It may have lost its special-ness forever and the clubs might not being doing well but I think standup is in the best shape it has been in a long time.
When I was a bit older I had all of the George Carlin records, all of the Steve Martin records, all of the Cheech and Chong records and all of the Richard Pryor records.
I'm sad to see the passing of the great drug warriors. I certainly did my part in that battle and I don't regret any of it.
It seems people are more willing to let other people control their minds now and recreational drug use doesn't seem to have that same renegade sense of adventure that it once did.
The demand for standup in the eighties was created by how easy it was to exploit 'comedians' and create very cheap television programming.
The Internet has usurped the collective unconscious and access to cosmic consciousness has become difficult and almost primitive.
As a performer you are being used to keep people watching so the commercial endorsements that support the network can be seen by as many people as possible.
Comedy is obviously a matter of personal taste and the world always needs a clown and some people have no taste at all and any clown will do.
I was also a big Woody Allen fan. When I got into college I listened to Lenny Bruce but it's taken me years to put him into context historically and really get what he did.