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Jimmy Dore

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Jimmy Dore
Dore at the 2016 edition of Politicon
Born
James Patrick Anthony Dore

(1965-07-26) July 26, 1965 (age 59)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materColumbia College Chicago
Years active1989–present
Political partyDemocratic (until 2016)
Independent[a] (2016–present)
MovementAmerican Progressivism
SpouseStefane Zamorano
Comedy career
Medium
Stand-up comedy
Radio
Podcast
Genres
Observational comedy
Political satire
Subject(s)
American culture
Current events
Popular culture
Politics
Religion
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2011–present
Subscribers847 thousand[2]
(December 31, 2020)
Total views367.5 million[2]
(December 31, 2020)
NetworkThe Young Turks (2009–2019)
Independent (2019–present)
100,000 subscribers
WebsiteOfficial website

James Patrick Anthony Dore (born July 26, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian and political commentator.

Dore is best known for hosting The Jimmy Dore Show. He identifies politically as a progressive.

Early life

Dore was born in southwest Chicago, Illinois, on July 26, 1965, into a Catholic family of Polish and Irish descent. He was raised in a very blue-collar neighborhood [3] in the 70’s. That was the time when those in his neighborhood would come home from work and watch “All in the Family” and laugh along but for all of the wrong reasons. [4]

He has eleven siblings and Dore is the youngest of seven boys.[5][6] Due to his large family, Dore grew accustomed to playing to an audience early in life.[7] He’d use his comedy to “…fend off beatings from his brothers.” [8]

He went to Catholic school for twelve years which he felt was very strict.[9]. Dore's father was a policeman and owned a brickwork business.[5] Dore has described his father as a Reagan Democrat.[10]

Dore dropped out of Illinois State University after three years and worked as a forklift driver.[5] He later graduated from Columbia College Chicago[11] with a degree in marketing communications.[12] Dore started performing stand-up comedy in 1989 in Chicago,[6][10] before he moved to Los Angeles in 1995.[5]

Career

Comedy

Jimmy Dore started his comedy career in Chicago in 1989. [13] He admits that what got him started in comedy was TiVoing a lot of late-night talk shows and he thinking, “I can do that better than they do.” With his TiVo machine he would pause subjects and then talk about it. The jump from his computer to performing was not difficult, “TiVo to Macintosh to stage.” [14] The stand-up comedians that influenced Dore include George Carlin, Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Hicks.[10]

Dore has made appearances on late-night television on shows such as ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!, CBS's The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, and NBC's Late Friday. He was the lead performer in a Comedy Central Presents half-hour special on April 9, 2004, and Comedy Central's Citizen Jimmy, a one-hour stand-up special which was chosen "Best of 2008" by iTunes. He was a writer–performer for the off-Broadway show The Marijuana-Logues which ran at the Actor’s Playhouse in New York City. [15] One bit from the show he pokes fun of religion. He jokes, “…watching Christian talk shows is dangerous when you’re high.” He goes on to say that’s because it cannot help but grab your interest. ref>"Comedian Jimmy Dore at performs at Go Bananas". The Cincinnati. January 13, 2010.</ref>

He has also performed at Just for Laughs in Montreal, the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the Amsterdam Comedy Festival, and for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.[10] He had a role in the 2008 documentary film Super High Me.

Jimmy Dore’s comedy has taken him to the casinos of Nevada from “Catch A Rising Star” in Reno, [16] to the Las Vegas Strip at places like Harrah’s, [17] to the Tropicana’s “Comedy Stop”, [18] to the Palm’s at the “Playboy Comedy Club”. [19]

In 2006, Dore’s comedy style was described as incendiary and "based on what makes most in the States angry and uncomfortable."[20] His stand-up set is similar to the sharp wit of Jon Stewart who use to host “The Daily Show” and who did not hesitate to rip off quips of, “…the faux pas and flubs of famous folks.” Dore defends this type of humor of poking fun of political figures by showing video clips of President Bush, Don Rumsfeld, and Sen. Kennedy. Then he would respond back in a satirical way. He says, “…the great thing is, it’s not me making fun of them. It’s their own words burying them.” [21]

