Stanhope, Doug

Career Start, 2000s

Doug was born March 25, 1967 in Worcester , Massachusetts into a middle-class family. ^{[2] [3] [4]} His father worked as a supervisor at school, and his mother as a waitress. She suffered from alcoholism and left home when Doug was ten ^[4] . He dropped out after the ninth grade of the school and went to Los Angeles, but could not get there and in 1990 moved to Las Vegas, where he began his career as a stand-up comedian ^{[3] [5] [6]} . “I got a hundred bucks in half an hour on stage - it was a success <for me>,” he said in an interview. According to Doug, he had no choice but to attract attention: “I could not sing, was not athletically complex or physically attractive, but I was funny” ^[2] . Doug appeared on open microphones in comedy clubs and soon gained a reputation as a comedian who says everything he thinks ^[7] . In 1997, at his shows, he began selling the ACID Bootleg recording of his own performances, and a year later released the first official recording, Great White Stanhope. The release of two more recordings, constant tours and participation in the Howard Stern radio show made Doug popular, and in 2001 he received the broadcast on Comedy Central ^[3] .

In 2002, his first performance in Europe took place - at the Edinburgh Festival in the UK ^[9] , where he received a special award from the British press “Strathmore Press Award” ^[10] . Subsequently, he repeatedly performed at this festival ^{[11] [12] [13]} . In the same year, Doug began his career on television, becoming the host of the prank show “Invasion of the Hidden Cameras” on the Fox channel ^[14] . In 2003, he co-hosted the comedy show The Man Show along with Joe Rogan on Comedy Central, replacing former presenter Jimmy Kimmel ^{[15] [16]} . However, in 2004 the show was canceled ^[17] . Then Doug returned to the stand-up, continued to tour and publish recordings of his shows (for more details see the “Recordings and Publications” section).

2010s

In 2010, Doug took part in the British news satirical show “Newswipe with Charlie Brooker”, where he had a heading “The Voice of America”, in which the comedian talked about different things that concern him: fear, overwhelmed by the media, the problem of overpopulation and etc. ^{[5] [18] [19]} In 2011, Stanhope played the role of the comedian-loser Eddie in one episode of the series " Louis " ^[20] .

In 2013, Doug raised $ 125,760 through crowdfunding to help a woman named Rebecca Witsmun and her family whose house was destroyed by a tornado in Moore , Oklahoma that same year. The case of Rebecca was notable for the fact that she openly admitted on television about her atheism , saying in an interview that she did not thank God for her salvation. Stanhope was impressed by the courage of a Moore resident: “If you think she has no eggs, then you have never been to Oklahoma. Admitting atheism there is like screaming about jihad at the airport security service. ” However, the fundraising campaign was not motivated by sympathy for the victim. Doug wanted to annoy Rebecca's pious neighbors by handing a huge cardboard check in front of their eyes. After that, the Witsmoon family was able to move to Washington ^{[21] [22]} .

Personal life

Since about 2005, Doug has been living in Bisbee , Arizona, with his girlfriend Amy Bingaman ^[23] , where since 2014 he has been releasing his podcast, “Doug Stanhope's Podcast”, as part of the All Things Comedy media network ^[24] . Doug met Amy in 2000 at a concert in the US city of Portland, when she looked after a patient with cerebral palsy and brought him to the show ^[6] . Doug had previously married a woman named Rene Morrison, whom she was married in 2003. Rene became pregnant, and the couple decided to have an abortion. After that, Doug also underwent a vasectomy procedure ^[4] . The marriage with Renee is not officially dissolved ^[25] .

Stanhope’s humor is largely controversial, politically incorrect, and “tough.” The object of his jokes are both ordinary topics (religion, politics, women), and debatable (terrorism, suicide, drugs). Doug is a libertarian, and in his speeches he advocates complete freedom from the state and the legalization of prohibited substances. All this brought him scandalous fame as a "controversial", "perverted" comedian ^{[7] [21] [26]} . Doug called his speeches “the wicked speech of a drunk,” as he drinks alcohol on stage ^{[21] [27]} . He explains that only beer gives him the courage to speak ^[11] . Because of jokes on controversial topics, his speeches often leave individual viewers ^{[2] [21]} . “It's like animal porn. Not for everyone, ”Doug outlined his humor ^[4] .

One of the main topics raised by Stanhope is the overpopulation and desire of a person to produce children, which he considers the most important problems of society. For example, starvation, in his opinion, is a consequence of this problem, since people who are unable to feed their children continue to breed ^{[28] [29]} . In the show “Newswipe with Charlie Brooker”, Doug said that overpopulation is also a major cause of environmental pollution ^[30] :

Doug is often criticized for the controversial choice of material; his humor is called shocking ^{[2] [9]} . Sometimes the public does not stand his jokes. For example, at a festival in the Irish city of Kilkenny, he caused a scandal, saying that Irish women are too ugly to rape. There was also a case when he was booed at the Leeds festival and accused of anti-Semitism at the Edinburgh Festival ^[18] . Doug's participation in The Man Show was criticized by some activists for, in their opinion, the exploitation of women in these shows. “This does not hurt women. It hurts idiots, ”Doug replied on his website ^[31] . Pickets were held against his show, and many shops refused to sell his CDs at their place ^[4] .

However, Doug has many fans who praise him for his frankness ^[6] . Critics sometimes compare him to comedian Bill Hicks for a similarly aggressive social humor that Doug himself does not like ^{[2] [9]} . For example, according to the journalist for The Independent , Stanhope is currently carrying the “Olympic Torch of Extreme American Comedy,” which Bill Hicks, Sam Kinison, Richard Pryor, and Lenny Bruce carried before him ^[4] .

All Stanhope's recordings were made during live performances in comedy clubs in America, with the exception of one: the disc Oslo: Burning the Bridge to Nowhere was recorded in Norway ^[34] . Morbid Obscenity is a charity edition. This is a recording of a joint concert by Doug and several other comedians in Appleton , Wisconsin , released at Stanhope’s initiative in a limited edition, the profits from the sale of which went to medical expenses for a comedian’s mutual friend ^[35] . In 2016, Stanhope published a book about his mother, “Digging Up Mother: A Love Story,” written by Johnny Depp ^[36] .

• dougstanhope.com - official site.
• @realstanhope - Doug Stanhope on Instagram .
• Standup Encyclopedia: the evil Doug Stanhope - an article about the comedian on the website of Maxim Magazine.