Hater Hall of Fame: Doug Stanhope Edition

Doug Stanhope,  Born March 25, 1967

Doug Stanhope was born and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts, and that’s about all I could find out about his early life.  According to his website, in 1990 Stanhope ”started his career in Las Vegas doing jack-off jokes for free drinks.”  Since that time, he has toured all over the world, including appearances at major comedy festivals like the Montreal Just For Laughs, U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, and the Chicago Comedy Festival.  In 1995, he won the San Francisco International Comedy Competition, edging out the incurable anal wart that is Dane Cook in a three-week contest.  Stanhope also took home the Strathmore Press Award in 2002 for his performance at the world’s largest art gathering, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland – In 2009, over 1.8 million tickets were sold for 34,265 performances of 2,098 shows in 265 venues, over 25 days.  In 2004, he and fellow friend/comedian Joe Rogan were cast as replacements for Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla on Comedy Central’s The Man Show.  Coincidentally, the role as the second host once again came down to he and Dane Cook; Stanhope recalled the event in a radio interview by saying, “Dane Cook is my comedy nemesis and it all started with the San Francisco Comedy Competition.  I’d be on one of those lists of top ten comics to watch, and he’d be right next to me. For the Man Show it came down to me and him.  I got it, so I think he won that one.” – the Rogan/Stanhope experiment only lasted 22 episodes. 

Instead of attempting to describe Stanhope’s comedic style and his hankering for hating, I’ll let some accredited writers describe a typical Stanhope comedy set, and provide indisputable video evidence to back up their opinions:

“Stanhope’s confrontational stance comes from the rough, blistered underbelly of America’s trailer parks; he’s a feral, aggressive man full fueled by primal urges to drink, fight, and screw;­ and the corrosive material has all the venomous aggression you might expect from that background.  But what underlines it, and makes it so untouchably good, is the passion and conviction with which he holds his intelligent beliefs, informed by sensibilities that might seem alien to such a no-nonsense, pig-headed persona.” Chortle UK

“It could be something of a burden for a comedian to be seen to have taken on the mantle previously worn by Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Sam Kinison and Bill Hicks, as has often been said of Stanhope.  But he is a comic exemplar; he does what stand-up is supposed to do: Say the unsayable, tell us that we are all schmucks, provoke argument and entertain people.” Julian Hall, The Independent

“Doug Stanhope is one funny sumbitch.  He’s also one of the most twisted individuals I’ve ever met, but that’s part of his charm.” The Austin Chronicle

 An appearance on Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe:

The comedian discusses American society’s obsession with fear:

Stanhope’s views on sex and shame (Language is NSFW):

Bonus Clip: Religion and Politics