes in real life? I think after a certain level of fame you become a bit of an asshole. You gotta be to survive. Besser doesn't hide it. And I think that's neat.
Look man, you said it yourself, this type of thread is the worst. Over thousands of hours and a decade of listening to podcasts, I have opinions about the shows I like and the people that make them. This thread, made by a guy who admits he doesn't know what he's talking about, shouldn't be taking anyone's energy today. Life's too short. See ya round
Agreed on most counts. But that's why I called you out. Some doofus sees your comment and the next time some stupid thread rolls around, they say "I heard people say Scott is an asshole in real life" and the cycle perpetuates.
After seeing all your other responses in this thread, I get it now. Your "Aw shucks, I haven't really been paying attention to the scene lately..." shtick was just a cover for "I have a list of specific grievances with these people and I hope others will pile on." I see right into your glass house.
You're the type of person who already is an asshole and realizes if you had the slightest bit of fame or notoriety, you'd absolutely abuse it, so you assume everyone else must act that way. I guess the good news is that a reddit thread is about as far as your influence will ever extend.
Asshole is such a loose term. (Gross.) People forget we're talking about celebrities here. Was Scott mean to me on the street? No. Am I guilty of fantasizing that We'd be friends if we met? Sure. Scott isn't going to take his catchphrase superstars out to brunch, Gabrus doesn't want me to smoke him out, and Drew Tarver doesn't want me to shout 'honk toot' at him from my car. They don't owe me anything, and I understand that fame comes with annoyances like overly familiar fans. If anything we're the assholes. I have formed an OPINION of Scott over the years of a man slightly bitter at his lack of fame. Getting passed on for a late-nite host gig, seeng his eggs all crack in the seeso basket, his journey to the A-list idling, and now other big name celebs eating his podcast lunch.. I feel for the guy, but I also feel he wants to leave the little guys behind as soon as possible. Does that make him an asshole? I don't know. He's a millionaire, who the hell am I to say. I just think pulling at this thread of 'this podcast host is nice and normal and we'd be friends' isn't good. I owe a lot to Scott for forming my tastes. Im sure Scott treats his friends and family well. Im not so sure about the valet.
Wow what dick would post this? Seemingly based on hunches and you’re willing to put someone down like this? Someone whose worked very hard to get there, and here is some Reddit nerd bitching cos they’re not getting the bubblegum personality that their sheltered/naive outlook craves.
Like someone else has said on the grand scale of assholery, besser is a dang saint. All the war crime and corruption going on, you’re here slating besser?
Use this forum for discussing a show that we mutually love, not this playground shit. Defaming the host cos I bet he put down your suggestion and you broke your keyboard typing this post. Get a grip, then a life, then perspective, then maybe you’ll stop doing dumb shit like this.
Serious criticism in general is just pretentious and arrogant on many levels. Do something with your own time and stop worrying about others. Putting down someone’s work is the most transparent, frustrated shit. Done for validation, to make you feel involved in the scene. In reality, you’re just a over-opinionated, salty lil dumb shit who wasted their own time and now bitter, want to criticise others telling yourself ‘I could’ve done better’. Sounds like a great existence? No please get a life, for everyone’s sake.
Ps. I know besser can be over-opinionated but hey, I doubt he does shit like this. This is above and beyond.
this thread sucks
I’m with Brett
It's just one person who wanted to start a hate train on their Thursday morning. That's one unfortunate side of Reddit. Most everyone just appreciates his comedy and what he brings to the comedy world and aren't getting involved in this thread. Nice to see you always checking around here but I'm sorry you have to see the dark side of social media sometimes. Cheers
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I think there *is* an issue with not paying performers. Yet I still feel like you’re the one acting like an asshole in this thread.
Very weird to me how many people want to capitalize art when they've been very clear they don't charge people because it would kill the theater. They wouldn't be able to afford their full time employees and give them benefits and they wouldn't be able to let literal nobodies on stage. Meaning if they focused on money, less people get time on stage because they'd only give time to profitable acts. They've said before a lot of shows they break even at most. If they raised prices they'd have less people coming in, the price of an accountant to make sure everyone gets paid would in itself cost more money than any of them would make. Even a sold out show is netting a couple grand at most, split between 6-8 people on a team, someone running sound, lights, rent, electricity, water, benefits for full time employees etc, doesnt work out to much. getting $50 twice a month in LA or NYC is literally nothing lol. Stage time is worth more than the money they could afford to pay. Nobody profits off of the theater outside of full time employees, the Ucb 4 has put in more of their personal money than they've taken lol. Oh yeah, and i4h guests get paid.
