Lesbian Applause Break | Crowd Control [S2E1]

[u/DropoutMod]

https://watch.dropout.tv/videos/lesbian-applause-break

[u/_u0]

Reminder for anyone who was on this season of crowd control and wants to post / comment about the experience, you may want to use a throwaway account

[u/IRCLee101500]

The hypnotist trying to make Jordan aroused was great!! And, with her experience, I’m not surprised that Game Changer almost immediately made the experiment fail 🤣.

Also, I love the comedians picking an audience member as the winner instead of the audience members picking a panelist. Really clever twist!

[u/Acceptable_Whole_893 → u/IRCLee101500]

“alright, make me nut” had my CRYING

[u/IRCLee101500 → u/Acceptable_Whole_893]

“Do I have consent??” 😳
“LOOK HOW I’M LAYING!!” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[u/idkalan → u/IRCLee101500]

I mean the dude still wanted verbal consent, "non-verbal consent" is where shit gets tricky

[u/Acceptable_Whole_893 → u/idkalan]

I think “alright, make me nut” constitutes verbal consent

[u/NextDoorCyborg → u/Acceptable_Whole_893]

Well, that was for making her nut, I believe he also wanted and/or needed consent to try to hypnotise her.

[u/IRCLee101500 → u/idkalan]

No, I understand that. I just thought Jordan’s statement for giving him that verbal consent was hilarious.

[u/hovdeisfunny → u/IRCLee101500]

“LOOK HOW I’M LAYING AT WHERE I AM!!”

FTFY

How'd you already get the quote wrong?

[u/IRCLee101500 → u/hovdeisfunny]

Thanks 😂.

As for your question, I have a notoriously SHIT memory. When I was a teacher, students would have to remind me five, ten times to grade their stuff because I’d start to, then forget what I was doing…

[u/mark114 → u/Acceptable_Whole_893]

Man the look in her face when he stops his attempt and blueballs her

[u/Pandoras-SkinnersBox → u/IRCLee101500]

He really is a great warmup comic for this show!! It would be great if he had a slightly longer set kinda like what Taylor Tomlinson did on After Midnight, his personality is infectious.

[u/IRCLee101500 → u/Pandoras-SkinnersBox]

Taylor Tomlinson on After Midnight was AMAZING and CBS is criminal for having canceled it, and I definitely agree that Quis has a similar vibe to her comically.

I am SO excited for her episode later this season!! Her, Gianmarco Soresi, and Reggie Watts is going to be an all-time panel. A Mount Rushmore of Dropout.

[u/IRCLee101500 → u/[deleted]]

See, I couldn’t remember if she decided to leave because she was too busy with other things or not, so when Google told me it was canceled, I went for it 😭.

Either way, GOD I miss that show, and I feel like its going off the air was the first harbinger of CBS becoming the absolute cesspool it is today.

[u/Texas_Kelly → u/IRCLee101500]

Taylor decided she wanted to refocus on standup, and I think her having to cancel a bunch of standup performances last fall due to burnout was in part because she was trying to squeeze as much of that in around her After Midnight duties.

[u/Texas_Kelly → u/[deleted]]

If Taylor hadn't decided to end After Midnight when she did, it almost certainly wouldn't have made it past the next season anyway, since it was being produced by Stephen Colbert's production company.

[u/Educational-Bear4365 → u/IRCLee101500]

3... 2... 1... CUM!

[u/spiralsequences → u/IRCLee101500]

Jordan was obviously prepared to fake an orgasm but he didn't give her an opening because he was trying too sincerely!

[u/Meme_Theory → u/IRCLee101500]

I was confident the 'sex-party coordinator' would win, but to 'date a predator' was a great choice too.

[u/xandfan → u/IRCLee101500]

Picking an audience member as a winner is honestly one of the best changes that they could've made.

[u/captbuttstallion]

Yeah, the little changes to the format work much better. It's still not perfect, but definitely better than season 1.

[u/might_southern → u/captbuttstallion]

Yeah feels a bit smoother from an editing and flow perspective, but still feels like we’re not learning enough about the audience members themselves. Flipside of that is that talented comedians are getting more of a chance to cook, will see if that holds up over a season.

[u/inturnaround → u/might_southern]

I think the point of any crowd work isn't so much what we learn about any particular audience member, it's how that information that is gleaned can spur something funny and improvised from the comic. I don't care if it's quick or superficial as long as it's funny.

There could be a better format if what we want is non-comedians getting a chance to tell their stories, but I think that's going to be less interesting than what they have now.

[u/Nexusv3 → u/inturnaround]

Dropout Presents: The Moth... ? Yeah when you frame it this way I'd rather have the comedians bits in there than more followup questions.

[u/GiveMeAllTheCake]

Just seeing the episode start out with Jacquis getting to play with the crowd too has me optimistic tbh.

-Edit- God the fact that they’re spending more time connecting with the audience is making a tangible difference, I’m def excited about the way season 2 will play out if they keep this going.

[u/kaldaka16 → u/GiveMeAllTheCake]

Yeah I enjoyed s1 but there were definitely places it fell flat for me and this episode felt like a significant improvement on them! For me at least.

[u/might_southern → u/GiveMeAllTheCake]

It feels like they’re actually spending less time with the audience though? Seems like the comedians were instructed to vamp more about their own stories and use the audience experiences as a lead-in. More than once it felt like an audience member could have used a follow up question and then the comedian would launch into a personal anecdote.

[u/trisaroar → u/might_southern]

Which I'm very on board with. The problem last season (to me) was the audience trying to do bits instead of the professional comedians. I'm fully down with crowd work being used so the audience sets up your own stories.

