Comedians with Aspergers

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Probably because he was largely an underground precursor to the more recognizable Richard Pryor and George Carlin. I agree, my aspie antennae goes up when I think about him. Today's comedy is saturated with scatalogical, free-association, quasi-biographical humor and it may be argued that Lenny Bruce gave birth to this artform, for better or for worse.

Bill Hicks is quite funny.

How about the Marx brothers? Any of them possibly aspie?

I don't know whether or not _you're_ joking but I think that Jerry Seinfield is a quintessential NT. I know his TV persona is an exaggeration of his real personality but the former is heavily based on the latter. And that persona shows him as being, if anything, overly aware of minor social cues and rituals. He is a social butterfly - albeit a neurotic one. And he is highly status conscious, which of course Aspies can be, but he seems to "know the score" too well, and that, combined with his other traits, says NT to me. As for being able to crack the jokes and still keep a straight face, most professional comedians can do that.

dunno They were definately Jewie

Mitch Hedburg on Wikipedia

Mitch also laughed at his own jokes sometimes. Don't remember if that was during the actual act though or if it was just in the uncut DVDs.

Marty you were very funny in your clip. Do you have a myspace page or website with more stuff on it?

Never mind. I went to your profile and found it. I added you.

This quote:

"As a result of his stage fright, Hedberg often performed wearing sunglasses, with his head down, with his hair in his face or with his eyes closed in order to avoid eye contact with the audience. He would often stand upstage during performances or perform with his back to the audience.[10]"

makes a pretty good case for Mitch Hedberg possibly having AS. I'll have to re-listen to his albums in light of that. I know that in one of his specials, he sat on several stairs at the back of the stage, with glasses on and usually with his head down (as was mentioned above) rather than standing up towards the audience where most comedians perform.

I have what could probably be described as an Aspergers-induced obsession with stand-up comedy. I love it whether or not it's funny, and I listen over and over to obscure stand-ups from decades ago, almost unknown to people of my relatively young generation (Mort Sahl anyone?). A lot of people didn't enjoy the late Lenny Bruce stuff after all of his arrests when his routines became mostly political and he talked endlessly about law, politics, and his arrests (frequently without many jokes interspersed -- doing things like reading his court transcript), but I absolutely love it. I'll listen for hours to Lenny Bruce not being funny and enjoy every minute -- it's a substitution for music. I'm not sure why I enjoy it so much. Maybe just hearing another human talking is somehow subconsciously comforting since I rarely hang-out with others.

I can public speak and present in front of people. I'm very comfortable doing it too....but interacting with people directly? hah!

I was wondering if anyone else was like that.

Yeah. The only thing that holds me back from speaking in front of a large group of people is my mild stutter. Stating the obvious, we probably find talking to groups of people easier because we don't have to do the whole one-to-one conversation malarky. If you've planned beforehand what you're saying, you don't need to think of new things to talk about, so public speaking is a gift.

Edit: Man, I totally killed the humour in this thread.

MYSPACE.COM/MARTYCOMEDIAN
if anyone else wants to add me.

Mitch and a Heckler
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=q1LKVPSpIDA[/youtube]

"I'm sick of followin' my dreams man. I'm just gonna ask where they're goin' and hook up with 'em later."
-Mitch Hedberg

I can't believe that hadn't occurred to me already, but you're absolutely right. Though I idolize and adore Bill Hicks, I don't really see any obvious Aspie traits in his physical performances, though his love/hate relationship with the human race might have been a clue.

Also agree that Jerry Seinfeld is very nearly a poster boy for NTs (except perhaps for his character's clear OCD), however, Larry David is most definitely an Aspie, as are all the other characters on that show (each one seems to represent a different side of the disorder). Who but someone familiar with the meltdown could come up with lines like George is gettin' UPSET. and SERENITY NOW!. Stephen Wright, almost certainly, even though his onstage persona is exaggerated, it's only by a little.

Slightly off topic, what about other media celebs? I suspect Jim Morrison.

Demetri definately thinks like an Aspie

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiFng_ZxS1M[/youtube]


I love this clip because I think exactly the same way.

Watch it

I don't think so, too family-oriented (albeit dysfunctionally so).

I had a two-year fixation on the Marx brothers in college; I researched and collected every scrap of information the pre-Internet library had to offer on the subject, collectively and individually.