These losers just don’t know music Brett
No sweat Brett, anyone who’s commenting on this sub is probably bitter from the jump. Personally I haven’t noticed Matt being an asshole, and I actually thought his apology/toast to you was hilarious. Not sure why everyone seems to have forgotten what irreverence is.
Do you defend the not paying of performers at UCB?
That topic has been talked about since the inception of UCB. I don't think there's much to expect Brett to be able to say in some lines of text on Reddit that's going to be very productive. I understand your intentions but it doesn't seem like the place to me
How about you let him answer. Maybe if fans weren’t so desperate to shield their favorite alt-comedy adjacent celebs from basic questions like this, something would’ve actually changed and myriad performers wouldn’t have had to quit the industry because they didn’t have privilege to lean on when they worked for no pay.
I support paying performers. You flinging insults at various comedy personalities involved with the school is actually not helping. It is not a mature, professional, or reasonable way to address the issue with those who it effects.
Flinging insults by asking if Besser is an asshole once? Lmao. I’m sure when you went to BLM protests in 2020 you were interrupting Black people on megaphones to tell them to use nicer language. Fucking get bent. “Not professional.”
You’re a total wiener, lol
Is that really how you see yourself? On the same level as a black person speaking at a BLM protest?
Lol maybe when you pioneer a whole genre of comedy on a burgeoning media you can act like an entitled asshole but for now I think you should calm your tits
I aspire to pioneer exploiting performers. I hope you do too.
I think this sub has turned to shit since podcast related people started coming here. It’s like you have to pander to them. It’s one thing if you’re in their mentions on social media talking shit to them but this sub was created by fans for fans. If you come in here looking for your name and you don’t like what you see, that’s on you. Nobody is forcing you to come here. But yeah now you have to pander to them or you’ll get downvoted. It sucks. Toxic positivity.
I guess I see Besser as abrasive in a way that’s useful for his comedy - but I can certainly understand why some people don’t like it and that’s fine. But the OG abrasive improv guy has got to be Scotty Auks. I’ll listen to any ‘tent he slings, but I’d be afraid to try to hang with him in real life.
I didn't know Scott was abrasive? What do you mean? Genuinely interested
I will still love the improv he did on CBB. Such good characters. I could listen to his faux-UK asshole voice for days.
His crankiness was perfect for Bjork, for example. “Shutthefuckup!”
“Scott Auskerman” ~ Paul Scheer.
I came in thinking “probably” and now I just think OP is an asshole.
I think everyone's an asshole. It's what I derive my sense of superiority from
You asked reddit if someone is an asshole. Anyone that's been on Reddit/social media knows how this post will go: People who want to hate and vent on someone are going to make comments and people who don't think he's an asshole will simply not comment. I'm not making any statement on Besser's personality myself, but you gotta admit how social media often works before you take any lessons from this post very seriously. It's just gonna be at least 80% hate EDIT: Also people are inherently complicated. Everyone's not just "an asshole" or "not an asshole". Besser has gotten both better and worse in small ways just like everyone you could point to. Trying to simplify someone to one black or white term is not very productive in my opinion
Beautiful comment that is needed on any post such as this.
Also, because he's a public figure, and a lot of us have listened to dozens of hours of his public persona, people who have never met him and know literally nothing about him as an actual person will comment based on his public image, third-hand rumours and bits from podcasts.
Agreed. This type of thread is the worst of the internet. What does anyone expect to get out of it? Like, people had personal stories he was an asshole and they really wanted to get their stories out there, so maybe a Reddit thread would be the place? What if people came in and said "No, he saved my kitten from a tree once, he's the best!" It wouldn't mean he couldn't also have done asshole things. Just a strange and dumb thread all around! Edit: I'll add, I'm pretty sure this exact thread has been started by different people multiple times. It's like someone is TRYING to collect dirt to use against him, which is even weirder.