Dore hosted the podcast Comedy And Everything Else with his wife Stefane Zamorano and previously with Todd Glass, who departed from the show in late 2009.[22] Comedians who were guests on the podcast included Jim Gaffigan, David Spade, Maria Bamford and Kyle Cease.[22]

He also hosted his monthly show, Left, Right & Ridiculous, at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Hollywood. Dore's first book, Your Country Is Just Not That Into You, was published in 2014. A comedy special, Sentenced to Live, was released on October 6, 2015. Dore began doing his current style of blending video clips of politicians, journalist, television personalities as well as fellow entertainers and making fun of them. He calls it, “Pop & Politics” and feels it’s a lot harder to put together than a regular stand-up comedy set. But, he does admit that, “It’s gotten me a bigger audience.” He is just surprised that he has the lane all to himself. This show has taken him all over from Philadelphia, Michigan, to Texas, as well as him now home base of Los Angeles. [23]

The Jimmy Dore Show

In June 2009, he began producing The Jimmy Dore Show, a weekly one-hour comedic look at the news, which originates at KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles, airs nationally on the Pacifica Radio Network. It aired online on TYT Network from 2009 to 2019. Dore appeared as a frequent guest host on Current TV's political commentary show The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur. Dore continued working with Uygur on The Young Turks as it became an on-line network. In July 2017, Dore began hosting his own show on the network called "Aggressive Progressives."[24]

A 2017 article in The Boston Globe said YouTube demonetization was not only impacting hate videos, but also controversial content ranging from left-wingers such as Dore to Trump supporters such as Diamond and Silk.[25]

On April 13, 2019, during a livestream, Dore officially announced his departure from The Young Turks Network, citing a desire to focus on his own show and his live performances.[26]

In a July 2020 video, Dore erroneously said Joe Biden had once "hosted a black face affair with a bunch of rich white people" before Dore showed an altered clip circulating on social media since January which had darkened the face of black singer Jerome Powell.[27][28] One day after the video was uploaded it received over 100,000 views, and has since been removed from YouTube.[27]

In December 2020, Dore began circulating a plan to make Nancy Pelosi's re-election as House Speaker conditional on Medicare for All receiving a floor vote. The plan was endorsed by Justin Jackson of the Los Angeles Chargers and political commentators Krystal Ball and Briahna Joy Gray.[29] Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized the proposal to use her leverage for scheduling a vote that was unlikely to pass.[30] Dore told his viewers Ocasio-Cortez was "standing between you and health care" and, in response to her argument that progressive breakthroughs require years of organising, Dore said "I figured this out in two weeks, AOC! You liar. You coward. You gaslighter."[31] Journalists David Sirota and Ryan Grim also joined the debate to suggest that progressives should use their leverage for other purposes.[32] Dore and his supporters countered that the formality would help to cement the public record about which elected officials oppose popular reforms.[33][34]

In January 2021, according to Newsweek, Dore conducted a "largely uncritical" interview with a member of the anti-government, far-right extremist and white supremacist Boogaloo movement in which he took the largely liberal views espoused by the one member at face value without challenge.[35] The interview aired soon after the storming of the United States Capitol.[35]

Promotion of conspiracy theories

In 2014, Dore expressed doubt in the official narrative of the 9/11 attacks, saying "I don't know what happened. I know what didn't happen. What didn't happen is what the government said happened."[36][35]

In May 2017, Dore discussed conspiracy theories over the murder of Seth Rich and questioned statements by law enforcement and Rich's family.[35][37] Dore cited a retracted Fox News story to substantiate his claims, and continued to insist that there were "a lot of red flags" and there "is probably something more to this story" including after the Fox News retraction.[38] In December 2020, an article in New York magazine said Dore's discernment was questionable due in part to his "promotion of conspiracy theories implicating the DNC in Seth Rich's death".[31]

In 2017, Dore argued that the Syrian government's chemical weapons attack on the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhun was likely to have been a "false flag," orchestrated by groups opposed to Bashar al-Assad.[39] The investigative journalism site Bellingcat reported that Dore had received $2,500 from The Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees in 2017, described by Bellingcat as a pro-Assad lobby group.[39] Dore also featured Eva Bartlett in "another 2017 conspiracy-theory segment" about Syria, according to Bellingcat.[39]

