John Mayer & Kumail Nanjiani, anyone know the story?

[ericluxury]

Read the comic's comic blog and there are two posts in a row that semi-tell the story of John Mayer going up at Sweet at the Slipper Room. Apparently he might have bombed and then Kumail Nanjiani went up and mentioned it. Then John Mayer took the stage.
That's normally a non-story, but the two posts about it, one is John Mayer writing about it in a way that is apologetic (but seems remorseful in a way that makes it seem like something real bad happened) assumes you know what he said and how it went down and the other is a video where Eugene Mirman calls him racist. So anyone who was there care to comment? I am curious about what he said and what went down exactly.

btw, the two comic's comic posts are:
http://thecomicscomic.typepad.com/th...up-comedy.html
http://thecomicscomic.typepad.com/th...-hot-list.html

[studiode]

After reading the story, and watching the video, I'm gonna go ahead and make a mostly uneducated speculation based on what I've imagined in my head.

Mr. Mayer probably bombed, Kumail probably went on after him and mentioned it, then John probably thought he could go up on stage and be cute about it (I'm guessing he can almost always get away with things like that), and he probably said something racist, hoping for a laugh.

I'm guessing that John Mayer is not actually racist. Being up on stage, a lot of times it can be tempting to be somewhat "shocking" or "un-p.c." for lack of some (much) better words, to get a cheap laugh. It was probably innocent and disingenuous, but if the guy was having a really bad set, and especially if he didn't know Kumail at all, he should have probably just taken it as a loss, instead of trying to go back up and save face.

Also, I'm just gonna say it. I am not into John Mayer doing comedy. I think it's just as lame as Dane Cook's "music" or Eddie Murphy's "music." I'm sure my perspective comes from a lot of jealousy and "hating" or whatever you want to call it, but that's how I feel.

I mean, dude, you're selling millions of records and fucking Jennifer Aniston.

(Goes and watches John Mayer doing standup on Youtube)

Okay, so he's not even that bad. (For some reason it does make me sad though that someone as funny and talented as Jordan Rubin is inviting John Mayer out to clubs.)

Now I'm off to masturbate into a sock. G'night.

[ACOZ206]

Mayer did fine (not funny, but he's Mayer, so whatever)

Kumail talks about him. Mayer comes back onstage. Makes a scene. Calls Kumail "Kubal". Kumail says that "Kubal is a place, I am a human being", much to Mayer's embarrassment.

Kumail ends his set. Kumail comes offstage. Mayer apologizes to Kumail. Says he just wants to be treated like everyone else and not get extra attention paid to him. Kumail puts him in his place and says if you want to get treated like everyone else, dont jump back onstage during other peoples sets.

And so on and so forth into the sweet, sweet air of the night.

[smartbunny]

And then Jim Gaffigan kicked the shit out of John Mayer.

[angryrobot]

This seems to be to be a territorial dispute not so much a racist situation. Mayer maybe didn't do as well as he thought, got kidded a little by a nobody who's never even been mentioned in People magazine much less made the cover and thought he'd put him in his place by mispronouncing his name. Mirman rightly defended Kumail and HIS world by making the point that Mayer might be big shit in the world of music but he has yet to make his bones in the world of comedy and is way down in the pecking order at this point. Mayer needs to use his fame to bring some heat and attention to some of the great comedians floundering in obscurity. Why doesn't he pick a handful of comedians and bring them on a comedy tour a la Vince Vaughn where he can showcase their talent and work. Seems to me that would bring him a lot of good will in the comedy community, no?

[wetandwild]

Mayer used racism to belittle Nanjiani. Don't try to minimize that.

According to this comment he also called Nanjiani "'one of those ambiguous CNN anchors' because of the way he looks and his 'british' accent".

[Vercetti]

This seems to be to be a territorial dispute not so much a racist situation. Mayer maybe didn't do as well as he thought, got kidded a little by a nobody who's never even been mentioned in People magazine much less made the cover and thought he'd put him in his place by mispronouncing his name. Mirman rightly defended Kumail and HIS world by making the point that Mayer might be big shit in the world of music but he has yet to make his bones in the world of comedy and is way down in the pecking order at this point. Mayer needs to use his fame to bring some heat and attention to some of the great comedians floundering in obscurity. Why doesn't he pick a handful of comedians and bring them on a comedy tour a la Vince Vaughn where he can showcase their talent and work. Seems to me that would bring him a lot of good will in the comedy community, no?

He actually mentioned somewhere that he was trying to produce a sketch-based comedy show on network TV. A comedy tour showcasing his comedy friends would be good too.

Honestly, I think John Mayer in the comedy world is an interesting idea. If his interest is genuine and he ends up pulling it off then more power to him. How many musicians have gone from music to comedy? I'm interested to what happens with Mayer's comedy ambitions in the long run.

[Umlaut]

I thought John Mayer was very funny on [strike]Tim and Eric[/strike] Jim and Derrick

[SlyBattery]

"It was combative in the sense that the crowd didn't really accept the fact that the jock, the guy who gets the girls, was at a place where the guys go who talk about how they don't get the girls." - John Mayer

Yea, thats the real problem. People are just jealous of how awesome he is. I wish people would just give John Mayer a much deserved break.

