Mike Schilling

Mike has been a software engineer far longer than he would like to admit. He has strong opinions on baseball, software, science fiction, comedy, contract bridge, and European history, any of which he's willing to share with almost no prompting whatsoever.

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35 Responses

  1. Burt Likko says:
    March 31, 2015 at 9:08 am

    Saw a clip of his stand-up. Long expository set-ups for good but not gut-busting punches. Stance and delivery technically very good, confident, and good-looking. Insightful and smart.

    I think he’s a good choice. The show will be different with him, and we shouldn’t expect him to be Jon Stewart II.Report

    • Kazzy in reply to Burt Likko says:
      March 31, 2015 at 11:16 am

      He can do the John Oliver “Fish out of water” bit, something he did on his initial appearance (“Africa or America?”). He’ll need some time to get his footing, though he was poised and composed in his few appearances (though maybe I’m just falling for his accent). He didn’t give off the ‘trying to hard’ vibe I always got from Jessica Williams but instead seemed very confident and self-assured.

      I’m curious where he’ll go with it.Report

  2. Jaybird says:
    March 31, 2015 at 9:26 am

    The conservosphere is currently involved with digging through his tweets and finding jokes he’s made at the expense of, for example, Jews and Women of Size and saying that these jokes are problematic.Report

    • Chris in reply to Jaybird says:
      March 31, 2015 at 9:30 am

      SJWs!Report

      • Jaybird in reply to Chris says:
        March 31, 2015 at 9:34 am

        It’d mean so much more if we didn’t all know that these hillbillies didn’t wear “no fat chicks” t-shirts when they go shopping unironically at Wal-Mart.Report

      • Chris in reply to Chris says:
        March 31, 2015 at 9:43 am

        They’re ultimately just doing it to make themselves feel better.Report

      • j r in reply to Chris says:
        March 31, 2015 at 9:50 am

        This is nothing new. There was a point where the right was ostensibly against this sort of identity politics, but that ended a while ago. Look at a guy like James O’Keefe who’s made a career out of trolling poor people.

        One of the reasons that I am critical of SJW tactics is that they are so easily weaponized and deployed by anyone against anyone.Report

      • Notme in reply to Chris says:
        March 31, 2015 at 10:14 am

        Jr:

        Yes conservatives have learned from the liberals how to use the identity politics stick. Sadly it has become much of liberals shtick to claim a war on women or racism as the explanation for much that happens.Report

      • morat20 in reply to Chris says:
        March 31, 2015 at 10:33 am

        One of the reasons that I am critical of SJW tactics is that they are so easily weaponized and deployed by anyone against anyone.
        Most of them are college students, which means they’re young and stupid and haven’t figured out where the lines are. We all used to be there.

        Don’t get me wrong — they have a kernel of a point. It’s just, being young and inexperienced, they’re using it as a sledgehammer rather than a scalpel. They just haven’t grasped when it’s really applicable and when it’s not.

        Which is, again, no different than anything the 14-25 set has EVER done for all of history. Except it’s all over tumblr, instead of just idiots in dorm rooms are irritating the staff at a Denny’s.Report

      • j r in reply to Chris says:
        March 31, 2015 at 10:41 am

        @notme

        Change that to war on Christianity, rising black crime rates, and the victimization of straight white males and what you get is the same shit on different channels.

        @morat20

        I’ve definitely learned to not take a lot of the SJW stuff seriously, precisely because so much of it is the work of over-eager young people. Lots of it still bleeds out, though. The media is the most obvious example. It gets increasingly difficult to find news coverage that doesn’t attempt to impose a certain narrative on events as opposed to just reporting them.Report

    • LeeEsq in reply to Jaybird says:
      March 31, 2015 at 10:37 am

      Lawyers, Guns, and Money agree with the conservative blogosphere on this one. There is a post how intentionally politically incorrect humor is never really funny.Report

      • bookdragon in reply to LeeEsq says:
        March 31, 2015 at 11:16 am

        The whole thing about those tweets makes me really wonder about people. They’re declaring him anti-semitic over 3 tweets that were posted over 5 years? If 3 jokes like that is all you can find over a 5 year span, I don’t think there’s much of a case.

        And honestly, they strike me as jokes that either came off badly (gee, that never happens with any other comedians, right?) or need context. My family’s half-Jewish and I didn’t find the reference about Israel offensive (esp. knowing that during apartheid, Israel was one of few Western nations that supported the South African govt. – a calculated move to ensure access to the raw materials necessary for weapons). The one about almost bumping a Jewish kid is being called the most anti-semitic, but when I read it my impression was that the joke was pointed at himself – another joke about his mixed identity. A comment on the irony of a half-black South African carrying guilt from his father’s German ancestry.Report

      • LeeEsq in reply to LeeEsq says:
        March 31, 2015 at 11:39 am

        I disagree. There are plenty of times when liberals judge fast and harsh if a white, male comedian makes a joke abotu LGBT people or people of color. The bar for being an anti-Semite should not be higher than it is for other bigots.Report

      • Kim in reply to LeeEsq says:
        March 31, 2015 at 11:50 am

        Lee,
        and yet, you crazy git, it really is.
        Because people can’t even realize an anti-Semetic joke anymore when it’s staring them in the face.
        Or is it that they just don’t get outraged at the trope?