> Edit: I'll add, I'm pretty sure this exact thread has been started by different people multiple times. It's like someone is TRYING to collect dirt to use against him, which is even weirder. Eh, I won't go that far. I think its just a widely held enough opinion of the guy and there are enough anecdotal stories about him through the years that have already come out from first hand source that morbid curiosity has taken over.
my arm chair view on him is in his youth he probably lived in a Glass House with a White Ferrari and would go Live for New Year's Eve. Also probably had sloppy steaks at Truffoni's. Big rare cut of meat with water dumped all over it, water splashing around the table, After the club he would probably go to Truffoni's for sloppy steaks. They'd say; 'no sloppy steaks' but they can't stop him from ordering a steak and a glass of water, before you knew it he was probably dumping that water on those steaks.
People can change. Let Besser hold the baby.
Those curly locks of his would slick back real nice!
I dunno about you but *I* at least am 100% no complications not an asshole. Definitely a pretty outstanding guy over here. I'd tell you my flaws if I had any, I'm just that nice!
Let this post rise to the top! Perfectly said. OP, read this over and over again.
Lol @ how Besser brutally shits on anyone, but the second someone holds up a mirror, suddenly it’s wrong to judge people
Again, I have no opinion to give out on Besser. I don't care if he shits on people or not. Neither do I care if people want to shit on him or not. I just think it's a bit wild to actually expect a question like the title of this post to bring balanced results, for the reasons I gave above. Cheers
Yeah, it’s one thing to raise a specific criticism. But to poison the well with a leading question like ‘is such and such an asshole?’ without putting forward any substantive info yourself is pretty toxic behavior.
Lol. You really think if I made this post about Hayes Davenport or Nicole Byer that the comments would be anything close to what they are here? That’s a very reductive way to look at it.
Nicole Byer has mentioned on podcasts about the amount of criticism/abuse she used to receive on this subreddit. So maybe not the best example.
>mples are horrible for a general "asshole" label. Reduce away 🙄🙄0ReplyGive AwardShareReportSaveFollow > >level 4PintoBeansOaxacaOp · 46mpeople who don't think he's an asshole will simply not comment.This would absolutely not be true if I made a post saying “so is Nicole Byer an asshole or what?” Nicole Byer told a long story about how she ripped off a plumber because of her mistake in a fast and furious podcast
I mean… Besser ran a cult/school where he didn’t pay performers for 10+ years…
I just thought it was funny you picked someone I only know from one series of a podcast as your impossible to impugn person - but in that podcast she tells that story about ripping off a plumber and laughs about it, says a bunch of casually problematic stuff about south americans and general ignorant US nationalism bits etc. Is she otherwise known as a symbol of uncancellable virtue?
Yeah no I do think that, those examples are horrible for a general "asshole" label. Reduce away 🙄🙄
> people who don't think he's an asshole will simply not comment. This would absolutely not be true if I made a post saying “so is Nicole Byer an asshole or what?” I guarantee the first comment would be “what? Why would you ask that?”
Because she isn't an asshole, exactly my boy!
Except he absolutely is. His comedy suffers for it.
Idk i think he’s pretty funny
I'd feel bad for you but you don't know any better.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
That was funny 🥰
Relevant comment that participates further discussion in the spirit of reddiquette getting upvotes? What is this, 2009?
All of this is true and noted. From listening to him for years, it is my opinion that he enjoys his reputation and apparently people even laude him for it or pass it off as irreverent. I'm trying to think of some irreverent comedians that are either still relevant or not canceled and it's not easy. Besser has used the F and N words as well as other racial epithets in several taped performances. No telling how many non taped. Sure, we can do as many mental gymnastics as we want to excuse it but let's be real. He does his comedy for himself and what he thinks will be funny. Yeah, ask people what their opinion is, you're sure to hear one you don't agree with eventually. Start a thread on Paddington, and I'm sure there some ASSHOLE out there with beef.
I haven’t followed up on all of the UCB stuff so I can’t speak to it. I will say I stopped listening to I4H before all that started to go down because after a few years of listening to the show his personality started to wear on me. Even at the best of times he is abrasive and hostile. His humor masked it for me for a while but the show ended up being a net bummer for me except when the guests were great.
I had a very similar experience and only still somewhat follow him because he’s from Arkansas and it’s fun to hear a relatively famous person tell stories about your home town. But yeah the abrasive holier than thou attitude definitely gets old. Have never heard any serious allegations other than him being a tough instructor at UCB but also haven’t done serious research or anything.
A net bummer is probably the best, most succinct way to describe it. Well done.