In 2018, Dore promoted an op-ed which quoted US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis out of context as saying that he did not have evidence the nerve agent sarin was used in Syria.[40] During a press conference in February 2018, Mattis was referring to recent reports when he said he did not have evidence of sarin use, and he also said Assad's government had "been caught using" sarin during the Obama administration and "they used it again during our administration".[40]

Political views

Dore said his stand-up shifted to be more political in 2005 and he described his new style as "'stickin' it to the man' kind of comedy."[10] According to a 2019 article in the Chicago Tribune, Dore's material critiqued "Wall Street, the military industrial complex, Big Pharma, political operatives and mainstream media".[5]

In a July 2008 interview, Dore said part of him wanted Barack Obama as president but "as a comedian, it would be much better if John McCain became president".[10] Dore said "whenever a conservative is in office, it's great for comedy", citing a "boom in comedy" during the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.[10]

A Los Angeles Times article said The Jimmy Dore Show was a progressive program which had "affection for [Bernie] Sanders and disdain for establishment Democratic politics."[41] Dore supported Bernie Sanders' campaign in the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries, being called "Sanders-obsessed" by The Washington Post.[42] He was critical of Senator Elizabeth Warren for not defending Sanders in the primaries when Sanders was accused of being misogynistic.[43]

In 2016, Dore said a Hillary Clinton presidency would be worse for progressives than a Donald Trump presidency, saying "don't freak out about a Donald Trump presidency! I think, in fact, my theory is that it's even better for progressives in the short-term, meaning in the two-year term, and in four years for sure."[44][31] According to Newsweek, Dore has falsely suggested that Hillary Clinton has Parkinson's disease.[35]

A Washington Post article in January 2017 stated that since the presidential election, Dore had "lit into Democrats for blaming hackers for their loss, raised doubts about the credibility of intelligence agencies, and seen the heavy hand of war hawks hyping the Russia connection to destabilize Europe and the Middle East."[45] Dore was a staunch critic of the Special Counsel investigation into potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.[46] In September 2017, Dore said "if you don’t think we need a third party, you’re not paying attention."[47]

In June 2020, an article in The New York Times described Dore as an "ardent critic" of Joe Biden.[46]

Reception

In a May 2016 article by Nathan Rabin on Vulture.com, the episode of Dore's podcast Comedy and Everything Else with Kyle Cease, who ran a controversial $3,000 stand-up comedy boot camp course, was included as part of "an ongoing tribute to the greatest individual comedy-related podcast episodes of all time."[48] Rabin said Dore was a well-respected veteran and stand-up purist who believed the art of stand-up comedy was rooted in suffering and it could not be taught in a classroom.[48] Joe Berkowitz, in a 2010 review of the podcast on Vulture.com, described Dore's interview with Cease as an "attempt at gotcha journalism that couldn't be any clunkier" and Berkowitz wrote that he could not "see how someone could walk away from this episode wanting to hear more from Jimmy Dore."[22]

In 2019, comedian Reginald D. Hunter said The Jimmy Dore Show had "a familiar soothing American impishness" and Dore made "caustically smart observations of the American political left."[49]

Alexander Reid Ross, in an opinion piece for Haaretz, described Dore as a "conspiracy theorist" and "Kremlin defender".[50] Stephen Shalom, writing in New Politics, has called Dore "Islamophobic", "conspiracist" and an "apologist for Assad".[51][40] Shalom said Green party candidate Howie Hawkins "made a serious error" when he shared a platform with Dore which led to the International Socialist Organization's New York City chapter rescinding its endorsement of Hawkins in the 2018 New York gubernatorial election.[51]

In 2018, an article published in CNNMoney described Dore's show as "a far-left YouTube channel that peddles conspiracy theories, such as the idea that Syrian chemical weapons attacks are hoaxes".[52] Dore responded by saying of his show that, "We actually debunk conspiracy theories like the one that says Assad gassed his own people".[53]