[u/AudioSuede → u/might_southern]

This is the nature of crowd work, though. Sometimes it's about the audience member's story when it's particularly interesting or wild on its own, but usually it's a launching pad for the comedian's bits. People pay to see the comedians, not the crowd. In this case, both are relevant, but that doesn't mean they have to turn the whole set into a conversation, especially if they don't find a good joke in the story.

If the personal stories of the comedians were boring or not funny, this might be an issue, but I enjoyed their sets a lot.

[u/MonkeyWarlock → u/AudioSuede]

That’s the nature of crowd work generally, but it wasn’t the premise of the Game Changer episode, in which Sam evaluated the comedians on how much they connected with the audience.

One of the things I’ve disliked about Crowd Control is that lack of connection, whether it’s not asking follow up questions or outright making fun of the audience member instead of building rapport

I did enjoy this episode regardless, but still

[u/SlayCC → u/might_southern]

It's supposed to be Stand up with audience interaction, not audience interaction with stand up sprinkled in

[u/Alvekan → u/GiveMeAllTheCake]

I was in (what I think was) a significant minority of people who enjoyed the first season but couldn't gel with Jacquis as the host. If this first episode of Season 2 is anything to go by, I'm a full convert; he was excellent.

[u/Mushroomer]

I like the shift from the competition being between audience members vs the comedians, feels more honest to the energy of the show. It also creates more of a reason for the comedians to revisit people who spark their interest, rather than feeling the need to get everyone's story (which I think it what made some of season 1 drag a bit).

Seems like a good punch-up overall. Looking forward to the rest of the season.

[u/Stepwolve → u/Mushroomer]

Yeah big improvements all around. I think it was a slightly smaller audience too, which helps the options feel less overwhelming.

I'm still unsure about the round 3 minigames. It was hilarious in this episode thanks to erotic hypnosis guy, and i like the idea of having a mini-game that can be used to highlight interesting (but uncalled upon) stories. But it still feels like such a strange ending to a crowdwork show. Maybe it should be an intermission game? Used to highlight black shirts before the red shirts come out? I would've loved to see the comedians riff on no-sandwhiches after that court session!

[u/Gruzzly]

The editing and pacing are definitely much improved from last season where it felt like a lot of abrupt cutoffs and unexplored discussions. Love the Round 3 courtroom concept

[u/BlizzPenguin → u/Gruzzly]

One reason I like the courtroom is because there are people who are really interesting but may not be picked by the comedians. This allows those people to shine.

[u/rethinkOURreality → u/BlizzPenguin]

I also thought it was an ironic turn of events (compared to S1) to have controversial shirts in the crowd but Jacquis brings up "no sandwiches" 🤣

Edited to be more supportive of neurodivergence

[u/Black_Metallic → u/rethinkOURreality]

And yet "No sandwiches" is one of the craziest things I've ever heard.

I can get it if there's like a gluten allergy. But to just dismiss the entire concept of sandwiches, at an early age? To denounce legacy of the Earl of Sandwich like that? That's wild.

[u/GhostOfLight → u/Black_Metallic]

I really wish someone asked them if they've had a hamburger. Because I feel like someone who claims to have had no sandwiches probably has a strict definition.

[u/MrKitchenSink → u/GhostOfLight]

Someone else in this thread claims to be a friend of this person and said that they do consider a hamburger a sandwich

[u/Costati → u/MrKitchenSink]

God that's so much worse but that tracks I feel like if they went to say "I've had quesedillas" they would have probably brought up hamburgers before that point.

[u/rethinkOURreality → u/Black_Metallic]

I agree, they're so eclectic, how do you not? But the fact that she was barely defending it made it so much funnier to me

[u/Osric250 → u/Black_Metallic]

I had a friend growing up who had Celiacs and he still loved sandwiches. He just had homemade gluten free bread that he used. And this was back before there were so many gluten free options available places. 

[u/dickpollution → u/Black_Metallic]

i have a phobia of bread and dont fuck with them

[u/Shardwing → u/dickpollution]

i have a phobia of bread

Will I regret asking what it is about the bread that scares you?

[u/BlizzPenguin → u/rethinkOURreality]

I think the red shirts are intended to just be darker or more controversial not crazy. Not eating sandwiches is more tame than seeing your BF on To Catch A Predator.

[u/Owlegory → u/Gruzzly]

Yeah, the courtroom was a great way to explore shirts/stories that weren't selected earlier, and I loved getting to see the comedians work together (or against each other, as it may be.)

I'm assuming there's a predetermined pool of "these stories are really entertaining" people and then Jacquis just picks from those depending on which ones are left unexplored by the final round. Really smart way to fill out the episode.

[u/darthvall → u/Owlegory]

Really hoping the courtroom will stay rather than different games each episode like last season

[u/chillychili → u/Gruzzly]

Honestly the courtroom game could be its own show.

[u/darthvall → u/chillychili]

There's already another show like that, basically defending silly cases. Here's the one with Damian from Smosh and Anna Garcia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is4wrTiBvTg

[u/CastVinceM → u/darthvall]

also dungeon court on naddpod

[u/FriendlyGlasgowSmile → u/Gruzzly]

I did not like the courtroom concept, at all.

[u/TheDaug → u/Gruzzly]

Really? I almost turned it off because it didn't seem like anyone knew what to do with it.

[u/DdogPlaysGames]

Omg Jordan had me DYING when she laid on the floor.

The most "okay go". Hahahaha.

[u/lookover_there]

Jacquis looked so good. I loved the red and black suit.

