Doug Stanhope

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Doug Stanhope
Stanhope in Manhattan, Kansas, April 2010
Birth name	Douglas Gene Stanhope
Born	March 25, 1967 (1967-03-25) (age 43) Worcester, Massachusetts
Medium	stand-up, television
Nationality	American
Years active	1990 - present[1]
Genres	Black comedy, Observational comedy, Satire/Political satire, cringe humor
Subject(s)	American culture, current events, recreational drug use, human sexuality, religion, angst, anarchism, libertarianism
Influences	George Carlin, Glenn Wool, Bill Hicks
Influenced	Andy Andrist, Sean Rouse, Mat Becker
Spouse	Renee Morrison [2] (2003-present) (separated)[3]
Notable works and roles	7 CDs, 3 DVDs
Website	dougstanhope.com

Douglas Gene "Doug" Stanhope (born March 25, 1967) is an American stand-up comedian and author known for his provocative, considered and abrasive comedy routines, frequently performed while smoking cigarettes and drinking on-stage. He currently lives in the small U.S.-Mexico border town of Bisbee, Arizona.

Contents 1 Life and career 2 Discography/videography 3 2008 presidential campaign 4 Notes 5 External links

[edit] Life and career

In 1967, Stanhope was born in Worcester, Massachusetts where he lived until he was 18 years old. Stanhope's comedy career began in 1990 in Las Vegas. He quit school after his freshman year.

Stanhope has made appearances at several major comedy festivals, including the Montreal Just For Laughs, US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado, the Chicago Comedy Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, where he won the Strathmore Press Award in 2002.

Stanhope was the winner of the 1995 San Francisco International Comedy Competition where he edged out notable comedic actor Dane Cook in a three-week contest. He's appeared in dozens of national and international standup comedy television specials. He claims that his appearance on the BBC television show, Live Floor Show, (broadcast March 20, 2003) was fueled by "ecstasy". According to Stanhope, "TV is just for the money; live performance is where it’s at."

In 2004 Stanhope briefly co-hosted The Man Show with Joe Rogan.

In 2004, Stanhope endorsed the Free State Project, and is quoted as saying:

“

...the Free State Project stands out as one of few ideas that could produce tangible change in our lifetime. The vision of Christian gun enthusiasts buying hand-painted targets from pot-smoking artists, laughing together while they give the tax man the finger, is beautiful enough to make the move.[4]

”

In 2005, Stanhope hosted his own radio show on SIRIUS Satellite Radio.^[5]

He has established a group of touring comics known as The Unbookables featuring artists such as Andy Andrist, Sean Rouse, James Inman, Brett Erickson, Travis Lipski, Brendon Walsh, Norman Wilkerson, Kristine Levine, and Brian Potrafka.^[6] The Unbookables' first CD, Morbid Obscenity, also featuring Andrist, Rouse, Lynn Shawcroft, and Banjo Randy, was released July 4, 2006, on Stand Up! Records was released as a benefit for a friend, Arthur Hinty, to help pay for a gastric bypass.

Stanhope was featured in the film The Aristocrats and stood out by telling an extraordinarily vulgar and caustic version of the joke to a baby. The child is often confused as being Stanhope's own offspring. In reality it was the baby of a producer and Stanhope remains child-free and a vehement promoter of zero population growth.

Stanhope was the subject of an 8-page feature in British GQ under the title "Is This America's Most Depraved Man?" by Robert Chalmers in 2006.

In summer 2006, he was booked to appear on several bills at the Cat Laughs Comedy Festival in Kilkenny, Ireland; he told his lairy, late-night crowd, that Irish men sleep with children, because — as the headline to the following day's Irish Daily Star put it - "Irish women are too ugly to rape! Comic booed after shocking festival jibe." he managed to perform for just 10 minutes before having all his remaining slots canceled yet garnered several more full-length solo performances.^[7]

In August 2006 he appeared alongside Rouse at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, to rave 5 star reviews from the press. On his opening night he took what was believed to be an ecstasy tablet that was handed to him by a member of the audience.^[8][9] His Edinburgh performance lived up to his edgy reputation by including a segment that was later perceived as anti-Semitic.^[10] Stanhope responded in his 2007 Showtime special, No Refunds, by elaborating on the incident and including an extended bit on "Jew-hating".

In October 2006, he self-published a book, Fun with Pedophiles: The Best of Baiting, which includes several of his "baits" which had appeared on baiting.org. Baiting is the practice of setting up a false Internet instant messaging persona, say, that of an underage female, waiting for others to message you asking for sex, and then brutally abusing the "baitee" in a chat session that is logged to share with others. He discussed his self-published book and the philosophy behind it on Penn Jillette's radio show on San Diego's 97.1 FreeFM on November 22, 2006.

In 2007, Stanhope made two TV specials — one in the US for Showtime, recorded at The Gotham Comedy Club in New York City on March 12; and one for the UK's Channel 4 Comedy Lab, filmed at the Caves in Edinburgh, Scotland titled "Doug Stanhope: Go Home". The Showtime special, titled No Refunds, premiered August 3 and was released on DVD August 14.

His live show was voted "Best Comedy Performance of the Year" by Time Out New York for both 2006 and 2008.

On September 25, 2008, Stanhope appeared as a guest panelist on the Channel 4 programme 8 Out of 10 Cats whilst in London as part of his unofficially titled "Is Mom Dead Yet?" tour. Stanhope's mother, Bonnie Kirk, appeared regularly on The Man Show as well as several independent features and opposite Sean "Puffy" Combs at an MTV Music Award sketch where she played an aging stripper. She died at the age of 63 in October 2008.

