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Showing results for tags 'Comedian'.
Found 17 results
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Here's to Carl Reiner, one of three comedians who seemed to have an infinite lifespan (along with Mel Brooks and Dick Van Dyke). --- "The Dick van Dyke Show" (DonRocks) -
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This is the earliest thing I've seen by George Carlin (as much as I like him, this isn't his best work):
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"Bidding Farewell to 'Hello, Dolly!': Actress Carol Channing Dies at 97" by Kim Kokich on npr.org
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I was just watching the opening credits of "Murder on a Honeymoon," and noticed that in the long list of secondary names, there was an actor simply named "Sleep 'n' Eat." "What the heck is 'Sleep 'n' Eat?'" I said. So I looked it up, and of course, it was a black actor. Named Willie Best, and active from 1930-1955, he was a comedian who also had the derogatory name, "Sleep 'n' Eat," and I mean that's how he's billed in this movie! That isn't right, so I decided to give Mr. Best his own thread here, with no mention of this terrible nickname in the title. I only make such a big deal out of it here because that's the only way I know who he is. Hopefully, someone will eventually chime in with some mention of his work. Mr. William "Willie" Best (1916-1962):
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- Mississippi
- Sunflower
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I'm certain that I saw Topol in a version of "Fiddler on the Roof," and I think it was on Broadway, but it might have been at National Theater in Washington, DC. Does anyone remember when, and where, Chaim Topol reprised his beloved role as Tevye here in the United States? He was old - in his 70s, perhaps - but not so old that he didn't retain his signature charisma. It's bothering me that I can't find when or where he reprised the role.
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When I was a young adult, Pee-Wee Herman was everywhere - nearly as ubiquitous as Barney.This, until it all came crashing down one evening in a movie theater, where Rubens was arrested for lewd behavior, indecent exposure, etc. Yes, he was gay. Which is is precisely why I believe a Presidential pardon is a legitimate option (albeit not anytime soon) - times have changed, and while, on the surface, getting caught yanking it in a movie theater may seem like an "oops," back then it was a career-ending transgression. I hope this doesn't offend anyone, but I pretty much give carte blanche on the "transgressions" of gay people, pre-acceptance: bathhouses, casual sex, The Follies, glory holes - hey, these people have sex drives like the rest of us, and even though, in reality, some of this behavior was extraordinarily risky (cf: "Dallas Buyers Club") it is *all* understandable, completely forgivable, and quite honestly, had I known the shame and humiliation gay and lesbian people were going through - all because they were *perfectly normal* and needed sex, as surely as someone needs a glass of water - I would have given them the keys to my house, gone out to dinner, and said, "Here, have fun - back in a couple of hours." Maybe I'm wrong, and I'm certainly open-minded to reading other opinions (no matter what your opinions, your viewpoints and perspectives will absolutely be tolerated here, as long as they don't involve politics, religion, or mean comments about other people. I realize the "Presidential pardon" comment is political, so you should feel free to ignore that, and simply discuss the issue in general - or anything else you wish to discuss about Reubens.) I do know that there were some issues down the road, regarding underage pornography, and sure, the line must be drawn somewhere - but I don't know any specifics regarding Mr. Reubens' situation; only about the career-ending incident in the movie theater, which I believe to be the height of intolerance and cruelty.
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There is the artist, and then there is the man. The Little Tramp and the Refugees Who Loved, Then Loathed Him, by Dove Barbanel, December 29, 2017, on nytimes.com. -
I grew up watching "The Dick van Dyke Show," and am watching an episode right now - at age 92, the great, comedic genius Dick van Dyke is going strong, and is a childhood favorite of mine. He is *so* talented, and so likable - I'm currently watching "The Great Petrie Fortune" - about an inherited desk with a mysterious song behind the inheritance, foretelling a treasure within. Dick van Dyke is awesome - the thing I've seen him in most recently is "Divorce American Style." I was thinking that was the great George Carlin's debut; I was wrong - his debut was "With Six You Get Eggroll." I so wish you all would get into these TV and Film Forums - they'll be here forever, and could be *so* interesting with enough discussion; with me just blathering by myself, they aren't so compelling. Just remember: This is an Evergreen Website, and nothing you write here will ever go to waste. When you post here, you're writing a love-letter to your grandchildren.
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- Missouri
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Nov 30, 2014 - "In Conversation: Chris Rock" by Frank Rich on vulture.com This is a good interview. One thing that was incredibly poignant to me was Chris Rock's description of black people needing teeth pulled in Andrews, SC.