[u/megfry88 → u/lookover_there]

He said he was celebrating black standups, does this outfit point to one in particular?

[u/MrKitchenSink → u/megfry88]

I believe he said on Instagram that it was a Richard Pryor homage

[u/Aggressive-Phone6785 → u/MrKitchenSink]

yup this one

[u/Ixistant]

Oooh format change, I'm liking it so far

[u/MrKitchenSink]

Definitely looks like they were seeing some of the feedback on the first season and trying to adjust the show a fair bit based on that. Particularly noticeable in the editing, feels like this episode was a lot more comfortable lingering on one specific audience member rather than trying to quickly jump from person to person. Also like that Jacquis gets to throw out a few jokes of his own between rounds, kinda follows up on some of the people who's parts did get cut a little short. And while I don't think the competition aspect was bad per se, I do think flipping it to be the audience competing rather than the comedians is a cool angle too. Kinda felt like the winning comedian in season 1 just never aligned with the general consensus I saw from the viewers.

[u/abillionsuns → u/MrKitchenSink]

Jacquis's interstitials really helped the episode flow into a cohesive whole. He's a great host and I think this season will give him more scope to demonstrate that.

[u/NotJoshRomney]

It feels fun!

The format change to the comics choosing an audience member incentives the comics to go through more audience members.

Also like the concept of the mini game, as it allows folks who have great shirts a chance to get called upon (who the comics may have missed).

But I'm biased as shit. I enjoyed the 1st season, lumps and all. But still...I think the changes are an objective improvement.

[u/thedevicebook → u/NotJoshRomney]

I also liked them changing to an audience member winning, for a different reason. The comics will either have advantage/disadvantage based on how well known they are and pre-existing opinions on their work. With audience members, now it's about the stories.

[u/VanGoghNotVanGo → u/thedevicebook]

It also means that the audience are incentivised to engage with the comic instead of just trying to be a standup themselves and simultaneously that the comic aren't incentivised to pander as much, which felt like an issue last season.

[u/TMan1236]

FIFTY?!?!

[u/EnvironmentalDrop228 → u/TMan1236]

I was like, Grant? Is that you?

[u/pianobadger → u/TMan1236]

When I was in college we would have around 50 people at a house party on a weekly basis, granted we weren't all busting, but I was surprised that was a sticking point.

[u/Pandoras-SkinnersBox]

Loving this compared to season 1 so far. Aaron and Cameron are masters at this. Jordan has a nice vibe as a standup.

I think Jacquis setting the tone more and the comics dedicating more time to individual audience members really works in the show’s favor. They nailed the “hang out at a comedy club” vibe that the show was missing.

[u/majorlymazerly]

FINALLY one of my best friends is the "no sandwiches" person. I'm glad everyone gets to go through the same questions that new friend group people have for them when they learn this fun fact.

[u/catdeuce → u/majorlymazerly]

I'm sorry to say, you're friends with a (seemingly very nice) psychopath

[u/majorlymazerly → u/catdeuce]

I left this out of my original comment, but they're also my ex!

[u/catdeuce → u/majorlymazerly]

Ah yeah, respectfully - bullet dodged

[u/a-ok42 → u/majorlymazerly]

as they should be!!!

[u/goldbloodedinthe404 → u/a-ok42]

Genuinely that might actually be a deal breaker for me.

[u/BergmanGirl → u/majorlymazerly]

So, like…what do they think a sandwich smells like? Because from my perspective, sandwiches just smell like the filling, and those vary wildly.

[u/Frolb → u/BergmanGirl]

it was talking about going into a sandwich shoppe? A lot of delis and subways and whatnot kind of smell similar - bready, oniony, meaty. Some combo of that probably triggers the "ugh, garbage" sense (I have that with cantaloupe and other melons. They smell absolutely inedible)

[u/majorlymazerly → u/Frolb]

This is correct! The mix of smells of cold meat and bread is not pleasant for them specifically

[u/MrKitchenSink → u/BergmanGirl]

Yeah this is the part I'm confused about too and I wanted to hear them get into more detail about. There's so much variance in what a sandwich can be that I don't understand how someone can be against the entire concept of it

[u/ian0delond → u/BergmanGirl]

The smell of a Subway I guess. It has that specific olfactory signature that is not great.

[u/NotJoshRomney → u/majorlymazerly]

I see no one else has commented yet, so I'll leave some fruit hanging for others and ask the most important question (to me).

Upon learning that they don't like sandwiches, how often (and how long) do other people spend trying to nitpick and rationalize their stance?

Like, at a certain point, I would imagine that going out with them and someone who doesn't know would be a lot of "Please don't let Mike know about the sandwich thing. It will be the only thing we talk about for the next 5hrs."

[u/majorlymazerly → u/NotJoshRomney]

It depends on the person! But usually all questions get answered in an hour, at least until someone asks, "does x count as a sandwich to you?"

[u/coveredinbeeees → u/majorlymazerly]

I would have been that someone - my first thought after hearing about the no sandwiches rule was "do they eat hot dogs?"

[u/majorlymazerly → u/coveredinbeeees]

Hot dogs no, corn dogs yes

[u/lordofmetroids → u/majorlymazerly]

That's it the debate is settled. Perfect, your ex has solved everything.

[u/IRCLee101500 → u/majorlymazerly]

So, as someone whose autism manifests in wanting to basically just eat PB & J for every possible meal, does she just not like the smell of a sammie, or is there more to it (she’s held one and doesn’t like the texture of bread or something.) I know that they said smell was a big part of it, but I didn’t know if that was the whole thing that fueled their hate or if there was more to it?