Personal life

Dore lives in Pasadena with his wife, Stefane Zamorano. In a 2008 interview, Dore said he was an atheist.[10]

Discography

  • It's Not Brain Surgery (2000)
  • Really? (2008)
  • Citizen Jimmy (2008)
  • It's 2016 (2016)

Notes

  1. ^ As of February 2021, Dore was on the advisory council of the Movement for a People's Party.[1]

References

  1. ^ White, Jeremy B.; Marinucci, Carla; Massara, Graph; Hawkins, Mackenzie (February 4, 2021). "McCarthy faces Greene vote — Newsom details AG timeline — Chamath backs out — Biden picks Su for DOL deputy — State Supreme Court won’t block Prop 22". Politico.
  2. ^ a b "About The Jimmy Dore Show". YouTube.
  3. ^ "Jimmy Dore". The Des Moines Register (Des Moines, Iowa). March 26, 2009.
  4. ^ Carnes, Jim (2006-07-20). "Comedian Jimmy Dore: TiVo to Mac to stage". Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois).
  5. ^ a b c d e Dickinson, Chrissie (July 11, 2019). "Jimmy Dore uses all kinds of media to make his comedic voice as loud as possible". Chicago Tribune.
  6. ^ a b Carnes, Jim (June 21, 2006). "Comedian Jimmy Dore: TiVo to Mac to stage". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
  7. ^ "Comedian Jimmy Dore at performs at Go Bananas". The Cincinnati. January 10, 2007.
  8. ^ Carnes, Jim (2006-07-20). "Comedian Jimmy Dore: TiVo to Mac to stage". Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois).
  9. ^ Condran, Ed (October 20, 2006). "Nothing's sacred". The Central New Jersey Home News. New Brunswick, New Jersey.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h Perlman, Daniel (July 30, 2008). "Jimmy Dore: Waging War on Stupidity". Punchline Magazine. Archived from the original on September 13, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  11. ^ "Great Britain Explained in a Way That Makes Sense". YouTube.
  12. ^ "Almost No One Is Watching Morning Cable News". YouTube.
  13. ^ Carnes, Jim (2006-07-20). "Comedian Jimmy Dore: TiVo to Mac to stage". Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois).
  14. ^ Carnes, Jim (2006-07-20). "Comedian Jimmy Dore: TiVo to Mac to stage". Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois).
  15. ^ Barrett, Larry (2008-07-16). "'Citizen Jimmy' Knocks On Comedy Central's 'Dore'". Multichannel News.
  16. ^ "Comedy – Catch A Rising Star". Reno Gazette-Journal (Reno, Nevada). 1998-08-20.
  17. ^ "Harrah's Las Vegas". The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California). 2004-06-20.
  18. ^ "Tropicana Comedy Stop Las Vegas". The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California). 2001-03-11.
  19. ^ "Comedy Shows". The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California). 2011-11-06.
  20. ^ Condran, Ed (October 20, 2006). "Nothing's sacred". The Central New Jersey Home News (New Brunswick, New Jersey).
  21. ^ Carnes, Jim (2006-07-20). "Comedian Jimmy Dore: TiVo to Mac to stage". Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois).
  22. ^ a b c Berkowitz, Joe (October 18, 2010). "A Fairly Comprehensive Guide to Comedy Podcasts: Comedy and Everything Else". Vulture.com.
  23. ^ Carnes, Jim (2006-07-20). "Comedian Jimmy Dore: TiVo to Mac to stage". Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois).
  24. ^ "Aggressive Progressives - TYT.com". tyt.com.
  25. ^ Bray, Hiawatha (August 23, 2017). "On YouTube, controversy doesn't pay". The Boston Globe.
  26. ^ Dore, Jimmy (April 14, 2019). "Jimmy Dore Leaving TYT Explained". YouTube. The Jimmy Dore Show. Retrieved April 16, 2019.
  27. ^ a b Fichera, Angelo (July 17, 2020). "Video Doesn’t Show Biden Hosting ‘Black Face Skit’" FactCheck.org.
  28. ^ Kaplan, Alex (July 17, 2020). "Facebook and other social media platforms let a manipulated Biden “blackface” video circulate for months". Media Matters for America.
