esrosedotblog

I kinda like what I have seen of John Oliver's new talk show.

Labels: comedy, john oliver

Black comics have become very popular in recent years.

But that has not always been the case.

And those who got "somewhere" often did so with some bowing and scraping.

But that changed.

A lot of anger transmuted to some great acts by young comics. But all of them followed in the footsteps of the few greats who came before them.

One of those was a courageous lady who masked the truth in absurd humor.

I remember Moms Mabley from way back. That is Ed Sullivan back. And her material was always the same. The stupidity of racism. Its cruelty.

She presented as a stereotype, her teeth out, her dress a baggy heavily flowered number, a knitted hat and, good lord, a shuffle in cartoonish sneakers.

But that was a ruse. Her mouth produced some pretty harsh truths and was able to be funny doing it.

Today, a documentary on her work.

She has come back as a historical figure but still, the laughs.

Labels: comedy, documentary, films

Today's movie was a DVD of an aborted television series starring Lewis Black.

It isn't very good but he is.

There are a lot of jokes and a few guests and it moves pretty fast.

I couldn't watch it all in one sitting but one more and I will have seen the entire series. It didn't last long.

Black has a unique power to make fun of the untouchable, the outrageous.

He is helped here with a few other comedians.

As a television show it is not the best showing of Black but it is still funny and enjoyable to see.

I will not look at it again, I am sure. But I had a good time.

Labels: comedy, fun

Today's movie was a Lewis Black DVD.

Black on Broadway

It is pretty good and hardly dated even though it dates from George Bush time. The second one.

Black doesn't do much political humor but it did creep in at the end. Those times were indeed comic. Full of mock potential.

Labels: comedy

Today's movie was the first disc of the first season of

The Big Bang Theory (2007)

It is well known that I don't watch television but if I did this would definitely be a "don't miss" series. I watched the first of three discs that cover the first season.

It was pretty good. I will watch another disc sometime soon.

There is no describing comedy. Who would guess that two physicist roommates would provide a lot of comic grist? I would. When I was at MIT I lived on a floor of almost all Physics majors. They are pretty hilarious.

There is ballast. The girl across the hall. And there is a hint of a relationship between her and one of the geeks. Just a hint. One of the guys is actually modeled on a queer stereotype, very flighty hands, but they have chosen to make him asexual. Blatantly so. It is a pretty good idea since this allows them to plug in all the funny stuff without being politically incorrect. Or homophobic.

Fact is it is played like a hidden secret. In plain view. Which I suppose makes it homophobic but I didn't take it that way. Besides, there are a lot of flighty straight guys. Just sayin'.

I will watch the second disc as I couldn't stop watching this one straight through. With the FF on the credits it takes about two hours.

So far a 5 out of Netflix5 because I am going on with it.

Labels: comedy, television

I wasn't going to write about this but then it seems that I should.

Joan Rivers, a Comic Stiletto Quick to Skewer, Is Dead at 81

I laughed a lot at her but I also found her very annoying. Most comedians are, actually.

Insult humor is hard to do. Don Rickles is the king and Rivers would be the queen. The thing is, though, that she mostly told on herself. But the effect was that she was zinging others. Often unfairly.

I suppose this is because she had the instant mouth of a born hustler. Talk came easy right after the first thought. No impulse control. And of course that is a key to some comedians' success. Robin Williams comes to mind. Zero inhibitions and a quick wit.

Comedy is the toughest job I think. There is a documentary about her. I have seen it. She had thousands of "joke" cards and yet, she admitted, she rarely went in to look at them. But there they are.

I suspect that they are useless because they were all of the moment, the moment passed and they lost their zing. Now Rivers has passed. We only have the tapes.

Labels: comedy, obituary

When I was a kid, they had short films, "shorts", before the main feature.

I am doing the same right now.

I bought a DVD of the ten minute shorts that Robert Benchley made in the forties. I remember seeing them when I was a kid.

Benchley was what was then called a "humorist". He was not a comedian. He wrote serious humor for serious magazines and was noted for his wit and wisdom.

I am so happy to find these little works.