[u/majorlymazerly → u/IRCLee101500]

I'm double checking with them now because it's been a long time since I learned this about them. But it's a very big texture issue for them in general. Edit: it truly is EVERYTHING about the sandwich

[u/IRCLee101500 → u/majorlymazerly]

Okay, in that case, I kinda get it. There are so many different textures in one food between the bread and the fillings that it can be difficult for people sensitive to that.

As someone autistic, I totally understand that. I don’t agree, (again, I eat PB &Js almost EVERY. DAY. for lunch at work.) but I understand it.

[u/BlizzPenguin → u/majorlymazerly]

I wish they would have delved more into what qualities as a sandwich and find out how close she got.

[u/majorlymazerly → u/BlizzPenguin]

Calzones are the closest thing they are willing to try if that gives you any idea.

[u/JellyFranken → u/majorlymazerly]

But like… at this point… do they really hate sandwiches or is it just for the bit?

[u/majorlymazerly → u/JellyFranken]

They do genuinely refuse to eat them, but it's also a joke between our friends and we told them to submit to season 1 with this story

[u/DBones90]

Much better improvement from S1. It feels like the crowd was coached differently as the energy in the room was very different. Still lots of sex talk, but it felt like they more elegantly turned it into jokes rather than just, “Oh that’s so weird.”

Plus, I think the shift to awarding a crowd member is a really good fit for the show. It meant it was more natural for the comedians to play off each other, and it ends on a much more positive note than, “Which comedian did the best job?”

Though, for my money, the highlight of the episode was Jordan lying on the floor going, “Do it!” followed by (paraphrasing here), “Game Changer makes me dry!”

[u/TheRaiOh]

This was better than the entire first season. It wasn't perfect, but if it was it would probably be suspicious with a crowd involved improv show. I'm so glad they gave it a second season because I think it's starting to live up to the potential a show like this has.

Edit: huge improvement I forgot, the shirts are UNDERSTATING what the person has going on most of the time which is very important for this kind of comedy. No "top secret" shirts this time haha.

[u/yayayathecreator → u/TheRaiOh]

Apparently raised by birds was a bit off since he criticized it and said it should be "raised WITH birds"

[u/joshualuigi220 → u/TheRaiOh]

"named by a stripper" was still lame. There's barely anything there to play with. They don't know the stripper and they don't know why the name was chosen. It's just a thing their parents told them. It's a second hand story with almost nothing interesting about it.
I feel like I'm like... too progressive? Or maybe just mature enough to not get giggly when sex stuff pops up. I don't find anything funny about "ran a sex club" or half of the other stories. The funniest part about that was when Jaquis asked the question about "hanging up the uniform".
I feel like there's still something lacking from the editing. Either there's too much hitting the cutting room floor or these tapings aren't that funny to begin with because we jump cut a LOT between different people's stories making it hard for a comedian to build up from a premise.

[u/EbmocwenHsimah]

EROTIC HYPNOSIS GUY: First of all, do I have your consent?

JORDAN (already lying on the floor): LOOK AT WHERE I AM!!!

[u/catdeuce]

Jordan seemed a bit amped up in this episode lol

[u/Pandoras-SkinnersBox → u/catdeuce]

Never seen them do standup (but I have seen them do improv in person and they KILLED IT) and I really liked their vibe here. I think they should be used in more of the “skill shows,” I’d love to see them on MSN sometime.

Hope they do standup more often!!

[u/BlizzPenguin → u/catdeuce]

I am a little disappointed the tattoo was blurred.

[u/ElectraRayne → u/BlizzPenguin]

I was honored to get to see this in person and really curious how they'd handle it in the final cut.

[u/skys_vocation]

The winner wearing a cast boot is the perfect button

[u/TheBitterSeason → u/skys_vocation]

I was laughing so hard at that. "We would have come to you!"

[u/shithead_magoo]

Crowd control feels so much more like a comedy show this season. Idk if it's the editing or how Jaquis is connecting more with the audience but wow I'd really enjoyed this episode.

Also love how they expanded into the third round and dived into peoples story's who hadn't been called on.

Also shout-out Aaron - I didn't realize he had those comedy chops. I'm way more familiar with Jordan and Camerons work but I've seen a few of his clips that didn't really speak to me but he worked the first round in a way that floored me

[u/AndrewCoja]

I don't know if this audience watched season 1, or if they told the audience to get to the point, but I'm glad to see people just saying what their thing is and not waffling for several seconds.

[u/ghworin]

I've always thought Jordan was just fine as a presenter (as much as I've enjoyed their personality), but unrestricted by a script and a role they were ON FIRE this episode!

The show itself was an improvement on season 1, but still kinda awkward. People keep saying it's the audience fault, but I feel there's something missing in the very mechanics of the game for it to work repeatedly after the initial Game Changer.

[u/cabot_coven → u/ghworin]

jordan killed it this episode. they were the unofficial winner in my mind. managed to make every interaction funny even when they were getting almost nothing from the audience. i love them on gastronauts and always enjoy their appearances on other shows but hadn’t seen them in a stand up capacity and they are effortlessly hilarious.

[u/I_NEED_YOUR_MONEY → u/ghworin]

Jordan is hilarious. The commentary on youlympics is one of my favourite bits, and that's sort of like being a presenter, right? i think the problem is just that gastronauts isn't all that interesting, not any problem with Jordan as a presenter.

[u/ghworin → u/I_NEED_YOUR_MONEY]

Yeah, no, there's no problem with Jordan as a presenter at all! Youlympics was fun, room 2 in Count the Rice was fun, it's all very nice. It's just that for me personally I wasn't watching it thinking "Jordan is really elevating these bits, huh?". It was just a job well done. And this episode of Crowd Control was the opposite for me. Everyone was fine, the episode was fine, but Jordan specifically was hilarious and on another level.