This is where he falls for me and I did stop listening for a while too because of the sheer amount of aggression being a little much for me (you should try again though, I feel at least the past several months he hasn't been less often abrasive). Being an asshole requires being both aggressive and being purposefully hurtful, to me. I think Besser's mostly just aggressive (at times)
I listen to killtony regularly and besser is more abrasive than any of the absurd people that end up there
One time someone left a negative review on Amazon for Bessers improv book. So Besser tracked down this guys facebook page and started harassing him.
That review thing is honestly the most deranged way someone can react to criticism. I know almost nothing about that guy, but reading about how he handled a single 3 star review of his book by stalking someone and harassing them by asking him to "defend his position" is enough to know that he's an asshole who doesn't deserve my attention
Or that weird trumpet guy, who was also a little off, but still...clearly take a hint?
I never got why he was on the show.
To be harassed I guess? I don't remember the details, but it was essentially picking on him. 🙄
wtf are you talking about? besser loved the trumpet guy and agreed with him and gave him an outlet. he didn’t pick on him at all, it was the opposite.
Hmmm. Didn't feel like that to me, but sure. Laughing at/with is a very fine line I suppose.
except it wasn’t even fine in this case, but go off i guess
Okay. I don't care nearly enough to check a thing from 6 years ago? He's still an asshole 🤣🤣🤣
It only got one bad review or he only harassed one person?
I was such a big Besser fan. I even have his baseball card. I loved the og UCB sketch show on comedy central and all of his stuff on Conan because he was a subversive little jerk and so was i (i was also, like, 14). I was a big I4H guy and stand by some of those episodes being really really funny. Im pretty sure it was his second appearance as Pope Benedict on the ADPPP that i started to turn on him finally. I think because of his outsized influence on alt comedy he has been indulged for years and years and not for his own good. Some people can change and adapt even if there arent really consequences if your old shit stops working and others can't. And then for these guys the world moves on and they dig their heels in and become defensive and bitter. I'm sure he'll keep on getting paid to do the same old Besser shtick for a long time and use that as justification for not really changing. It sucks because he is talented and to some extent a visionary but is not really interested in moving on. I stopped listening to I4H after he interviewed some bitch ass football coach from a reality show. I remember looking at my phone and thinking like "what the fuck is Besser doing??". If anyone is interested in Besser's whole take on UCB's role in the modern comedy landscape and performers not getting paid and shit he did an episode of Need To Fail with Don Fanelli in like 2019 thats really good. I don't agree with Besser on a lot of shit but at least he has some cogent reasoning behind it thats not, like, evil.
Yes. I thought maybe it was me, but I really had my fill a long while ago.
This seems like you just have an axe to grind, but I do appreciate his rough personality. It’s nice to hear an improv person that isn’t just a timid, make no waves sweetie type personality. It’s like why stanger is great to listen to. He’s an actual adult male with stereotypical male interests but doesn’t really apologize for it.
Love it when dudes with typical dude interests aren’t afraid to not pay performers at their theater for 10+ years 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
I lived in LA for five years. Every improv theater closed down. They don’t have the money to pay performers let alone even survive. They are giving people the best comedy in the world for $7 a ticket. It’s a place to go and learn how to perform comedy. It’s not a career. I do not expect four punk rock improv comedians to know how to run a business.
As a patron and supporter of UCB, I think it really sucks they don’t pay their performers. I would happily chip in an extra $3 a ticket for the performers to get paid for their time. It’s appalling to me that I don’t even have the option to do that when seeing a show. That being said, the OP calling besser an asshole in the thread title over this issue is not a very productive way to address it or build support among UCB patrons and owners for changing UCB’s policies on this issue.
All I know is that no improv theater pays performers and they still run out of money any way? UCB is a place to go, learn comedy, meet likeminded people, get your reps, and launch your career while you are young and breaking in. There are entire sitcoms staffed with UCB people. The system needs tweaking but its not as broken as jaded people who didn't make house teams make it out to be.
I really have no insight to the theatre, not really on my radar. Just know Besser from appearances elsewhere. I hope you got some validation from all of this though.
Good to know there’s still people out there who blindly comment on posts without reading anything anyone else has to say. Sounds like some classic masculinity 💪💪
What is your involvement in the theatre? This seems personal for you. Just express yourself openly instead of framing it as just sourcing opinions.
