Snob talk

Rather than have either an endless post, or a one-liner, I transcribed something and gave it its own page but am commenting here. The following to be read after you read the transcript.

I include the part about prefacing statements because it’s funny, but mainly because I tend to preface myself so much. While not so bitter towards acting, I wholehearedly agree with Jerry’s assessment that comedy, and by extension, writing, is wholly underappreciated. His implicit indictment of feelings, or at least, the emphasis on emotion, is correct, in my opinion. It’s easier to get someone to feel than to laugh. Objectively, emoting is a selfish act, whereas comedy, at its best, incorporates both the emotional or mundane, and the intellectual. What separates humans from animals are the abilities to emote and reason, making comedy, in my opinion, the purer and more human art form. If nothing else, it serves to lighten people up. (Hey, it’s healthier to laugh than to have breakdowns.) I in no way am saying I dislike drama or emotion, I’m just saying I have far more respect for comedy. If I think of my favorite movies, they all contain genuinely comedic and dramatic elements. I’ve always been a fan of balance. (That being said, Garry is right with his assessment of the core “need to be seen”. Artists are pretty dysfunctional people ) But I agree, Jerry— here’s to less yawning chasms of insecurity.

One other point, that Jerry didn’t go into really, was writing. I didn’t know too many details about the writers’ strike, but I definitely knew which side I was on. I am very democratic, and would never argue that one person is better than another, because if you’ve been part of any production process, you know how collaborative it is, but I’m sorry, folks, you can’t do shit without a script or an idea. I can’t think of anything more daunting and impressive than creating something out of nothing (which is also why I have the utmost respect for improvisation). That, and I just hate how actors are treated like hot shit, even though in many cases, they’re interchangeable. The writers, designers, and artisans (and to an extent, directors) create an entire world before the actor ever gets near it. (Honestly, like the previous paragraph, I have nothing against actors. That’s just college drama department experience talking.) I just think there are too many things and people in this world that go unappreciated, and these are just a couple of them. But maybe I pay attention to stuff too much.

The old-timey good place

Can you tell I’m in a better mood? Anyway, this is one of David Cross’ finest performances in any Mr. Show sketch as beleaguered grocer Len Gibbons, but more specifically, he delivers for my money what has to be one of the finest, most perfect line readings in all recorded history. (Hint: it has to to with squash.)

I’m talkin’ ’bout Lucky Clovers

Usually when a hidden gem or cult item in television or music comes along, I miss it and come to it later, usually lamenting that I didn’t get caught up in the week to week madness, or catch the band in concert when no one was the wiser. So I’ve been watching The Ben Stiller Show recently, which is an exception to this rule. It ran a half-season, making it extremely hard to catch, but as a 14-year old, somehow I caught it, and remember watching it and even joking about the skits the next day at school. It was an inventive, off-the-wall sketch comedy show on Fox, well before “alternative comedy” became so vogue recently. Featuring Bob Odenkirk, and to a lesser extent, David Cross, it is an obvious forbear to Mr. Show, which even then was cult (since it was on HBO) and flew well under the radar, garnering mostly critical acclaim, most notably, as I can remember, when Janeane Garofalo, Ben Stiller cast member, said something like “the average person doesn’t deserve to watch Mr. Show.” Snooty, hell yes, but I know very few people who know of it, and often, it’s only because of association with me. Brilliance is rarely appreciated or noticed, much less in its own time. These days, most people know Ben Stiller, but most people don’t know this Ben Stiller. The commentary tracks are excellent companions where they appear. They add to the nostalgia that this show evokes when I watch it.

But anyway, in the very first episode, there is a faux “U2 Rockumentary” skit, in which the cast, as U2, does a commercial for a breakfast cereal done to the tune of their song “One”, or at least a reasonable knock-off of it. Even though I hadn’t re-visited the show in ages, I felt a fondness that I actually “knew the show back when” and remember parts of it vividly, growing up. I have also found that people born after 1982-3 won’t get the jokes and references— a shame, because it’s absolutely dead-on. U2 was more popular then, relatively speaking, and anyone who was in middle or high school in the early 90s ought to realize how perfect this is. Yes, it’s dated and impenetrable to anyone who didn’t live through Achtung Baby and the U2 zeitgeist of the early 90s, but upon pulling it out of the DVD library, I am reminded that this sketch/parody is still one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

Embedding has been disabled by request, so please, please view it here, or buy the series. One half season, 13 episodes, I don’t remember paying more than 20-25 for it. Imagine a more innocent time when cracked genius like this made it onto network television, even if it was a young, fledgling Fox network. The hilarious parody lyrics are below.

(Set-up: the real Mr. Kinkaid from The Partridge Family, as U2’s first manager, drove the band around in a ramshackle, old multi-colored school bus, from gig to gig, talking about how they were going to make it big.)

Have you had your breakfast?
Why not try the best?
I’m talking ’bout Lucky Clovers
Why don’t you put ‘em to the test?