Stanhope lives in Warren, Arizona (part of Bisbee, AZ) near the Mexico border in a small house with musician/author Amy "Bingo" Bingaman.

He hopes to finish out his career with his "End of the World" concert on 12/20/12 — the eve of the purported end of time according to the Mayan calendar. The line-up and location are still being worked out.

In August 2009, Stanhope was the subject of heavy booing and was at the receiving end of several thrown bottles at the Leeds Festival in the UK, he got the treatment after making derogatory comments about the Royal Family and the attitude of the English, which he likened to people in the stone age. Many people left early, though many hecklers stayed for no apparent reason, whom Stanhope continued to bait and taunt throughout his set.

His live show was placed in the top 5 of the 20 Best Live Shows of 2009 by London's The Guardian Newspaper.^[11]

Stanhope's 7th album, From Across The Street, was released on November 24, 2009. Originally intended to be released under the name Live from Cape Fear (and later I Ain't Never Won Nothin' In My Life), the CD was recorded by Stand Up! Records at Level 5 at City Stage in Wilmington, NC on August 11, 2009. According to promotional materials mailed to reviewers, "half of the proceeds made from the CD sales will be going towards medical bills incurred by maintaining the cryogenically frozen remains of his mother's cats at the Bisbee Forever Hope life suspension facility in accordance with her wishes."

In 2010, Stanhope aired a series of vignettes during Newswipe with Charlie Brooker in the United Kingdom.

Stanhope is managed by Brian Hennigan.^[12]

[edit] Discography/videography

Title	Year	CD	DVD
The Great White Stanhope	1998	x
Sicko	1999	x
Something to Take the Edge Off	2000	x
ACID Bootleg	2001	x
Die Laughing	2002	x
Word of Mouth	2003		x
Deadbeat Hero	2004	x	x
Morbid Obscenity, The Unbookables	2006	x
No Refunds	2007		x
From Across The Street	2009	x

There is a bootleg video referred to as The Austin Incident , which Stanhope himself keeps in circulation, that features conspiracy theorist Alex Jones introducing him. The gig descends into chaos and twenty minutes in Stanhope can clearly be heard saying jokingly "you're never opening for me again" to Jones.

[edit] 2008 presidential campaign

Stanhope announced on July 9, 2006 through his website that he would run for president in 2008 as a Libertarian. After consulting political advisers, he stated on his website:

“

...officially — I am reconsidering my presidential run while my exploratory team looks into the viability of such an endeavor.[13]

”

He explained that he made this statement due to campaign finance laws and other reasons. Later he said:

“

The presidential run is getting in order. You keep asking me if I'm serious. You have no idea. Let's have fun again.

”

Stanhope intended to formally declare his candidacy during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show show on May 3, 2007, but on May 1 announced that he would not run due to restrictions of the Federal Election Commission. He could not receive personal income from his comedy appearances and website if he was using them to campaign.^[14] Stanhope then endorsed libertarian-leaning Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul.^[15]

In August 2008, Stanhope endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, citing his disappointment with the libertarian candidates and a desire to have "a strong, handsome black man in the White House", as well as referring to himself as "the head of the one-man Libertarians For Obama group."^[16]

On September 11, 2008, Stanhope re-entered the election scene with the creation of www.savingbristol.com, a web site dedicated to raising money to pay for an abortion for Bristol Palin, daughter of staunchly pro-life Alaskan governor and Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

“

Rather than sit back and impotently bemoan Bristol's tragic, lonely circumstance, it is time for us — the silent majority — to unite behind this poor, imprisoned woman and save her from both a tyrannical household as well as the horrible nightmare of a forced childbirth.

”

Though the $50,000 offered by Stanhope himself would more than cover the cost of an abortion under normal situations, Stanhope encouraged others to donate money towards helping Bristol begin a new life. On the site, Stanhope pledged:

“

Even if you cannot take my offer, I will still use my money or money donated through this page to pay for at least one abortion for a disadvantaged teenage girl each year for the rest of my life in the name of your mother. And in my will, I shall have a good portion of my estate turned into the Sarah J. Palin Abortion Fund that will help girls from all walks of life from destroying their lives and our natural resources by having children.

”

To fight off rumors that he was seeking to profit from the site in any way, donations to the cause are now made directly through www.lilithfund.org, the web site for Lilith Fund, a Texas-based organization dedicated to helping women pay for abortions if they are unable to afford them themselves.^[17]

On September 12, 2008, Bill Maher launched a site similar to SavingBristol.com in the form of FreeLevi.org, a site aimed at Levi Johnston, Bristol's boyfriend and father of her unborn child. Similarities between the content, presentation, and designs of the two sites led some^[who?] to believe that plagiarism had taken place, either by the writers of Real Time with Bill Maher or Maher himself.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Doug Stanhope

• Doug Stanhope's official website
• Doug Stanhope at the Internet Movie Database
• Doug Stanhope's MySpace Page
• Doug Stanhope's Facebook fan page
• Doug's Youtube page
• Morbid Obscenity CD official website
• Sacred Cow Productions
• Stand Up! Records
• Drunk For Your Amusement, TLAvideo Doug Stanhope article
• An Interview with Doug Stanhope -- Free Market Mojo
• January 2008 interview with Doug Stanhope