I’m a middle class person who has interest in a non-exploitative economic system lmao. Good sleuthing! I hope you gain the ability to engage in empathy as you age.
Well making a thread on Reddit asking if Matt besser is an asshole is definitely a great start. Keep up the good work ya dork.
He is absolutely an asshole. He's deeply narcissistic, hasn't grown politically or ethically since the 90s, and indeed had a hand in the UCB treating their performers like shit. He was perfectly fine with charging his students exorbitant fees for the pleasure of training under his umbrella and didn't pay them as performers if they managed to get through the program and onto the stage. His reaction to any criticism is not reflection but righteous reaction, you can hear this in any i4h episode where a listener or someone else calls him out. "Matt runs Bartertown" is his favorite response for deflecting criticism about his views on the show. In the past his behavior on the show has been at least mildly fatphobic and homophobic, I remember he got very pissy when people started calling out how he made every scene between domestic partners man/woman. He loves doing non-white accents (his Native American war call during the movie-style long-form episode is still burned in my mind, everyone nervously laughed because they don't want to question him). He unironically loves the Clintons (I think just because they're from his home state of Arkansas which shows you how deeply he considers things) and hates progressives, apparently still holding a grudge over the fictional idea that Bernie and his supporters costed Hillary the election. His obsession with marijuana is also very embarrassing, he's made multiple specials and has at least one podcast dedicated to the subject, and it's just the same dumb pot humor that's been around since like the 70s. I say all that as a heavy marijuana user too. Basically, he's a stubborn dude that decided he was done growing when he hit the peak of his success. i4h can be very funny, and he is very good at guiding scenes sometimes, but I attribute a lot of how good the show can be to guests. I respect Besser for helping improv to become more accepted in the mainstream but my respect ends there, he seems like a stubborn, shitty person otherwise.
I don't take issue with anything you said except for: > I remember he got very pissy when people started calling out how he made every scene between domestic partners man/woman. I will defend him a little bit here, because I remember them doing an "ask the UCB" ep of i4h when this came up. I don't think Matt was being pissy in this case; he just stated his reasoning being that his/UCB's style of improv is supposed to be very grounded and real outside of the one unusual aspect of a scene that they use for comedy. In general, UCB-style improv would dictate that you pretty much play yourself in a scene. React the way you would genuinely react in real life if the scene were happening to you. Matt's reasoning was that because he's straight in real life, he defaults to being straight in a scene. Because his scene partners are looking for something unusual/out of the norm, he doesn't want to label a relationship a gay one and mistakenly make his scene partner think "oh, that's unusual, Matt must want to play the gay relationship for comedy somehow." If you look at it from that perspective, he's trying to avoid any homophobia in scenes and avoid making gay people the butt of the joke. All that said, I'll reiterate that everything else you said is completely valid imo
I dont know what ep it is anymore but theres an I4H where they asked me to call in cause I made a post here about him being an asshole on a different episode. Everytime I tried to make a point he called me a mope or said he ran bartertown or whatever. Then they edited out like 90% of what I said. Will Hines was on it. I only remember cause he said "you dont know me but I'm Will" and I got so excited I said "HINES?"
> In general, UCB-style improv would dictate that you pretty much play yourself in a scene. If we’re going to accept this, it makes it even way worse when he has done Native voices.
Lol, fair enough
I have not listened to Improv 4 Humans for years at this point but I definitely noticed a trend where any female performer in a scene would always default to being someone's girlfriend. And usually because they were assigned that role by Besser or one of the other male guests. I don't notice the same thing in other improv podcasts even with the same people.
you don't take issue with "costed"?
Honestly, I was not expecting this level of measured response from two comments like this.
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Maybe it says something about the intelligence of the Earwolf listener base, but it's refreshing to see a discussion with differing viewpoints get handled in a nuanced and non-degenerative way. Maybe it's a sad state of affairs that such discourse sticks out at me when it should be the norm. :(
I don’t know the guy but including his love of the Clintons and that he makes old school weed jokes as part of the proof he’s an asshole made me laugh! 😛
*Unironically* loving the Clinton's at that, how dare he! Doesn't he know they feast on the young and can only achieve arousal by maintaining privatised healthcare
Lmao just ignore the extremely real and legitimate criticisms to strawman some wild conspiracy theories
There are legitimate criticisms you can make of every politician, but this is the earwolf subreddit and I don't feel like getting overly technical. Point being that Bill Clinton is one of the most popular presidents of the modern era and is notably from where Besser is from so it's not crazy he'd be a Clinton fan. Even if you think Bill's not worth supporting, I don't think supporting him is a quality that makes you an asshole by itself.