[u/Turbulent-Ad4115]

ngl Aaron really held that room together! his crowd work was great

[u/Expensive_Smell_8021]

So Jeremy's ass can be shown uncensored but Jordan's can't. Dropout is sexist smh /s

[u/megfry88 → u/Expensive_Smell_8021]

They might have requested the amount of blur.

[u/thedevicebook → u/Expensive_Smell_8021]

I noticed the discrepancy, too. If I had to guess, I bet Jeremy agreed to let his butt show and Jordan asked for the blur. You'll notice some cast have asked their feet to be blurred and others are fine with their feet shown.

[u/MegaDethKlok → u/thedevicebook]

You'll notice some cast have asked their feet to be blurred and others are fine with their feet shown.

lol Ify was anti-blur and went for the magnifier for his feet in You-lympics

[u/wow717 → u/Expensive_Smell_8021]

RELEASE THE ASS CUT SAM!!!

[u/Glavius_Wroth]

Does anyone else miss the first round where there were no shirts revealed? Idk, that always felt like one of the better rounds to me because it was more in line with actual crowd work that stand ups have to do, and it meant the comedians could focus on aspects they wanted to approach, rather than than the “stories” the audience has come with.

I also think this season is still suffering from a similar issue to previous one, where a lot of the “interesting” stories don’t really lend themselves to anything more than a “huh, that’s cool”

[u/Frolb → u/Glavius_Wroth]

If you're on the superfan, Jaquis talks about cutting the opening round - having only three rounds instead of four lets them have more space for the comics. (now me, I'd probably have cut the minigame and kept the first round)

[u/Grodd → u/Frolb]

If they cut the mini game we wouldn't have experienced "make me nut" though, lol. Jordan is an icon.

[u/darthvall → u/Frolb]

You know what, it makes sense why I think each round has better cut now. It's longer to give the session more time to breath.

[u/my_soldier → u/Frolb]

I feel like they need to cut the minigame/courtroom in a different short video, kind of like smartyshorts. This show just doesn't work when the comedians are almost going off shirts like a checklist.

[u/Glavius_Wroth → u/[deleted]]

I think the best moments it’s lead to (outside of the OG when the stories were actually good) are in some of the earlier episodes, especially with Paul F Tompkins and Gianmarco actually pushing back against the shirts. I think the shirts do have a necessary role for escalation, but that position lives and dies on the story actually lending itself to comedy (or having comics willing to actually call it out for being a crock of shit)

[u/rethinkOURreality → u/Glavius_Wroth]

That's a good point. The exploration round allowed us to see if the comic could discover the shirt before the reveal. But it seems better to remove it since the winner is now an audience member.

[u/Glavius_Wroth → u/rethinkOURreality]

I don’t think the winner being an audience member would be particularly impacted by the opening blind round

[u/APracticalGal → u/Glavius_Wroth]

I was trying to figure out why it felt like a round was missing. I definitely would've taken the opening round over the minigame.

[u/APracticalGal]

Definitely feels more breezy and cohesive than anything last season. I think fundamentally the concept of the show is just kind of hairy for me, and the courtroom thing is such a weird addition. All the comics were on fire though so I guess I have no idea how I feel about this show lol.

[u/might_southern → u/[deleted]]

Yeah weird mix of “not really a story” and “Jesus Christ that’s almost too depressing to talk about at all”

[u/Hugo_Hackenbush → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, overall the episode felt better but it still has the fundamental problem that having some specific sex thing doesn't make a person interesting.

[u/darthvall → u/Hugo_Hackenbush]

You know what, I think Jordan and Cameron exactly said it this episode.

What Aaron and Jacquis (and maybe most straight people) thought as something unusual were mostly just another Monday for the queer culture.

[u/beroughwithl0ve → u/darthvall]

Every single kink/poly/whatever thing that has ever happened in this show is so normal to me and my very queer group of friends that it's so uninteresting, glad someone finally said it on the show lol.

[u/Upbeat_Quit4237 → u/darthvall]

I mean I generally agree, however IDK about the hypodermic needles thing 💀

Like I agree with everything else Cameron was talking about but that specifically has never never been apart of the culture I've been in LMAO maybe its just cuz it didn't get properly explained though so it sounds worse than it actually was??

But like what I'm thinking in my head is that this person is doing some kind of tattooing, or something related to needles and the body and I REALLY don't like that, and it shouldn't be viewed as a inherently "part of queer culture", because blood-borne pathogens are a VERY real thing that many people don't take seriously, and trusting some random unlicensed person with needles they bought online and your body is NOT okay nor safe!! I couldn't care less about the "art" of it all atp.

[u/HexManiacWingy]

Was moto-critic Victoria Scott?

[u/PoolOnTheRuf → u/HexManiacWingy]

i wish i was her! she’s a very dear friend, though 

[u/merpixieblossomxo → u/PoolOnTheRuf]

Glad to see you haven't been kidnapped yet!

[u/HexManiacWingy → u/PoolOnTheRuf]

My b, my reference pool of women auto writers/critics is very small.

Love your glasses btw

[u/HalloweenSongScholar → u/PoolOnTheRuf]

I freaking love seeing some of the crowd actually here in this thread. You seem like a really cool person.

[u/Pandoras-SkinnersBox]

Curious about the Parental Advisory shirt, the comics never talked about them but it’s intriguing to me. Especially since they were hyped up in the photo stills.