        Dunno, but don’t really care.

        Thinking failed trolling is really, really hilarious.Report

      • Kim in reply to LeeEsq says:
        March 31, 2015 at 11:50 am

        Also, if you kick Blamy out of the club, I’m leaving too.Report

      • Mike Schilling in reply to LeeEsq says:
        March 31, 2015 at 12:07 pm

        If he were a Palestinian academic, they’d be falling all over themselves to defend him.Report

      • Jaybird in reply to LeeEsq says:
        March 31, 2015 at 2:30 pm

        Slate has now written an article discussing his problematic tweets. Salon has written an article explaining the tweetstorm and wondering why Comedy Central didn’t do a better job of vetting him.Report

      • Kim in reply to LeeEsq says:
        March 31, 2015 at 3:01 pm

        jay,
        10 bucks on this showing up on air during the first week of the new daily show.
        Betcha the response is gonna be good.

        “I am a comedian. of course you’re offended! Let me offend some more people!”
        (discl: this is how I’d put it. and it’s a decent setup. but I make no claims to knowing the bloke from SA, or how he’d respond).Report

      • Mike Schilling in reply to LeeEsq says:
        March 31, 2015 at 3:02 pm

        Taki’s Mag invited him to write a piece about Jews before they realized he was the wrong kind of South African. National Review published a column describing his critics as “PC gone mad” but pulled it when they found out he’d once tweeted a joke about Ronald Reagan being senile.Report

      • Jaybird in reply to LeeEsq says:
        March 31, 2015 at 3:06 pm

        Man, I bet Taki’s Mag wishes they’d published his piece now!Report

      • Troublesome Frog in reply to LeeEsq says:
        March 31, 2015 at 5:04 pm

        @leeesq

        I think those liberals are usually too quick on the trigger as well. I think we’d be better served by dialing it back a bit than by turning everything all the way up to 11 just because some people have it at 11 some of the time.

        Jon Stewart is just lucky that The Daily Show wasn’t a big deal when he took over (and that he didn’t have a Twitter account going into it). Stewart’s stand up bits weren’t 100% friendly to everybody all the time.Report

      • bookdragon in reply to LeeEsq says:
        April 1, 2015 at 8:39 am

        My point is that I the jokes didn’t strike me as being particularly anti-semitic. Jon Stewart has harshly criticized Israel on air and makes Jewish jokes frequently. But since he’s Jewish, he just gets called ‘self-hating’ for it.

        Interestingly, it looks like Noah’s mother is part Jewish. Does that change the equation? Or, because he’s black and doesn’t ‘look’ Jewish according to American stereotypes, is it impossible for people to even think about that?Report

  3. Kazzy says:
    March 31, 2015 at 11:15 am

    The cynic in me wonders if this means “The Nightly Show” is on a short leash or will be cancelled. I’m skeptical they’ll run a full hour with nary a white male at host.Report

    • Burt Likko in reply to Kazzy says:
      March 31, 2015 at 11:20 am

      Is “The Nightly Show” funny? Do people watch it in some measurable way, to this evidence its value to advertisers? If so, I don’t foresee a problem.Report

      • Kazzy in reply to Burt Likko says:
        March 31, 2015 at 11:58 am

        @burt-likko

        I’ve found it to be largely hit and miss. Lots of promise but inconsistent delivery. I discussed elsewhere why I think this is.

        I suppose “cynic” was the wrong word. It would not be wrong of “Comedy Central” to cancel TNS if it is bad and to seek out another non-white host. I guess I’m cynical because I doubt they would run both shows with non-white hosts. Which is a shame. I wish I didn’t think, “This is the nail in the coffin for TNS.” But I can’t help but think that.Report

      • Kim in reply to Burt Likko says:
        March 31, 2015 at 12:10 pm

        *snort* I somehow doubt that Comedy Central got much of a vote.Report

      • Alan Scott in reply to Burt Likko says:
        March 31, 2015 at 1:32 pm

        Noah was brought on to the daily show in late 2014, before the premier of the nightly show. I suspect that the possibility of his replacing Stewart was around even then.

        If Comedy Central realized that the nightly show was going to be having this many problems, I presume it never would have gotten to air.Report

      • Kim in reply to Burt Likko says:
        March 31, 2015 at 2:59 pm

        Alan,
        I’m tempted to say to TNS — this is what you get when you ask for a “clean break.”
        Sink or Swim, you’re on your own.
        (of course I’m still rooting for them).Report

  4. Jaybird says:
    April 1, 2015 at 12:14 am

    Trevor Noah has tweeted: To reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn’t land is not a true reflection of my character, nor of my evolution as a comedian.

    Iowahawk tweeted in response: As God is my witness, I thought fat chick jokes could fly.Report

  5. ScarletNumber says:
    April 4, 2015 at 12:50 pm

    I still think Comedy Central should have brought back Tough Crowd.Report

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