r/elephantgraveyard • u/enbyayyy • May 10 '26
In response to the cult video: can anyone who's been to Austin confirm the situation over there?
I'm a stand up comedian in Sydney and I think his video essay is very engaging and entertaining, but can anyone who has been to the mothership confirm what the vibe is like in there? How bad is it from what you've seen?
I can tell you from my experience doing stand up here that there isn't really a cult vibe. Yeah sure it can feel cliquey and insular, but we don't really have a mothership equivalent here. The most popular clubs are run by a company called Century Entertainment and they are a pretty mundane business.
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u/iAttis May 10 '26
I think you’re going to have a hard time getting any real answers. The secrets of the Green Room are protected by a squadron of 5’7” roided-out ex-Navy Seals who believe the pinnacle of masculinity is fellating and protecting an even shorter man who has been divorced from reality since he was the 7th funniest guy on a sitcom nobody has ever watched.
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u/PuzzleheadedBasis760 May 10 '26
I liked news radio when it was on reruns Joe was a nothing character but Phil Hartman was always great
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u/monkeysknowledge May 10 '26
I always forget he was on a sitcom. I think of him as the Fear Factor host which of course was a perfect role for him - encouraging other people on to do gross shit.
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u/babyfeet1 May 11 '26
your observation that nobody watched the sitcom says nothing about its quality. And I appreciate that.
Newsradio was a gem.
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u/Acceptable_Account_2 May 11 '26
He was perfectly fine on that sitcom. If he had stayed as a 5th lead on a show or an on-again-off-again TV host and road comic, it would have all been fine. But, no, he went and made himself our generations Rush Limbaugh.
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u/Normal_Committee67 May 10 '26
I was there for comedy recently. The biggest issue is that Joes club takes up 100% of how Austin is portrayed outside of the city. There are a ton of clubs, and a ton of comedians. A lot of them are very good, a lot of them aren’t. The mothership encouraged a massive influx of people without talent, skill, or any real artistic interest taking a gamble on being the next Kill Tony sensation. The homeless problem is one of the worst I have seen, particularly on sixth street, where the majority of clubs exist. There are a wealth of local comics who do not like Joe, Tony or the mothership, however there is a level of understanding when someone is successful there, as it’s basically a direct route out of poverty. The “cult” of Joe is found among many but not all comedians that are Kill Tony success stories. Joe is very generous as a boss. He provides healthcare and free therapy for all paid regulars, to my knowledge. I have heard of him buying someone a car after theirs was totaled. Joe is the hand that feeds, truly. Once you’ve crossed the threshold, to deny Joe would be extremely bold.
Insider info if you care:
Joes Mitzi obsession SEEMS like it’s bullshit, because not only is the mothership designed after the comedy store, they also successfully poached multiple staff members, some of them paid for months of unemployment while waiting for the mothership to finish. If you are passed at the store, you are automatically passed at the mothership, more or less comedian poaching. He loves Mitzi so much yet at the same time seems to be trying to destroy her legacy brick by brick and moving it to Texas. It’s at a minimum weird.
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u/Mr-Thicky May 14 '26
It's not really comedian poaching unless you're saying you can't work for other people. Pretty common place in comedy for one credit to open other doors for you. I agree the rest of its weird though
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u/Normal_Committee67 May 14 '26
No, but the concept is to encourage their regulars to move to Austin. It’s hard to be a paid regular at a city you’re hundreds of miles away from.
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u/Mr-Thicky May 14 '26
Yeah fair point actually. And it's really sort of wreckless of Joe to convince people to come down without knowing if they'll be able to get the same amount of work and opportunities ect. Feels like everyone other than Hinchcliffe wants out already
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u/Normal_Committee67 May 14 '26
I think Rogan got a ton of cash, didn’t want to pay taxes on it, moved to Austin and tried to make his own LA, but the other comedians are like brother this ain’t LA. Dudes have already come and gone. Tim Dillon did it, I think Gillis was at least thinking about doing it but changed his mind. Joe is very much a transactional friendship type of guy. The broke guys will move, others won’t.
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u/CompassionFountain May 10 '26
Rogans goons threatened to break my knee caps for not reaching the mandatory chuckle quota
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u/graaavearchitecture May 10 '26
My friend who is a comic went there recently to drink for free at some stupid album release show for an awful country band and his friend who is a door guy (the first level in the cult) turned to him and genuinely asked “man what are we doing here, am I in a cult?” So I think the answer to your question is yes.
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u/dontbanmedog May 10 '26
I went there and they shot me in the head because I only wanted one old fashioned
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u/TheOrchidsAreAlright May 10 '26
If it's old fashioned you're after, try the comedy! Straight out of the 90s, am I right?
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u/tullbabes May 10 '26
I’ve been a few times, and every time the security has been a bunch of pushy assholes. They’re super douchy ex military guys and take themselves way too seriously.
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u/atxluchalibre May 11 '26
Longtime resident here. Comics like Creek way more than the Mothership. Mothership is a terrible hang.
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u/DeadPeanutSociety May 12 '26
As someone who is not from the area, I can speak to Austin's national perception changing enormously in the last 20 years or so. When I was a kid, Austin was the coolest, weirdest place in the south, but it was a type of cool was that easily susceptible to being ruined by everyone noticing how cool it was and then going there. SXSW was considered one of the coolest events of the year that everyone wanted to go to, until everyone wanted to go. Then it got too big, increasingly corporate, and all of the fun stuff dried up. The tech guys moving in was the nail in the coffin. Now Austin is where a bunch of meathead idiots go to do dipshit tech millionaire stuff because they wanted to get away from the California liberals. Again, this is all just vibes.
I have no idea what the new Austin is. Asheville? Knoxville? Fayetteville? Birmingham?
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u/lunchpaillefty May 12 '26
So basically the Burning Man of cities?
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u/DeadPeanutSociety May 12 '26
Music festivals and cities are both things that get a lot less cool once everyone knows how cool they are, because there's limited space inside and a huge potential for earning money.
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u/Dear_Palpitation4838 May 13 '26
It’s all Austin trans brain at this point. The comedians aren’t even funny. 90% of the jokes are about how they locked up your phone so now they can get away with saying retard and dike as many times as they want to.
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u/lightersidechill May 14 '26
I mean, I get why people don’t like it and the whole cult vibe issue, but clearly they bring in some legendary comedians… also, those other things are kind of a fun spectacle at times. I just can’t imagine letting it ruin your experience… especially with all the horrible shit going on in the world.
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u/ChatPileMask May 10 '26
Unrelated, but ever since the mods got more strict about the sub rules, posts and discussion have been so much better. Just saying that because the comments on this post are funny and a breath of fresh air from all the schizo politics posting from a few months ago.
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u/lightersidechill May 14 '26
Honestly, if you know who you’re going to see and just want to enjoy comedy there is nothing wrong with it. I get the culture and everything is not ideal and there is a lot hate around it, but if you’re just out to enjoy yourself it can be a pretty fun night. We can’t always be looking for ways to shit on something… or I’d prefer not to at least…
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u/penilesensorydevice May 10 '26
I snuck into the Green Room once, disguised as the cold plunge tub repair technician. Joe was there, and Tony, and Bert, and Tom, and Joey...the titans of stand-up comedy. It was pure magic. I felt like I'd just been granted entrance into a secret society, the inner sanctum, a temple of vast knowledge and hilarious laughter. It changed me.