Rob’s Review:
There’s a long standing adage in the sports world that the best athletes make the worst coaches and vice-versa. Very rarely does a Hall of Famer like John Elway wind up being able to spot talent and put together a Super Bowl winning football team such as he did.
Enter Bill Burr, one of the 5 best stand up comedians working today. His new show “The Ringers,” is his version of torch passing; he finds what he says are the most talented up and coming young stand ups in America today and puts them on a national stage, backed by his name, on Burr’s new Comedy Central Show. There’s a brief 2 minute interview with each comedian and then a 5-7 minute set of what I would assume is their best material. I mean, when you get your breakout moment nationally, you’re going to bring it, right?
Good god. I suffered through all 30 minutes of Episode 1 and literally did not laugh once. Through three performances by a diverse group ( a woman and two dudes, on black, one white) I was forced to endure political comedy centered around the George W. Bush administration, mundane taxi cab humor, and a horrifically unfunny set based on the band Journey.
I genuinely don’t have any idea what Bill is doing with this garbage heap. It’s impossible to believe he finds any of these turds funny. As a huge (not fat) fan of Burr’s, I want to believe that he likes these individuals as people and is merely trying to pay-it-back, even though deep down he knows they’re genuinely absolute dog puke as performers.