  29. ^ Burgis, Ben (December 19, 2020). "Jimmy Dore is Right About the Urgency of Medicare For All. But AOC Isn't the Problem". Jacobin. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  30. ^ Intercepted (December 16, 2020). "Intercepted: AOC on Ending the Pelosi Era, Biden's Corporate Cabinet, and the Battle for Medicare for All". The Intercept. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  31. ^ a b c Levitz, Eric (December 22, 2020). "The Left’s Most Naïve Cynics Have Turned on AOC". New York.
  32. ^ Relman, Eliza (December 16, 2020). "AOC rejects left-wing calls to force Pelosi to hold Medicare For All vote". Business Insider. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  33. ^ "The Case for Forcing a Floor Vote on Medicare for All". Current Affairs. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  34. ^ MacDonald, Tyler (December 12, 2020). "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pressured to withhold support for Nancy Pelosi and force Medicare For All vote". Inquisitr. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  35. ^ a b c d e Palmer, Evan (January 25, 2021). "Jimmy Dore Boogaloo Boys Interview Sparks Outrage Among Critics: 'You're a Sucker'". Newsweek. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  36. ^ Dore, Jimmy (May 14, 2014). "The Young Turks - Fracking, Common Core-Tests, Karl Rove, Sarah Palin, GM Recall & Guns". The Young Turks. Retrieved August 24, 2020 – via YouTube.
  37. ^ "Analysis | The Seth Rich conspiracy shows how fake news still works". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  38. ^ Marcotte, Amanda. "Tale of 2 hoaxes: The Seth Rich conspiracy theory and "Conceptual Penis" prank both expose a fear of women's power". Salon. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  39. ^ a b c Davis, Charles (September 30, 2019). "Pro-Assad Lobby Group Rewards Bloggers On Both The Left And The Right". bellingcat. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  40. ^ a b c Shalom, Stephen R. (February 17, 2018). "A Litmus Test for Detecting Syria Trolls". New Politics.
  41. ^ Halper, Evan (December 12, 2019). "No #Bernieblackout here: Sanders rides a surge of alternative media". Los Angeles Times.
  42. ^ Weigel, David (May 27, 2016). "Why The Young Turks, and their viewers, love Bernie Sanders". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  43. ^ Wagner, John; Gearan, Anne; Weigel, David (July 1, 2016). "Does Hillary Clinton really need Elizabeth Warren on the ticket?". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  44. ^ Dore, Jimmy. "Hillary Presidency Worse For Progressives & America Than Trump". YouTube. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  45. ^ Weigel, Dave (January 13, 2017). "Some on the left want Democrats to move on from Russian hacking". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  46. ^ a b Perlroth, Nicole (June 15, 2020). "A Conspiracy Made in America May Have Been Spread by Russia". The New York Times.
  47. ^ Weigel, David (September 11, 2017). "As Sanders focuses on single-payer health care, some activists want him to start a new party". The Washington Post.
  48. ^ a b Rabin, Nathan (May 2, 2016). "When Jimmy Dore Took on the $3,000 ‘Stand-Up Boot Camp’ on ‘Comedy and Everything Else’". Vulture.com.
  49. ^ Ganatra, Shilpa (October 12, 2019). "Reginald D Hunter: On My Culture Radar". The Irish Times.
  50. ^ Ross, Alexander Reid (June 19, 2020). "Russia's Disinformation War on America Takes Racist Aim at Black Lives Matter". Haaretz.
  51. ^ a b Shalom, Stephen R. (October 29, 2018). "Why I'm Not Voting Green in New Jersey". New Politics.
  52. ^ Mezzofiore, Gianluca; Murphy, Paul P.; Yurieff, Kaya (April 20, 2018). "Exclusive: YouTube ran ads from hundreds of brands on extremist channels". CNNMoney. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  53. ^ "Ads also appeared on The Jimmy Dore Show channel, a far-left YouTube channel that peddles conspiracy theories, such as the idea that Syrian chemical weapons attacks are hoaxes." We actually De-Bubunk conspiracy theories, like the one that says Assad gassed his own people". Twitter. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
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