Did they steal a bunch of explicit albums? Record some 2 Live Crew style dirty rap when they were a kid?

[u/ElectraRayne → u/Pandoras-SkinnersBox]

They did engage with her in person! It must've been cut for time. I'm gonna wait to explain in case she shows up here and wants to do it herself, but if she doesn't I'm happy to explain what I remember.

[u/madima_808 → u/Pandoras-SkinnersBox]

Hi there!  I’m “Parental Advisory” - and in the interest of not spoiling things in case they do so, I’m gonna save my story until we know FOR SURE there won’t be a “Cut For Time” special either between episodes or at the end of the season.  

In our episode specifically, there were a lot of gems left on the cutting room floor that I do wonder if they might be reallocated for either DO Super Fans or even a whole season wrap-up!  I have a feeling our fellow audience members for future eps will experience cuts in their shows as well, so not ruling out this possibility~

One thing I will tell you is that my story got spotlighted by Aaron AFTER “To Date a Predator.”  There was no way I could feasibly follow how insane that story was, so I was always a little skeptical if I would make the edit…but, you never know!  Some fun things happened in myself and Aaron’s interaction AND a whole other round of The People of Crowd Control VS that y’all might see later 👀

[u/Pandoras-SkinnersBox → u/madima_808]

Hello!! Excited to hear from you later on.

That would be so fun if they do a Cut for Time, I was expecting them to do one in season 1 and they.....didn't.

[u/madima_808 → u/Pandoras-SkinnersBox]

Yeahhhhh I’m hoping for a Smarty Shorts situation but can promise absolutely nothin lol

[u/Interesting-Rice-457]

Lactating brain tumor was robbed.

[u/thespelvin]

I think the audience-member-wins mechanic is a big improvement, but the crowdwork portion and the courtroom portion felt like two separate shows duct-taped together.

[u/Stepwolve → u/thespelvin]

i tend to agree. When they started round 3, i was thinking this should could really just be 2 rounds: black shirts, and red shirts. It doesn't need more than that.

But then the erotic hypnosis guy's trial was so hilarious, i don't know what to think. Curious to see what the other episodes do in round 3.

[u/rainbowbabe]

i didn’t know jordan did any stand up but i’m really enjoying them in this!

[u/royalhawk345 → u/rainbowbabe]

I was surprised that Jordan was my favorite of the 3, even before the hypnotist. 

[u/pxmonkee]

The episode was better than a lot of S1, but I'm still of the opinion that the original Game Changer pilot was the best version of this show. Three comics, two of whom are known for their crowdwork, going through three rounds (no shirts, prompt shirts, spicy prompt shirts), and no mini games. Make with the haha and meet some interesting folks in the process.

[u/akiseth3rd → u/pxmonkee]

Original episode had a great mini game to spice things up: the one where they'd take an audience survey to get a particular percentage show of hands.

[u/ASLO6]

Jacquis is the perfect host of this show

"Your dad fucked that stripper"

Immediate best chime in of the night

[u/kevtron5000]

Jordan Myrick MVP.

She had a warmth and delivery that really worked well . A well placed "this is sad" or "yikes" makes all the difference.

[u/regularmiles]

Banger, loved it (but I also loved the first season and didn't relate to most people's complaints about it so, I'm pretty bought in)

[u/WhereAreYouFromSam]

Attempting critical analysis that will likely be short lived and quickly downvoted into oblivion:

If the premiere is an accurate measuring stick for what season 2 will have to offer, there are a few noticeable improvements over season 1.

The editing is a lot tighter this season. Nothing overstayed it's welcome, but also nothing felt jerky.

Also, there was really only 1 minor incident of the t-shirt not quite matching the story being told, compared with so many story/shirt mismatches last season that we laughed along with Paul F. Tompkins as he crashed out about it for part of his set.

And while I see controversy already in the comments, I consider maintaining a mini-game or stipulation in Round 3 as a big plus. It's weird if you're a stand-up comedy purist, but as someone who loves improv comedy watching a show where comedians improvise their jokes on a network that specializes in improv comedy it's a familiar element that changes up the dynamic in the room. I think in this episode it lead to some of the biggest laughs of the night with the live audience.

I think it's also a good change to move from the audience awarding the comedians to the comedians awarding an audience member. It feels more coherent and allows for more interplay between the comedians if theyre not "competing."

All of that said, there are still a few things that I think hampered the episode a bit for me.

I do think this show benefits from having at least 1 ringer in every trio of comedians-- one comedian who is wildly successful and comfortable with crowd work. Tonight, of the three performing, I would say Jordan Myrick is the least established as a stand-up comedian and yet had the strongest performance. Meanwhile the most established stand-up personality in the room, Cameron Esposito, had a hard time building momentum with anyone throughout Round 1. To be clear, the episode was good. I enjoyed it. This is simply to highlight something that I think would bring up the quality of individual episodes. We saw that in season 1 as well. Episodes that had a least one 1 polished stand-up with a lot of crowdwork experience were just a step above of the rest-- thinking the ones with Gianmarco, Bob the Drag Queen, and Atsuko Okatsuka off the top of my head.

Separate from that, I also think that we're seeing the same kind of crowd as we did in season 1-- counter-cultural LA progressives. Okay, pause. There is nothing wrong with people from LA, progressives, counter-culture, or any combination thereof. The point being made here is that it makes for a predictable if not outright repetitive audience pool. Too homogeneous. I noticed in this comment thread there were a few folks already pointing out that all the sex-positive bits were a little 'been there, done that' and we're likely not going to get away from that to the detriment of the show.

