Great comedy routines, 2-3 minutes in length
June 21, 2014 7:54 AM   Subscribe

I need to spice up my radio show, and I think one way I want to do it is to start incorporating some stand-up comedy clips, both classic and modern. Specific needs inside.

I want to start building a collection of great comedy clips that I can drop in between songs as I see fit. This being radio, some specific conditions:

* 2-3 minutes in length
* Must work as a stand-alone piece (i.e. not need the context of the surrounding bits)
* Must be clean and non-offensive
* Bonus points if it's intellectual (i.e. Patton Oswalt, Dana Gould, Eddie Izzard)

I'm looking for classic stuff (Bill Cosby, Bob Newhart) and modern as well. Links to YouTube performances would be especially appreciated. Thanks in advance for the help!
posted by jbickers to Media & Arts (8 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
look up "Woody Allen stand up" on You Tube, and you'll get lots, e.g. The Moose.

But don't you need to get permissions to use these?
posted by DMelanogaster at 8:20 AM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Yeah, I'm not sure if standard ASCAP licensing rules would apply here.

But 'What Time Is It, Eccles?' is 2:30.
posted by holgate at 8:29 AM on June 21, 2014


Be aware that you likely can't get away with this without the permission of the comedians in question (or whoever holds the rights to their performance, for instance HBO in the case of an HBO special, Comedy Central in the case of their many standup showcases). ASCAP may also be a factor.

Also be aware that a lot of morning drivetime radio already does this, so I don't know how much this is really going to "spice things up" unless you aspire to be more like those morning zoo things.

(If you do decide to go this way, I'd go more for people who are releasing their own material a la Louis C.K. just to avoid the headaches of record labels and cable networks and all the rest.)
posted by Sara C. at 8:40 AM on June 21, 2014


There are many different types of radio stations and programs, and many different licensing schemes. Making assumptions about what jbickers will have to do to play the content seems outside the scope of this question.
posted by modofo at 9:04 AM on June 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Yes, I should have mentioned, I'm looking for things that have been commercially released on an album, for this reason.
posted by jbickers at 9:17 AM on June 21, 2014


John Pinette cracks me up, especially his Don't Like Lines rants ... you could easily break it up into smaller segments.
Rob Paravonian's Pachabel Rant would be kind of perfect, you may have to pare it down though.
posted by BoscosMom at 9:39 AM on June 21, 2014


Looks like Paravonian has more that are music related, don't know if he's been commercially released but looks like you might get some mileage out of his stuff..
posted by BoscosMom at 9:47 AM on June 21, 2014


Stan Freberg's John and Marsha
posted by Oriole Adams at 11:34 AM on June 21, 2014


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