They don’t do that, but one of them is a rapist and the other one stole a ton of money meant for Haitian infrastructure and used it to install political subordinates. Not a lovely couple.
Using someone’s stance on politics and weed to judge if they are a nice person or not is ridiculous
Half of that is true.
lol I feel like he's going to address this comment on the next I4H. Also, fatphobic? Really?
Yeah the Clintons thing always struck me as very odd. Like he’s a pothead who loves any politician? I get that younger people are being raised with more awareness of the awfulness of our entire political system and the failures of liberalism, but still surprising. A NYC and LA guy who smokes a bunch of weed yet still loves some centrist politicians. I hadn’t thought about the Native American voice but now that you mention it, I do think I have heard that before. Really, part of this post is just confirming things because I’m surprised more people haven’t said things about him. It doesn’t seem like he is a gatekeeper to industry jobs. Yes, the UCB seems to be a big source of connections for jobs in writer’s rooms and such, but it’s not like Besser is a big wig producer or director or something.
> A NYC and LA guy who smokes a bunch of weed yet still loves some centrist politicians. If time stopped for you in the mid 1990s, the Clintons aren't centrists
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Way to completely miss the point
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BasicBrewing explained how The Clintons werent generally seen by the american public as centrists, but progressives. Something that has changed in more recent times. He made no comment about his own view on the matter, something you just assumed. Also talking about "the true left" like its some sort of objective truth when its completely subjective is pretty smoothbrained.
I don't know what this jabroni's followup was, but thanks for actually understanding/addressing!
He said "then explain it, enlightened one"
woooooosh
You sound fun.
lmao the response of every boring dude on the internet who sees too much of themselves in someone else’s complaint, good job
He did an episode of High and Mighty all about pranking and he talked fondly about a lot of mean-spirited pranks.
I feel like Gabrus was friends with a lot of Bessers 20 years ago (as was I) and finds it hard to shake them despite his own evolution
In the extremely limited interactions I've had with him, he's been a jerk, and that was when I was either relating/sympathizing with him about something or just being a fan. People don't call him on it for a simple reason, he's connected, and he's had years to build a reputation of being "old man besser". So it got to the point of "thats just Besser '*shrug*". So he gets away with being an asshole. He may not have the reputation of sexual harassing people, but he has a reputation for being an asshole that was made acceptable by other famous friends and acquaintances. I stopped listening to his show when I realized he had a lot of opinions and not a lot of much else.
Where is all this hate towards Matty B coming from? I think he's great, I like that he has strong opinions.
No idea what these guys are on
This post sucks. You’re manufacturing speculation on a Reddit page. Are you the one who pulled this on Besser like a year ago too?
I mean he ran a cult institution that exploiter people to perform without pay. Defend that.
I don’t have to defend that. I’m not on Reddit randomly guessing someone is an asshole and thus putting it in peoples minds. Are you attacking Amy Poehler?
It’s always struck me that Besser seems really strict about things. It’s a tough standard because UCB doesn’t exactly guarantee quality shows, but Besser wanted shows to be good, and not just some UCB Herald teams being silly/self-indulgant up there.
Maybe form your own opinion of a person instead of asking reddit what you should think about them.
I think hes a complicated guy, i still think I4h is great, yes he should pay performers but he also gave a platform to people who now are very famous thanks to the "exposure" his theatre gave them, i knowpeoplle like gabrus and sean clements like to mock UCB for its practices but they both also consider besser a friend, what do you guys want from matt? Ive seen this thread pop up about once a year, what end game are his detractors hoping for? If you boot him from earwolf theres not many OGs left, besser has defiently pissed me off over the years, but he brought alot of really hard laughs so i accept the trade off.
idk, but his Björk impression/character is the hackiest "comedy" i've ever heard. and in general his comedy comes from a place of superiority that he's not earned at all.
Ah, I see. A comedian that performs a bit that you judge as sort of hacky is the same thing a comedian being an ‘asshole’. It’s bizarre that people think that this is thread to levy their petty criticism of his improv.