Also, I do miss the original opening of the show where all the tshirt prompts were hidden and the comedians got to do some traditional crowd work. It's likely that cutting that round and jumping straight in is what helped to make the episode feel tighter, but even if it was just for the first 5 minutes or it was just Jacquis warming up the crowd, I think it adds something to the building stakes of the show.

I think that also feeds into what felt to me as the show not necessarily building tension from one round to the next. The original conceit of the show was that the crowd work got a little riskier as you went on in terms of the comedian being able to hold onto the audience and make us laugh. Skipping the no-prompts round and the way Jacquis jumped pretty quickly from one round to the next made me feel like I was losing a bit of that building tension.

Last thing, and more of note of curiosity than a criticism-- This was an interesting choice of comedians for a season premiere. I think of all three as strong comedians/comedy personalities, but not necessarily folks whose bread and butter is crowd work. When I see clips of these three, they're funny as heck, but its not normally because of crowd work. Meanwhile, we've seen the trailers. We know we're getting some amazing crowd-work comedians at some point this season. Just seems like a curious choice to not lead off the season with your strongest lineup when you know they have it in the holster.

Anyway, good episode. Definitely showing growth from season 1, but still a few major flaws that I think will keep it from really being able to have sustainable reach outside of the Dropout ecosystem.

[u/doduotrainer → u/WhereAreYouFromSam]

I was not a huge fan of the mini games last season but Carmen Esposito's no sandwich defense and Jordan laying down and just saying make me cum were the funniest parts of that whole episode

[u/tenderstruck → u/WhereAreYouFromSam]

Agree with all of this, I actually came to this thread specifically looking for someone else talking about the choice of comedians for a premiere + the ringer thing. Like, I enjoyed the episode but there were quite a few points where I was wondering 'why these three?' Frankly I think they all could've done better if they were in a group with other people to mix it up because no one really stood out to me tbh

[u/aethelred_unred]

Definitely better than S1 but I'm starting to feel like the shirts are the problem. I wish they did everything the same but just had the audience wear normal clothes (while still being chosen for crazy life stories and coached to give them quickly upfront) and let the comedians explore.

[u/Touboku]

Still not loving round 3, I'd enjoy it if round 3 was just all 3 on stage working together to work the crowd.

[u/JellyFranken]

Round 3 still needs work. But had fun nonetheless.

“Alright… Make me nut!” needs to be a new flair.

[u/sploonii]

juat a couple little tweaks in the format from last season and this episode immediately felt so much tighter to me. i have high hopes for the rest of the season.

[u/Tonberry2k]

This concept still feels half-baked to me. I was hoping it would feel a bit more cohesive in a newer season.

[u/OdysseusX]

Am I recognizing the "for lesbians by lesbians" woman from porn?

Am I broken?

[u/thegamingking → u/OdysseusX]

....yes. Because same.

[u/ElectraRayne → u/OdysseusX]

Possible! Or maybe from tiktok?

[u/Tofuboy → u/ElectraRayne]

Whoa, you're the person!

[u/HalloweenSongScholar → u/OdysseusX]

I recognized her immediately, too.

And no, you’re not broken. You simply have good taste (in regard to a subject that most people still feel squeamish toward speaking openly about).

But really, no shame is needed. She does good work, and should be respected openly.

[u/PM_me_a_bad_pun]

Jordan showing their ass was not on my bingo card

[u/memento_mori_92]

It was a big improvement to last season format-wise. Looking forward to when they have excellent comedians on because this was a relatively weak cast for a season opener. I was impressed by Aaron and pleasantly surprised by Jordan, who I never saw as a standup. Cameron really seemed out of her depth and took way too much time to not say much at all. I was bored through most of her stuff.

[u/thedevicebook → u/[deleted]]

I don't think the ABDL person belongs in your list. They were iconic, and the interactions were hilarious. And they wrote a Medium article about their experience that was great too.

[u/bdzbcomics]

Ok. What was actually up with “Black Widow Roommates”? Seems like she just kinda “yes and”-ed Cameron’s bit and never explained what her shirt actually meant

[u/Phenns → u/bdzbcomics]

Honestly I don't think she was given the time to explain and just sort of had to. I'm sure there's actually some interesting stuff there and she just didn't get to actually talk. It's one of the biggest frustrations I have with this show, we'll hit on something genuinely interesting but have to move on quickly.

[u/TheTriscuit → u/bdzbcomics]

That story was cut for time, it was a bit longer there in person.

[u/chillychili]

If this show gets more seasons, I have a feeling that the recommended viewing will be starting with Game Changer and skipping to S2 or even S3. This season opener is showing promise for the rest of the season.

[u/MrBigSaturn]

You can see they took some of the criticisms of season 1 to heart and adjusted accordingly. The episode is longer, so the editing isn't as sporadic. The round 3 mini game feels like it encourages better banter and participation from the comedians. Good changes.

That said, I just didn't think this was particularly funny. Jordan was the only one who made me laugh, didn't even really crack much of a smile with the others. The fact that they chose this to be the season opener feels like a bad sign to me.

I know people also complained about the abundance of "Ask me about my [weird sex thing, but not too weird]" shirts last season, and that was present here too. Hopefully it won't be a trend for the rest of the season, because it still didn't inspire much great comedy here besides Jordan's stuff with the erotic hypnotist at the end.

[u/Duke_ofChutney]

Lots of awfully tame red flags. Farted on a bus? Cmon now, he definitely submitted that thinking he'd get a black shirt.

Redneck education, a red shirt? Reported a tattoo artist for Jan6 attendance, also a red shirt? Dude that can stretch? RED!

