Punchliner comedy club and George Lopez

[golfadj]

In past couple of years revolving around about a half dozen cruises, we have seen quite a few comedians "supposedly" approved or scouted by George Lopez.

 

If anything, think the comedians have gone somewhat downhill during this time and wonder if others agree or disagree?

 

Has George Lopez really brought anything to Carnival other than his name?

[firemanbobswife]

In January on the Conquest, the first few nights we had Percy Crews II and he was awesome as usual. He was also on our December 2012 Celebrity Reflection cruise and that was the first time we saw him. Enjoyed him so much we bought his DVD after that show. We were very surprised to learn he was on Carnival!

 

We also had Will Marfori. He was really great too. He has Cerebral Palsy and is just hilarious. Think along the lines of Josh Blue from Last Comic Standing.

 

They left half way through the cruise and were replaced by some other people, but we didn't go to those. Between me getting food poisoning and the shows being so late at night, it was just too much.

 

They need to put the comedy shows in the main theatre like Celebrity does. The Punchliner Club was packed with people standing in doorways, and even outside with the doors open. Not to mention the line every time!

[golfadj]

In January on the Conquest, the first few nights we had Percy Crews II and he was awesome as usual. He was also on our December 2012 Celebrity Reflection cruise and that was the first time we saw him. Enjoyed him so much we bought his DVD after that show. We were very surprised to learn he was on Carnival!

 

We also had Will Marfori. He was really great too. He has Cerebral Palsy and is just hilarious. Think along the lines of Josh Blue from Last Comic Standing.

 

They left half way through the cruise and were replaced by some other people, but we didn't go to those. Between me getting food poisoning and the shows being so late at night, it was just too much.

 

They need to put the comedy shows in the main theatre like Celebrity does. The Punchliner Club was packed with people standing in doorways, and even outside with the doors open. Not to mention the line every time!

 

Wish they would put the comedy shows or at least the adult ones in the main theatre.

 

Percy Crews was on the Glory last month and didnt think he was all that great. Did see Will a few years ago and thought he was one of their better ones.

[firemanbobswife]

Wish they would put the comedy shows or at least the adult ones in the main theatre.

 

Percy Crews was on the Glory last month and didnt think he was all that great. Did see Will a few years ago and thought he was one of their better ones.

 

Me too with the moving of venues.

 

I liked Percy better on Celebrity. Partly because it was in the main theatre, but also it was longer. I really enjoyed the adult shows.

[silverpenguin]

The ones we saw on our Fascination cruise last year weren't all that great. In the adult only show, the funniest part was the heckler in the audience. In the general show, I had heard all the jokes before. Not impressed.

[doublem74]

We saw a guy named Dale Jones on the ecstacy last summer. He's easily the funniest comic I've ever saw. Check him out if you need a laugh!

 

 

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[luvmysox1]

I like the comedian pre George Lopez. Great ones I remember on Triumph in 2010, and Fascination in 2011 were best ever.

 

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[Doug910]

Wish they would put the comedy shows or at least the adult ones in the main theatre.

 

...Personally, I hope that never happens. True, there is usually a line to get into the Comedy Club, but that just goes to show how popular the shows are. Obviously, Carnival wants to maintain the "club" atmosphere. If these performances were held in the main lounges, it would be more of a show.

 

...As far as the performers, most I have seen on board (and I have seen a lot of them) are good. Some, not so good. But comedy is extremely objective. What one thinks is funny, another may not. Some are OK with sexual orientation, race, and fat jokes while othes are offended by it. YMMV.

[imacruiser2]

I agree with you Doug 910

[LuckyZ]

I disagree. The punch liner has made it so that it's hard to get a seat if you don't show up early and hence I end up not going to the comedy shows. So in the end I don't see the comedians and makes current cruises less enjoyable than the past .

 

As for the quality of the comedians, I'm not a George Lopez fan to start with so if he's the one recruiting comedians, it speaks volumes to the ones he's putting on the stage. I guess I don't enjoy guys getting on stage who have nothing better than a bunch of "F" bombs.

[ItsAllAboutTheSass]

Wish they would put the comedy shows or at least the adult ones in the main theatre.

 

Percy Crews was on the Glory last month and didnt think he was all that great. Did see Will a few years ago and thought he was one of their better ones.

 

I enjoyed Percy the first 4 or 5 times we saw him. Now, we don't bother.

[candacemac24]

Who is on the Magic currently?