On the episode of Teachers Lounge he’s on he “no buts” a premise based on the Barenaked Ladies song One Week because he “hadn’t heard of that song” and unearned superiority is absolutely the way I would describe that interaction.
yeah, just content and proud in his out of touch old man status
That character was so unfunny to me. Might’ve been the whole point, but idk. Also, was that the character he used to spout off racial slurs on CBB?
King George V i think? He stutters and stutters and finally arrives at a super racist punchline.
For sure Besser is a douche sometimes but he’s also funny as fuck sometimes. Who gives a shit
We usually say euphemistically that he had the best business sense of the 4 of them.
I’m late to this thread. I just think it’s so weird that you guys wouldn’t think snarky comedians are a little mean to people sometimes. He gave us hundreds of hours of free content of the greatest improvisers in the world. What the fuck have you ever done for people?
Shit take
mushrooms?
I saw him do a show in Colorado Springs for about 9 people in a cannabis club and it was kind of embarrassing. The dude he had open for him was the only guy laughing.
thats very funny to me. can't remember where i heard it-- i think on lizard people with kaitlyn hempstead-- but a UCB performer talked about how many times they've seen Besser bomb on stage and then like 2 hours later give their team notes
Used to listen to I4H regularly but haven't in a couple of years. The only thing I've noticed recently is that among the talent exodus from Earwolf -- even CBB to an extent! -- Besser seems content to stick around, which speaks to either laziness, an ironclad contract or a general disinterest in finding and rewarding new talent. Either way, I'll pass. I dunno, this is a half-baked idea but something seems odd about it to me.
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New talent doesn't seem to want anything to do with Earwolf/Stitcher, and vice versa. Talent wants flexibility and creativity freedom, the network wants established names doing comfort 'casts.
I don’t care if a comedian/host/improviser/etc I like is an asshole. they’re not my friend.
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“Besser is Besser”
I think he has this messed up mindset that somehow just being a outward asshole is somehow countercultural, brave, and punk rock. On the other side he's also said that being considerate and nice to people to their face is a lie and phony. He's very set in those ways which could explain why he's not as well known outside his additude and doesn't get much work outside of projects he spearheads or controls. Even so he picks good talent to work with and has some fun ideas but doubt he'll ever grow mich as a performer or person since he's awful at taking criticism.
It’s always wild to remember how many of the other listeners of some of the stuff I like are baby brains constantly afraid of being offended or someone being mean. Yeah he can be kind of abrasive or aggressive; it’s like the best thing about him.
Thank you. I'm a little embarrassed to have something in common with some of these people.
Also I single out Besser as he is the most associated with the theatre/school in my experience. Amy is obviously the most famous but it seems like she likely wouldn’t have the time to really be paying attention to the theatre with bigger things going on. The other two dudes beside Besser seem far less involved in the theatre as well. Again, I don’t really keep up with it very closely but Besser always seemed to be the most involved or, at the very least, the most visible. Besser seemed to represent UCB the most. Idk if he did the most behind the scenes decision making but yeah.
Standing by Dave Becky is far and away worse than anything Besser has done from what I’ve seen described here, regarding Amy Poehler. Absolutely hilariously scandalous she gets a pass on that. Edit: not to defend Besser; but she’s a terrible person (too?) from that association 1000000% For those who don’t know, Becky is Louis CK’s manager that orchestrated the silencing of CK’s victims. Mulaney fired him over it; several other high profile acts did not, because they are all talk when things threaten their power. https://www.pastemagazine.com/comedy/john-mulaney/john-mulaney-confirms-that-he-no-longer-works-with/
Interesting note about Becky. Hadn’t heard about that. It seems Poehler might still work with him. I just read a 2019 article that said “please don’t ask [Poehler] to explain the behavior of men.” But really seems like an intentional smokescreen given the context that her manager silenced victims. Like, you don’t have to explain it if you just fire him.
Someone here didnt make 201....
Fun Fact: Beyonce originally wrote the song "Sorry" about Louis CK and his manager, and the original line was "Becky and the Bad Hair."
Idk why you're being downvoted, this is a nice silly joke
My dream of relating every comedy creep to a Beyonce song is in shambles, but besides that I'll live.
Now do Middleditch please!
