February 10, 2010
LA Return/Comedy Roundup
That's right, I was the City of Angels interviewing people about comedy. I talked to a screenwriter, a television writer, and a Groundling. It was pretty cool, and I'm really starting to appreciate the effort it takes to produce good comedy on a consistent basis.
My hero.
Arriving late Monday night into the land of slush, I hit the ground running, starting Tuesday with my last lifetime learning class, then teaching two more classes, then doing a translation session in preparation for the staged reading. So I'm still catching up on my TV from last week, obviously, but I did catch Tuesday's Comedy Central shows. There was an awesome joke on "Colbert" that referenced Dutch slaving ships, of all things, and I had to forward it to my friend who does Atlantic history.
And of course I loved "The Daily Show" interview with Newt Gingrich. I admit I have a visceral reaction to Newt-Boy because he reminds me of every other puffed-up professor I've ever met (and there are quite a few). But Stewart, as usual, brought it. My favorite part: after accusing Gingrich of using emotion to cloud the issue, Stewart gave as good as he got, bringing up 9/11 and reminding Gingrich "I lived through it. I live a few blocks from there." Now that's using emotion effectively. And way to fact check, "Daily Show" -- the addendum at the end, which corrected Gingrich's factual error -- was brilliant if nasty.
I joke a lot about wanting more comedians to run for office, but I'm really starting to think Stewart could do it. I've been re-reading Al Franken's Rush Limbaugh Is A Big, Fat Idiot (1996). He'd already been an "SNL" writer and actor for a good ten years, but that book really established Franken as a satirist. That was only the beginning, of course, and now, fifteen years later, he's a senator. So although Jon Stewart started out on MTV, is that any worse than "SNL"? And if Schwarzenegger can use his fame to run, I don't see why Stewart is any different.
Speaking of political comedy, a colleague brought this to my attention. It's a parody of an already existing video, but it's also just plain incongruous, which is why it's funny even if you haven't seen the original:
Meanwhile, I'm stuck with Gladiator, or worse yet, the new Spartacus. Unintentionally funny, but not nearly as interesting. Man! Some days I think I picked the wrong the wrong discipline for jokes.