 

 

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[vwrestler171]

I wasn't impressed with Percry Crews II on the Liberty, and there was one other one on the Liberty that I didn't care for either, but the other 4 comedians I have seen have been great. 4 out of 6 isn't too bad.

[FlaCruiser007]

Comedy is very subjective. We've seen the gamut - from what we consider obnoxious and crude to very very funny. The best comics to us are the ones that don't rely on a lot of coarse language, but rather offer wit at a level or 2 above the lowest common denominator.

 

I also understand the sentiment to move the comics into the main show theater for seating, but agree that the club atmosphere would be lost. One of the reasons I like the smaller Fantasy class is that there is usually seating in the comedy lounge. (By contrast, there was always a line on the Breeze)

 

All that said, the last several cruises we've really enjoyed the comedians.

[golfadj]

Doesnt seem like to many people think George Lopez has added anything to the comedy club.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

In past couple of years revolving around about a half dozen cruises, we have seen quite a few comedians "supposedly" approved or scouted by George Lopez.

 

If anything, think the comedians have gone somewhat downhill during this time and wonder if others agree or disagree?

 

Has George Lopez really brought anything to Carnival other than his name?

 

Of course he hasn't brought anything other than name recognition and a few occasionally funny pre-recorded monologues and content disclaimers. Many of the performers on CCL have been with the company much longer than they have had the contract with GL for. I do think they have a method to their choices of comedians though. I have noticed that out of two comedians on the average cruise, I usually like one routine and style/presentation of one and hate everything about the other. I think they are doing that in order to try to please as many people as possible. For every person like me, there are others who dislike the type of show I like and love the type of show I hate. I don't have much of a problem with this. Then again, I have seen a few "comedians" on CCL cruises who were so bad I (and quite a few others as well) got up and left during the middle of the show. I rarely leave shows of any kind early so these shows had to be awful. So overall, the quality of CCL comedy is average to occasionally above average these days and GL has very little to do with it.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

In January on the Conquest, the first few nights we had Percy Crews II and he was awesome as usual. He was also on our December 2012 Celebrity Reflection cruise and that was the first time we saw him. Enjoyed him so much we bought his DVD after that show. We were very surprised to learn he was on Carnival!

 

We also had Will Marfori. He was really great too. He has Cerebral Palsy and is just hilarious. Think along the lines of Josh Blue from Last Comic Standing.

 

They left half way through the cruise and were replaced by some other people, but we didn't go to those. Between me getting food poisoning and the shows being so late at night, it was just too much.

 

They need to put the comedy shows in the main theatre like Celebrity does. The Punchliner Club was packed with people standing in doorways, and even outside with the doors open. Not to mention the line every time!

 

Percy Crews is very funny. One of my favorite CCL comedians overall. I saw him on either the Sensation or Imagination at the end of last year. Old-fashioned, raunchy but tasteful comedy that cuts at everyone and everything and spares nobody.

 

I agree that they need more seating at a lot of these comedy shows. But the lounge they have these shows in seems to be a part of the draw and the overall atmosphere that you would lose if you put the show in the main theater. Just get there early enough for each show and you're cool.

[FlyingCruiserNJ]

...Personally, I hope that never happens. True, there is usually a line to get into the Comedy Club, but that just goes to show how popular the shows are. Obviously, Carnival wants to maintain the "club" atmosphere. If these performances were held in the main lounges, it would be more of a show.

 

...As far as the performers, most I have seen on board (and I have seen a lot of them) are good. Some, not so good. But comedy is extremely objective. What one thinks is funny, another may not. Some are OK with sexual orientation, race, and fat jokes while othes are offended by it. YMMV.

 

I find a lot of the crap the comedians do during the shows to not be funny and even a little over the top but honestly, if you go to an adult comedy show, what do you expect? They make it perfectly clear before the show begins what the show is going to be like and if I was very easily offended, I would probably not waste my time attending. They do have family oriented shows earlier in the evening with the same performers for those who don't want to see very adult-specific stuff. I will agree that sometimes the jokes involving ethnic, racial, sexual, etc are just not funny in the grand context. A person can use the f word a million times and talk all about sexual stuff during a show but that doesn't make it entertaining or funny. The best comedians mix that stuff with wit and good timing and are much more entertaining. And I totally agree that comedy is subjective. I have found performers who most people disliked to be hilarious and performers who had the audience rolling on the floor to be completely terrible. That is why there is variety in life though.

Edited March 3, 2014 by FlyingCruiserNJ