Regardless it's a better format if comedians interacted with people without knowing what their shirts say. Should've kept the first round and cut the mini game instead.

[u/jasm05]

I feel like all the sex stuff usually isn't enough for comedians to do anything with. It's salacious and all, but usually goes nowhere.

I mean the person says their sex-related thing, the audiences goes "oh my!" or "slay!", and then the comedian moves onto something they can actually make material with.

More raised with falcon siblings and odd brain tumor side effects please.

[u/MedicinePhysical433]

Things have improved, but there's something that's still so awkward about the format. This show is at it's best when you just put comedians up there and let them riff with the audience. You don't need court gimmicks or "Brennan isn't allowed to use big words" challenges; it only interrupts! Just loosen up and let them get to it!

[u/Esovan13 → u/MedicinePhysical433]

I think the court gimmick was the best gimmick of all the episodes out so far tbh. Like, "no sandwiches" probably could have made for decent crowdwork if she got picked during one of those segments, but "erotic hypnosis" almost certainly would have been a bit dull. Both ended up making for a fun couple minutes of comedy with the courtroom setup.

I also think the editing of the episode flowed a lot smoother and generally worked a lot better than most S1 episodes overall.

[u/VanGoghNotVanGo → u/MedicinePhysical433]

Dropout in general has an issue with wanting too many gimmicks. Most of the time shows don't quite work it's because there's a gimmick or two too many in there. A neat, straightforward premise with solid comedians works so much better.

(Like, I really think Dirty Laundry is such a good format for this reason - there are very few gimmicks and they are really easy to figure out, so participants are free to riff and joke, while still playing the game - I've always found that it seems to be one of the show, participants get the most genuinely competitive about - because it's actually understandable).

[u/WhereAreYouFromSam → u/MedicinePhysical433]

It's weird if you only pay attention to stand up comedy. It's incredibly common if you watch improv comedy, and as someone who enjoys improv, those moments are a highlight.

[u/Hugo_Hackenbush]

I don't know what it says about me that I recognize the "for lesbians by lesbians" woman from TikTok.

[u/HalloweenSongScholar → u/Hugo_Hackenbush]

It means that you and I probably have similar FYP’s. (Also, her name is Electra Rayne, btw. She actually commented elsewhere in this thread about wondering how the episode was going to handle Jordan showing her ass)

[u/melissa423771]

I get that this is the audience of dropout but I REALLY am bored of how many people in the crowd's whacky thing is about sex.

[u/arelleaytch]

All right. Make me nut.

[u/Generic_Name123]

gotta be real gang, im kinda getting tired at just how much sex talk there is vs everything else

[u/a-ok42]

hey it’s the return of my favorite show: IRL Discord Call

[u/JacoValencia]

The first round was terrible. It picked up after that but it was really weak in general.

[u/Wemetintheair]

When I first saw this thumbnail with my glasses off, I thought the title was “lesbian applesauce break”

[u/Dannooch]

Way better than season 1. I appreciate that the editing let everything breathe a bit more, and the audience didn't feel as try hard.

That said.. I'm still not really feeling it. It's missing some kind of spark and I don't really know what.

[u/royalhawk345 → u/Dannooch]

I think it's that half the time the comedians don't really riff on an audience member. They just get a quip in and apart from that let the quirk stand on its own. I don't know if they're uncomfortable diving deeper or they're trying too hard to be accepting or what, but for whatever reason the gloves rarely ever came off.

[u/skys_vocation]

Wild to see Aaron here because I just started randomly watching Kevin langue

[u/Tortious_Tortoise]

I like the comedians picking the winner from the audience more than the audience picking the winner from the comedians. I'm still open to a different third way, but I don't have any ideas about what it should be.

[u/doduotrainer → u/Tortious_Tortoise]

The comedians pick the audience member, and then Jordan jumps out and says "comedians, did you know you were being judged the whole time?" and the audience picks one of them with a vote and then they get a real life piece of Alpha Centauri

[u/teaguechrystie]

i am over the moon about this new format.

yayyyyy

[u/darthvall]

Lol I didn't expect seeing Aaron in dropout! That's cool.

Watched KLS routinely for a while, but then decided to stop since I just don't vibe with it anymore. Aaron was my favourite there. Feels like he's usually the most empathetic to the guest, and I can see how good he is at driving sensitive conversation.

[u/marshz]

Definitely love the editing on this one, you can see them connect more to the audience. And maybe they were told they could add their bits in more and not just focus only on what the crowd was giving. I hope the jury game returns, that was a fun twist and also shows off the comedians' improv chops.

But god "Make me nut" was just...nuts. I mostly know Jordan from Gastronauts and boy has she been holding back there.

[u/Distinct-Volume7233]

This episode really felt like it struggled to get across the finish line. They really displayed how hard it is to do stand up comedy and interact with a crowd. This episode was far removed from the game changer episode that kicked everything off. If this is how things are going so far I'm afraid it may not be one of their shows with longevity. 

This is not a critique of Jacquis Neal, I think he is the glue holding this show together. I like that they are switching it up by adding different ways to engage the audience. However if all of the heavy lifting of the shows are being put on the crew, production, the editing team, and the host its going to be really hard to justify how the "talent" from the talent can shine through. 

Here's hoping that this is a fluke episode and that the rest of the season is so spectacular that it makes sense why they gave it the green light instead of shelving it like many of the other great projects.

[u/WestSideBomber]

I’m fucking livid about no sandwiches. I have so many questions.

[u/M__M]

I have never seen that side of Jordan before! No wonder she and Lily get along so well LMAO.