Today, Benchley told about the ways that a husband could be helpful around the house. A little talk from a desk with little demos to show how it should be done. Of course, none of the situations work out. That does not stop Benchley from acting the expert.

He was particularly good at this wise fool thing.

This one is not in the collection.

Labels: comedy

Comedy today.

Courtesy of Lewis Black on his disc "Unleashed".

You can't write about standup. One has to see and hear it.

Labels: comedy, films

Weird Al Yankovic is back.

Actually, I don't think he went away. He was just waiting around doing his thing waiting for the world to recycle toward a taste for his zany antics.

No Joke! He’s Topping the Charts Weird Al Yankovic Scores With ‘Mandatory Fun’

I have always had a taste for this kind of parodic genius. Spike Jones. Stan Freberg.

Now Weird Al.

And another one.

Labels: comedy

Today's movie was actually Lewis Black.

Red, White and Screwed.

Recorded in Washington, DC, Black skewers all parties. In the usual hilarious way.

Labels: comedy, films

Today's film was actually a comedy tape, a standup show.

Lewis Black: In God We Rust (2012)

If you don't know Lewis Black, you might want to make his acquaintance. This would be a painless way of doing it.

He is not to everyone's taste. But who knows, he might be to yours.

Try this:

Labels: comedy, films

KILLING THE JOKE

I was sent a url for a page of humor. A one page "article".

I tried to categorize the type of humor but failed in the first go around.

Here is a list of

Types of Humor

What I got in the email was a piece of Nonsensism. The spell check doesn't even want to take this. But I will.

It was the thing that I thought of after "Satire" which this was not at all unless I missed the point. Even the illustration was disconnected to the text. I think.

You can see that I really didn't get it.

I am familiar with this from the sending side.

I have close friends who simply do not get Irony or Exaggerism. Another spell check failure.

I don't want to spend a lot of time with this. Analysis kills any joke.

But it is nice that I was right to cite a category and that one I cited actually fucking exists.

Hyperbole.

Labels: comedy

NOT FUNNY

I saw some of this cringe inducing performance.

Colbert Knocks Democrats Off Message

I have been uncomfortable with Colbert's schtick from the beginning.

His faux wing nut personna is confusing and, often, not funny.

I hated the monologue that he did at the National Press Club a few years ago to embarrass George Bush.

Today's performance might have been a useful event had he stuck to the plan and talked about his actual day with immigrant workers in a straightforward way.

Or maybe he didn't really spend that day.

Not one of his lines hit the mark. As far as I am concerned they were all clunkers.

And now, he and Jon Stewart are going to try to one up Glen Beck with National Mall events.

Get this guy out of serious discourse.

George S. Kaufman, a successful and witty playwright said "satire is what closes on Saturday night".

Today it closed in a few minutes in the congressional hearing.

I would be glad never to see this guy again. He is trying to take advantage of the already nasty rhetoric on the left. By pretending being on the nasty right.

I had thought about putting the video of his appearance on my blog but I am so pissed I don't want to give it space.

Labels: comedy

SWEET SIXTEEN

We have read the comic Zits for a very long time.

For that entire time, the main character, Jeremy, has been 15 years old.

That is a long time.

I don't even remember being 15.

But today, in a wonderful moment for the strip, Jeremy passes his driver's test. He is 16.

It is a great moment.

It helps if you have seen the doofus side of this kid all this time.

Labels: comedy, life

PUBLIC SERVICE SPOT

Labels: comedy

WALL-E TOO

I forgot to mention one of the nicer surprises in this film.

Fred Willard

He goes way back to Fernwood 2 Night where I first saw him. Look how many credits he has. 197 acting roles and 87 spots as himself. Extraordinary.

He has the handsome face of a teevee actor and the personalty of a crazy man. Very funny. He is in all of the Christopher Guest films. His metier.

Perfect for this lonely human role in a cartoon. The face of command central. Or something.

He is great.

Well, there are other humans. The movie tape of Hello Dolly.

Labels: comedy

HIGH TECH STRESS

Andrew Sullivan found this.

An Early Adopter

All of us have been caught in a beta test at one time or another.

Labels: comedy