The Great Doug Stanhope

Posted on January 18, 2008
Filed Under Entertainment

Doug Stanhope, born March 25, 1967, is a critically-acclaimed American stand–up comedian, influenced by the likes of George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Bill Hicks and Sam Kinison, and currently residing in the small U.S.-Mexico border town of Bisbee, Arizona.

Stanhope’s career began in 1990 in Las Vegas, Nevada, while he was working in telemarketing. According to his own website, his original ambition was to get “free beer and maybe the attention of chicks who wouldn’t otherwise talk to him”, but Stanhope proved to have a penchant for making people laugh and started working the comedy circuit.

Since 1998 he has released 5 comedy albums, The Great White Stanhope, Sicko, Something to Take the Edge Off, Die Laughing and Deadbeat Hero, all displaying Stanhope’s brand of black humour, ranging from true-life graphic perversion to volatile social criticism. As Doug often states onstage, it is not an act for everyone, and includes none of the observational humour often done by American comedians.

One of the mainstays of Stanhope’s act is to try to enlighten the audience or make them see a situation from a different perspective. For example, he often advocates, in an extremely acerbic, yet humorous manner, that people unsatisfied with their 9-5 existence try to find an alternative, rather than working harder for material gain. As he sees it, unless it is a labour of love and they would do it for free, there’s no point to it, hopefully giving those unsatisfied with their current situation, be that working in clothing stores in Cincinnati or serviced offices in London a catalyst for change.

Stanhope has made appearances at several major comedy festivals, including the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival, the Chicago Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where in 2002 he won the Strathmore Press Award. Stanhope was in 2006 voted GQ’s Comedian of the Year.

2007 saw Stanhope make two TV specials – one for Channel 4 Comedy Lab, filmed at the Caves in Edinburgh and one for US TV network Showtime, recorded at The Gotham Comedy Club in New York City, later released on DVD.

As a commentator of US politics, Stanhope intended to formally declare his presidential candidacy for 2008 during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show in May 2007, but ultimately had to pull out due to restrictions by the Federal Election Commission, meaning he would not be able to receive personal income from his comedy appearances and website if he was to use them to campaign. Instead, Doug chose to endorse libertarian-leaning Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul.

Ultimately, American politics’ loss is our gain, as it means Stanhope will be on the comedy circuit for years to come, providing his loyal audience with laughs and insight into and what he sees as an ever-conforming world.