Michael Richards (Kramer) loses it on stage

Lenny Bruce did this already...

I can't believe Kramer's been hanging around with my neighbors. Every night they yell at each other the same way.

Isn't he a Jew or something?

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Originally Posted by Gohron

Isn't he a Jew or something?

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(or something?) OK then.

Anyways, maybe that's his ethnic background, I have no idea. But Richards was raised Catholic from the A&E biography on him I watched years ago and they never said anything about he or his parents/relatives being Jewish FWIW.

And regarding previous comments, I certainly hope he didn't do this deliberately for publicity in an uber twisted Andy Kauffman kinda way. Wrestling big women would have been a far more uh....respectable way to launch himself into strange obscurity.

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Originally Posted by Dylan1CC

One part I did like about his apoligy was that he said he especially felt ashamed since (paraphrased) "...while other comics are raising money for what happened to the black community during Katrina, I go and do something like this." He also said he'd like to get in touch with the people he yelled at if possible and that they had every right to bad mouth him in the press about what he did.

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LOL. He's fucked.

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Originally Posted by Brisco Bold

This is dispicable.

"Fifty years ago we'd have you upside down with a fucking fork up your ass … You can talk, you can talk, you're brave now motherfucker. Throw his ass out. He's a nigger! He's a nigger! He's a nigger! A nigger, look, there's a nigger!"

"That's what you get for talking back to the white man."

Fuck him.

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Yeah this was seriously fucked up. I can understand being frustrated at getting heckled, but he could have used that as a chance to fire back at them with a good joke or put-down to get a huge laugh. Instead he just fell apart and started shouting pejoratives.

Then he has the nerve to go on the Letterman show and say something along the lines of - and I'm paraphrasing here from what I heard on the Today show this morning - "the crazy part is that I'm not a racist - I just got so enraged that this all fired out of me."

I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure that means you're a racist. Your true colors show when you're enraged.

Here's the video with text overlayed so you can make out what everyone's saying:



And here's the "appology" video from Letterman:

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Originally Posted by Razor Ramon

Does he have a mental desease? He seems so fucked on the Tonight Show.

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The guy just shot his own career down in one night, even midway of his ranting you can tell he realized it. He made one of the biggest mistakes of his life and he knows it, and feels it, what you're seeing is shock.

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Originally Posted by Tenchimo Dos

You get to see who the true comedians are when heckeled. Obviously Michael Richards isn't one of them. I liked him in UHF though :D

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CONFIRMED...here's Bill Burr vs. Philly:


OBV NSFW

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Originally Posted by Compass

It'd be funny if instead of an apology he used the tape to get in a couple more racial jabs.

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It's kinda funny that shit like Borat is acceptable and this isn't. Of course there's a clear line but it isn't always that obvious.

Bill Burr vs Philly was the single best recovery in comedy history. So glad I got to witness that first hand.

Richards' outburst was bad because he let anger get in the way. Lots of comedians could get away with using the n word or even saying the same things he said if they were more composed and everyone in the audience understood it was a joke. The comedy club is the appropriate place to say shocking outrageous things.

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Originally Posted by Thief Silver

The guy just shot his own career down in one night, even midway of his ranting you can tell he realized it. He made one of the biggest mistakes of his life and he knows it, and feels it, what you're seeing is shock.

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If you didn't notice, he was playing the Laugh Factory in front of 300 people. There's not much career to ruin. He'll still be able to pack clubs and that's all he'll do.

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Originally Posted by Dylan1CC

There was a bit of laughter from the audience at the beginning (he kept saying "Afro american" instead of african american) In amongst a lot of shaking in his voice and some stammering, he apoligized and said he is disturbed about what he did. At least it didn't feel as scripted as any given Mel Gibson "apoligy" with Diane Sawyer. :rolleyes:

I gotta say, it was probably the #1 uncomfortable real life Dave moment of all time. Even more uncomfortable than any single moment on any episode of the Office.

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I kinda felt bad because i was chuckling at home a bit at the begining too. :sweat: It seemed sincere though, the bad part is he'll probably never be able to recover from this.