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Brenner's first time on "The Tonight Show" in 1971: Brenner, among other things, reflects on that performance in 2013. Wow, you talk about a deep, reflective opine - what he's saying extends far beyond stand-up comedy, but for *every* aspiring stand-up comedian, this is required viewing. In just eight minutes, he touches on a lot of fascinating things - Brenner was a true comic pioneer who really lived the transition from old-school to new-school:
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IMHO, Patton Oswalt is one of the funniest comics out there. His new stand-up special on Netflix, "Annihilation" is riotously funny and at the same time tremendously poignant. During the first third or so of the show, Oswalt lays down some jokes about the current POTUS that are freakin' hilarious. I have copied and pasted one of my favorite jokes below and whited it out so you can view it by highlighting. I don't want to offend anyone who doesn't appreciate humor regarding this topic. The rest of the show is devoted to his experience, over the last year, of dealing with the unexpected death of his wife and impact on his young son. Obviously a heavy and personal topic, but Oswalt pulls it off without being maudlin or undignified. I've never seen any stand-up routine quite like it. Actually, I feel bad about calling it a stand-up routine-- it's much more. I highly recommend it. A review from the AV Club Now the joke: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "And by the way, I feel bad — I feel bad for Trump.The poor guy — look. Here's what happened.They had that, that, uh, the journalist dinner, the correspondents dinner. Obama went up, made fun of Donald, very mean. And Donald said, "I'm takin' his job. You don't make fun of me. I'll take your job." Spent all this money. Now he has the job, and he's sittin' there, goin', "This job sucks. My life before this was amazing, it was golf and hookers and jets." Donald Trump taking Obama's job would be like if the head of linguistics at Rutgers made fun of David Lee Roth. And David Lee Roth was like, "I'm gonna take his job,zibbly-bobbly-boop." And then he spends 40 million dollars. And he goes into that first meeting like, "All right, I'm the head of linguistics at Rutgers! Bring on the hookers and the cocaine!" And they're like, "No, we're gonna talk about the lack of recursion in German Romantic poetry." And he's like, "Humaly-bebaly-zibbly-boobly? What just happened?"" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 replies
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My brief, initial impressions of replacing Stuart with Noah: risky, but potentially brilliant. Risky, because the American audience - though it *thinks* it was hungering for intelligent, educated, well-informed, political satire, was possibly hungering merely for intelligent, educated, well-informed, political satire from an *American point-of-view*, and Noah's much-more-global perspective might be a little *too* educated for the American mass viewership. I'm pretty sure it's what *I* want (Hell, take Jon Stewart, and throw several languages and ethnicities into the mix, and blend it all with Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and POW! You have the perfect satire, if, if, if, Trevor Noah can pull this off with the fearless bravado that the great Jon Stewart so masterfully did for 16+ years - oh my goodness Stewart was excellent in this role!) I have two polar-opposite scenarios in my mind: 1) Trevor Noah raising American audiences up to his level. Viewership will sink at first, simply because there is nothing like this on television. If Comedy Central can withstand the pressure of declining ratings (and if Noah sticks to his guns, ratings *will* decline in the short-, perhaps medium-term), this could be looked upon as one of the most brilliant moves in the history of television, and The Educating Of America. 2) Trevor Noah dumbing down his routine to conform with the current level of American viewership, which may result in an *increased* audience at first, mainly due to curiosity, but will ultimately die a slow death because this will be going against Noah's grain, and he won't be able to pull it off. If this show is to be a long-term success with Noah as host, American viewers will need to raise their game - and you know what? It's the same way I feel about this website, because I refuse to dumb it down to pander to boneheads just so I can get a larger audience. *The audience can educate themselves and come up to our level*, or they can go read Eater and The Washington Post. We have the chance to become the world's leader in political satire; not just for American politics, but for World politics. Let's do it, Damn It! Why shouldn't we better ourselves? Stewart was awesome, but I have to think that even *he* would be in favor of this as a long-term strategy. I'm as excited about this visionary selection as I am the Nationals signing Max Scherzer. Yes, it's one hell of a gamble, but what truly great thing isn't?
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"Comedy Icon Jerry Lewis Dies at 91" by Joi-Marie McKenzie and Joel Siegel on abcnews.go.com
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"Blazing Saddles" and "Young Frankenstein" are two of the greatest comedies I've ever seen and they both starred Gene Wilder. Mel Brooks is certainly a comedic genius, but I don't think these movies would have been nearly as good without Wilder. I think I'll give Blazing Saddles a view tonight. And then maybe watch the best skit from "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex":
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Andy Kaufman is someone I describe as a "Performance Artist," and is one of the most polarizing personas in all of show business. Nevertheless, to anyone who insists he didn't have aspects of comedic genius (and I'm the first to admit his acts could turn out to be failed mind fucks), I present to you, "Mighty Mouse":
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Here's to David Brenner, who left us today at age 78 due to natural causes. First, let me share two pieces of trivia about Brenner that I didn't know about before this evening: 1) His widow is Tai Babilonia, World Champion figure skater in 1979, and five-time U.S. Champion in Pairs Skating in 1976-1980 with her partner Randy Gardner. 2) Brenner once told the agent of Robin Williams, who was apparently well-known for comedy theft (I had no idea of this, either), and I quote, "Tell Robin that if he ever takes one more line from me, I'll rip his leg off and shove it up his ass!" Good for you, Mr. Brenner, and I know just how you feel. And now, the joke that I will always remember - perhaps Brenner's signature stand-up joke. "I sat down on a newspaper on the subway, and a guy asked if I was reading it. I said yes, stood up, turned the page, and sat down again." RIP, Mr. Brenner, and thanks for the memories.