[wetandwild]

This isn't the first time Mayer has been racist in his "comedy". In 2006 he inaugurated his new hobby by saying that "if white people were allowed to use the 'N' word, he would use it about 1,000 times a day" and then saying the word several times.

[sharilyn]

This isn't the first time Mayer has been racist in his "comedy". In 2006 he inaugurated his new hobby by saying that "if white people were allowed to use the 'N' word, he would use it about 1,000 times a day" and then saying the word several times.

... which was subsequently debunked by Sherrod. http://www.bestweekever.tv/2006-6-26...-calls-bullst/

[wetandwild]

I read that. He didn't dispute the quote, and the fact that Sherrod is one black comedian who thinks "everyone" loved Mayer--did he ask?--does not mean Mayer wasn't being racist.

The same way that a few people ignoring Mayer's racist insulting of Nanjiani now doesn't negate the fact that it was racist.

[sharilyn]

I read that. He didn't dispute the quote, and the fact that Sherrod is one black comedian who thinks "everyone" loved Mayer--did he ask?--does not mean Mayer wasn't being racist.

“This is ridiculous,” Sherrod said. “The guy took John’s words and turned them around. It wasn’t insensitve. Money, he used the N word once at the end of the show when he was talking about his Dave Chappelle appearance and how people come up to him and say ‘give me a pound, nigga.’ Nobody was offended. Everybody loved it.”

Is saying "nigga" in that context racist? I don't know. But if Sherrod didn't have a problem with it, I probably shouldn't either.

[Trial]

Oh Sharilyn...

[sharilyn]

Oh Sharilyn...

Yes?

[JuanCarlos]

Here's the RIGHT interpretation of the whole deal.

I ACCEPT John Mayer's comments as sincere. He admits to going on stage during Kumail's set. While he doesn't acknowledge what a huge faux pas it is, he is showing his neck for the kill for anyone who knows anything about stand up. He fucked up big and made an ass out of himself.

I agree it'd be interesting if he doesn't end up giving up, the idea of a super famous millionaire trying to do the work (as much as you can do the work when people already like you and want to listen to you from the get-go).

Eugene Mirman did say Mayer was "accidentally" racist.

[sharilyn]

Since Trial has gotten quiet and not elaborating on why my previous replies are apparently adorable(?), I'll hit submit on this.


Aside from "is John Mayer a racist", there's 2 issues in this thread: whether Mayer should be doing standup at all, and what the hell he was thinking on Tuesday night.

Let's start with the first.

When I learned Mayer was doing standup a few years ago, I initially had the same feelings as a few of you have outlined. I assumed he was just fucking around, wrecklessly laying turds upon the thing that I loved the most (especially annoying for me, being a big fan of his music).

A Jan. '07 blog entry he wrote about going up at the Cellar changed my mind completely. It's long been deleted from his website, but I saved and posted the bulk of it to my own blog about a year ago: http://www.third-beat.com/?p=109 (yeah, whoring myself, sorry).

If you read that, it's really obvious that he knows (knew?) his place. My concerns were put to rest based on that, and I've been a Mayer-as-comic cheerleader ever since.


As for Tuesday... I can't defend anything he said or didn't say, because a) I wasn't there, and b) I don't know him to defend him.

One thing that seems like a potential problem to me is that he's growing as a comedian without many of the barriers that are necessary to develop good judgment. He's been going up at the Cellar for 3 1/2 years, and as Sean mentioned in his blog, the Cellar is absolutely a comfort zone for him (as much as a comedy stage can be). His development as a comedian has all been done with the knowledge that he's always 100% welcome on the stage whenever he wants. He never has to worry about doing all the right things to get more stagetime. He doesn't have to worry about conducting himself in just the right manner for a period of time before being invited to sit at the comics' table. All of that coddling could be leading to some shitty decision-making beyond the Cellar walls, because he just doesn't know any better. Does that explain what reportedly happened Tuesday? Dunno. But it's something to think about.

I'd heard only positive things about his conduct with other comics until this. My hope is that he's still as adamant about doing this correctly as he was in 2006, and that he just wants everyone to have a good time. Cuz he ain't doin' this for fame or pussy.

[scamboogah]

Having been to the Comedy Cellar a bunch of times, I can confidently say that no one gets 'coddled' there. Hell, Dave Attell has owned that room for 20 years, and if he eats it, everyone is quick to let him know the way they would with anyone else.

In fact, I can't think of another room in the world where you'd be less likely to be coddled. It may be easier for him to get time, but he's not going to get nearly as much of a free pass there as he would some place like Caroline's or even Gotham.

That said, fuck him. The only thing I see motivating him is hubris. That, and a delusional belief that he's a good looking 'jock' type when it's pretty clear if he never learned to play guitar, he'd be trying to get with Dan Naturman's sloppy seconds right now...

[wetandwild]

Eugene Mirman did say Mayer was "accidentally" racist.

Racism doesn't happen by accident. Do you, sharilyn, and other Mayer apologists--comedy fans, no less--have some argument to make in favor of Michael Richards? (He was heckled! He sucks! He didn't know what he was doing!).

Or are you saying that all white comedians are racist but only act that way when they bomb/fuck up/make an ass out of themselves?

[aenemaTron]

You could argue that he was doing it to be funny. Don't be blinded by your justifiable hatred.