Did you miss Cringe Humor? Because it’s back, and it’s now offering its services to manage your career

After a three-year hiatus, the people and web outfit known online as Cringe Humor is back up and running, and then some.

Cringehumor In its 2010 reincarnation, Cringe Humor not only will be producing monthly shows — starting with an Aug. 25 kickoff at Comix in NYC (pictured at left) — but also offering management services to comedians who fit the "Cringe" brand. If you're unfamiliar with what Cringe Humor is, the site's founder Patrick Milligan has compiled a Top 10 list of their favorite past moments in Cringe Humor history. In short, if you like Opie & Anthony and their comedians, then you'll probably be a fan of Cringe.

As the site says in its "About Us" page: "Cringe Humor is NOT a general stand up comedy site. We cater to a very select genre of comedy and judge all other performers on it."

Just click on their Awful Comedy tab if you don't believe them.

During their Web hiatus, the site begat Cringe Humor Management and is now focusing as much on building the careers of comedians who fit their brand.

I'm not sure how I feel about "cringe" as a word associated with humor, comedy and laughter, but then again, I lived in Seattle when everyone called the music "grunge," and that word didn't always fit what was really going on there, either. And I wonder how the Cringe Humor feel about TV shows that people who don't know the site would otherwise consider cringe-worthy, such as Curb Your Enthusiasm or The Office. If you want to see whom Cringe Humor considers cringe-worthy, click on their Comedians tab.

Sean L. McCarthy

Editor and publisher since 2007, when he was named New York's Funniest Reporter. Former newspaper reporter at the New York Daily News, Boston Herald and smaller dailies and community papers across America. Loves comedy so much he founded this site.

View all posts by Sean L. McCarthy →

6 thoughts on “Did you miss Cringe Humor? Because it’s back, and it’s now offering its services to manage your career

  1. I love that they point to Demetri Martin as the reason why Comedy Central is out of touch. “…the safe, alternative…” Yeah, if you’re a company that wants to make a ton of money showing comedy then alternative is the definitely the way to go.

  2. “Female” is a category that makes a comedian awful? Wow. Regardless of that ridiculousness, I’m not sure a company devoting much of its energy to tearing down comedy that doesn’t appeal to them will ever be a company worth doing business with.

  3. To clear up some misconceptions here is my reply:
    “Cringe” was originally defined as humor that made people uncomfortable. For instance: performers that used to say rotten, awful things on stage. However it has since evolved into promoting comedians that are themselves on stage by baring their souls and telling stories about themselves and views on life.
    We feel that there is nothing genuine in Demetri Martin’s act as it all just written one liners. Nothing about himself at all.
    The industry is catering to comedians like him. Anyone who was at the recent Montreal Comedy Festival could attest to that. Nothing challenging, just chin scratching joke jokes.
    Now for the management concerns. We recently got our first ever client a spot on Comedy Central’s new series Russell Simmons Presents Stand Up @ The El Rey. Because of that we have a relationship with the network, and put on a talent showcase this past May consisting of our 4 clients and other up & coming performers in NYC.
    Yes, they are fully aware of how we bash almost everything they do stemming back from when they canceled Tough Crowd. However they use our site as a reference when scouting performers.
    We have also got our clients agent representation, auditions, passed at clubs, booked in international festivals, record deals and put together TV pilots and treatments, etc.
    Plus next month we have another showcase to hopefully get our clients passed and working at one of the top clubs in NYC. More info on that soon…
    We expect people to focus on the negative things we write, but we are highly confident and so sure of the product that we now let the on stage product speak on our behalf.
    We also don’t hate female comedians believe it or not. We just celebrate the select few that break the mold and challenge the world of comedy. Bonnie McFarlane and Laurie Kilmartin are the forerunners of the movement.
    To sum it all up, either you get it or you don’t. Cringe Humor is now fully focused on getting out guys work and no longer wasting time on the negatives. Yes, there are some negative fragments from the past on the new site but it addresses our mission.
    Thanks for your time. Feel free to ask questions
    Also many thanks to Sean for posting this piece!
    -Patrick Milligan
    patrick@cringehumor.net

  4. I think it’s a pretty lightweight criticism to think that Demetri Martin’s material doesn’t say anything about himself. With every joke, you’re getting more insight into his obsessive view on language and how we take it for granted. And besides all that (who cares really), are you saying that one liner comedy can’t be funny? That the only comedy that matters is personal anecdotes?
    I know you’ve built yourself a brand with Cringe Humor – and that it’s way too late to do anything about it no – but with the change from “shocking” to “personal” you really should have done something about that name.
    But, anyways, good luck with your new endeavor.

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