Netflix has a monopoly on standup comedy right now.
While Disney is about to launch its own streaming service in November, effectively removing all of their property from Netflix, the streaming giant shouldn’t be overly concerned because they’re the only place to see the top comedians’ standup specials.
And Bill Burr’s newest Netflix special “Paper Tiger” echoes a lot of the same controversial sentiments of what Dave Chappelle said in “Sticks and Stones.”
Disney-plus is about to hit the market in November and if you pay up front for three years then it equates to about $4 per month. If you wait until November then it’s only going to cost between $5-6 per month. That’s pretty cheap when you consider the amount of original content Disney already has and also owns like Lucas Films, Pixar and Marvel.
Netflix should be scared, right?
They’re not. On top of what seems like hundreds of original television shows and films they produce every single year, Netflix has a monopoly on standup comedy because they pay the talent enormous amounts.
Everyone was stunned when it was discovered that Netflix paid Dave Chappelle $20 million each for his first three standup specials after having been on hiatus from Hollywood for a decade.
But then Netflix paid British comic Ricky Gervais $40 million for “Humanity,” which was the most sold out comedy show of all time in Europe.
And then the streaming giant announced they would pay Eddie Murphy a staggering $70 million for his upcoming standup routine, which will likely come out sometime next year.
Do you see a pattern emerging here?
We don’t know what Bill Burr was paid for his new special that premiered on Tuesday entitled “Paper Tiger,” but the content was awfully similar to many things Chappelle was poking fun of likely the obnoxious politically correct culture in “Sticks and Stones.”
Burr made a joke about the cancel culture in the special about halfway through saying, “By the way, this is going to be my last show ever. By the time this f–king thing comes out.”
It’s all in the title of Burr’s special too. A “Paper Tiger” is a literal English translation from a common Chinese expression referring to something or someone that claims or appears to be powerful and/or threatening, but is actually ineffectual and unable to withstand challenge.
Basically what Burr is saying is “stop being so sensitive! They’re just jokes!” This was Chappelle’s theme too in “Sticks and Stones.”
In the opening, Burr flips quickly through complaints about the over-analysis of jokes – that white women are to blame for the current lamentable state of culture in the United States. Surely, Caucasian feminists were all over social media condemning that joke.
Burr calls sexual assault funny, and puts on a voice to mock male feminists. He makes fun of the idea that culture can be appropriated. And he literally says in the special, “sexual assault is funny.”
This sounds like Chappelle’s special, right?
Maybe it’s American culture reacting to the overreaction that started with the overly sensitive PC police. At least someone is saying it. But also it’s their job are to make you laugh and if you don’t find it funny then don’t watch.
As Dave Chappelle says midway through “Sticks and Stones,” “Just remember if you’re watching this on Netflix at home… just remember you clicked on my face.”