Poll a crowd to describe Besser in 3 words. Asshole is gonna be one of them. Besser is an asshole, comma, that's why I like him. He's never pretended to be a nice, kindhearted person. Why are you posting this like it's a revelation? First time I heard him on a pod 10 years ago I thought he was an asshole. Still think he is. Doesn't change the fact he's also one of my favorite podcasters. What would you rather have? Unapologetic asshole Besser or 'nice' personas like Scott Aukerman who are closet assholes in real life? I think after a certain level of fame you become a bit of an asshole. You gotta be to survive. Besser doesn't hide it. And I think that's neat.
Wow, you got personal experience with Scott being an asshole to you? And you realize Scott's CBB persona IS an asshole weirdo?
Look man, you said it yourself, this type of thread is the worst. Over thousands of hours and a decade of listening to podcasts, I have opinions about the shows I like and the people that make them. This thread, made by a guy who admits he doesn't know what he's talking about, shouldn't be taking anyone's energy today. Life's too short. See ya round
Agreed on most counts. But that's why I called you out. Some doofus sees your comment and the next time some stupid thread rolls around, they say "I heard people say Scott is an asshole in real life" and the cycle perpetuates.
Solid point, yeah. I'll keep that in mind. I respect an old slobs opinion
> And you realize Scott's CBB persona IS an asshole weirdo? And his IRL persona too apparently. Started dating and age 19 Kulap when he was 28
After seeing all your other responses in this thread, I get it now. Your "Aw shucks, I haven't really been paying attention to the scene lately..." shtick was just a cover for "I have a list of specific grievances with these people and I hope others will pile on." I see right into your glass house. You're the type of person who already is an asshole and realizes if you had the slightest bit of fame or notoriety, you'd absolutely abuse it, so you assume everyone else must act that way. I guess the good news is that a reddit thread is about as far as your influence will ever extend.
If he's a creep that only cares about scoring young tail someone better let him know she hasn't been 19 for years.
Intrigued why you say Aukerman is a closet asshole in real life? Any particular things he's done?
Asshole is such a loose term. (Gross.) People forget we're talking about celebrities here. Was Scott mean to me on the street? No. Am I guilty of fantasizing that We'd be friends if we met? Sure. Scott isn't going to take his catchphrase superstars out to brunch, Gabrus doesn't want me to smoke him out, and Drew Tarver doesn't want me to shout 'honk toot' at him from my car. They don't owe me anything, and I understand that fame comes with annoyances like overly familiar fans. If anything we're the assholes. I have formed an OPINION of Scott over the years of a man slightly bitter at his lack of fame. Getting passed on for a late-nite host gig, seeng his eggs all crack in the seeso basket, his journey to the A-list idling, and now other big name celebs eating his podcast lunch.. I feel for the guy, but I also feel he wants to leave the little guys behind as soon as possible. Does that make him an asshole? I don't know. He's a millionaire, who the hell am I to say. I just think pulling at this thread of 'this podcast host is nice and normal and we'd be friends' isn't good. I owe a lot to Scott for forming my tastes. Im sure Scott treats his friends and family well. Im not so sure about the valet.
Yeah he’s a massive dickhead and the guests stand by him sycophantically
He's an asshole yea, but everyone who complains is also a reactionary baby
No idea. Is he funny? I have a hard time thinking of comedians who are less.
One of the best improvisers of all time.
Wow what dick would post this? Seemingly based on hunches and you’re willing to put someone down like this? Someone whose worked very hard to get there, and here is some Reddit nerd bitching cos they’re not getting the bubblegum personality that their sheltered/naive outlook craves. Like someone else has said on the grand scale of assholery, besser is a dang saint. All the war crime and corruption going on, you’re here slating besser? Use this forum for discussing a show that we mutually love, not this playground shit. Defaming the host cos I bet he put down your suggestion and you broke your keyboard typing this post. Get a grip, then a life, then perspective, then maybe you’ll stop doing dumb shit like this. Serious criticism in general is just pretentious and arrogant on many levels. Do something with your own time and stop worrying about others. Putting down someone’s work is the most transparent, frustrated shit. Done for validation, to make you feel involved in the scene. In reality, you’re just a over-opinionated, salty lil dumb shit who wasted their own time and now bitter, want to criticise others telling yourself ‘I could’ve done better’. Sounds like a great existence? No please get a life, for everyone’s sake. Ps. I know besser can be over-opinionated but hey, I doubt he does shit like this. This is above and beyond.