And

One bowl won’t be enough
One box, you know you’ll eat it right up
They’re fun and so delicious
8 essential vitamins and they’re magically nutritious
One bowl, and it’s running low
One box, and it’s gonna go

Spoken: “Lucky Clovers cereal, an important part of this well-balanced breakfast. Now, with a fun, new surprise in each specially-marked package”

Did I eat too much, more than a lot?
You give me one box, now it’s all I got
One bowl, and we got to share it
Got to share it

Lucky Clovers

One bowl

Food, water, and compliments

Until I feel like being serious, I’ll just put funny stuff up. Sorry, more Chris Rock, but this is some good stuff, better than the last time. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love women, I adore women. To borrow the metaphor, I’m a woman trapped in a man’s body. They’re beautiful, they’re poetic, their bodies are works of art, they’re absolutely marvelous without even trying. However, it’s only fair that women have the piss taken out of them too. Men catch way more shit than women, even when the transgression is relatively lighter. Rock explains it here, in the difference between the ways men and women lie. Men lie about stupid shit, women are calculated. How is that not worse? The word “premeditated” mean anything to you? Anyway, ladies, you can’t deny this.

And one more shot, don’t think of this bit just in terms of daddies. Parenting aside, the point he’s making here is still a gender issue. Only watch 1:10-3:45, I couldn’t find a clean clip. Again, the shit men catch and the shit women get away is a bit hypocritical, that’s why this is genius. 

Fe fi fo figga

First we get serious, then we get silly. These are all from Chris Rock’s Bring the Pain special from 1996. This one is essentially an audio clip, slightly edited, but obviously relevant today (the edited part being how people say they would vote for him, but not really— again, relevant today, and hopefully, he’s wrong.)

Another hot button bit, but regardless of your race, you have marvel to at how he mixes intelligence, annoyance, disgust, and disdain into one hilarious package. (Plus, those four things are near and dear to my heart. Because, as George Carlin said in his Olbermann interview, one of his last, cute, clever irony is useless— the only way to take care of business is to smash it head on.)

And finally, sexual politics, ah ha. The platonic male friend, I know a lil’ something about that situation, ha ha. Though this bit does provide me some hope.

The fun of rap, without all that rap

Just give me that big, booming bass
In your face, that booming bass!
Give me that stupid, phat rhyme
Every time, describe a crime!

I’m going on a drive-by, just me posse and me
I’m a gangster of the old school, you can call me O.G.

I’m in a gang of one
Stuck in this chair,  I can’t have much fun
But with a mic and a beat,
I could get out of this seat
And then oh, what rap music can be!
I could rap about this, I could rap about that…

I’m an old gold tooth, and I’ll tell you the truth
I live in the mouth of a homie!
Let’s take it south…

The great thing about dogs

Jeffrey Tambor and Jon Stewart, everybody. (This is the final season of The Larry Sanders Show, Jon is rumored to be taking over permanently for Larry as host, and Hank is, of course, worried that his sidekick gig is going out the door with Larry.)
Anyway, bless you, Jeffrey Tambor.

“The motherfucker stabbed me!”

Most people aren’t naturally funny. It’s a real gift that manifests itself naturally and effortlessly, so, as with other skills, talents, and intelligences, very few people are blessed with it. For all the times I vilify the wannabe clever people on YouTube making their own videos, there occasionally comes along something that makes you laugh out of cleverness rather than stupidity, or pity. (As David St. Hubbins famously discovered, there’s a very fine line between clever and stupid.) It’s not high art, but it’s good for what it is.

It’s a fake trailer for Good Will Hunting, where someone re-cuts a movie to make a different genre or style of film altogether (The Shining was the first well-known example of this). In this case, Good Will Hunted, it becomes a political action thriller. I think it works whether you’ve seen the film or not, because you can see the film later and still appreciate the joke.

Siskel and Ebert are a couple of nuts

Check out these outtakes from when they were filming for their 80s TV show. Watching these two rant and jaw at one another using R-rated language is not only a little surprising, it’s also just too wonderful for words. Guaranteed to brighten your day!

“I did this donkey show in Tijuana…”

Okay, so this is all the Strangers With Candy I could find, it’s actually the entire series premiere, from some Hungarian website. The third and final season is rock solid, but I’m surprised at how good the first episode and season hold up. I love this show. Of course, I can’t watch half the first season because I lent the disc to someone and that butthead never gave it back. Too many good lines to quote. Every single ep, from the knee-slappers to the mildly entertaining, has at least a couple of classic lines and/or moments, so you always come away a winnner. Watch the entire series, it’s only 30 episodes, less than 12 hours in all. Better yet, purchase it. It’s completely worth it.

more about ““I did this donkey show in Tijuana…”“, posted with vodpod

more about “Strangers With Candy Ep1 part 2“, posted with vodpod