Category: Comedians

SPOTLIGHT | JON STEWART

1/1/2020

photo manipulation by nacrowe

the longer this TRUMP national nightmare rages on the more i realize what a treasure JON STEWART was when he was host of THE DAILY SHOW. some may contend that his influential show contributed to a modern national discourse that puts a premium on humiliation via parody and satire as a means of pushing a political perspective, but this misses the point. much like 18th century BRITISH pictorial satirist WILLIAM HOGARTH, utilized satire to lambast the the hollow soaring rhetoric aristocracy with the grime and filth the defined the lives of their subjects, so has STEWART utilized similar tools to point out hypocrisy and violations of the public trust in both AMERICAN ruling parties. i also liken him to a modern day H.L. MENCKEN, whereby utilizing intelligent wordplay and the power of the written/spoken word as a righteous cudgel against his opponents.

what always amazes me is how the right attempts to mimic STEWART to promote their repressive agenda and myopic, self-satisfying policies. it always fails, whether its DENNIS MILLER, GREG GUTFIELD, BILL BURR, TIM ALLEN, ADAM CAROLLA, NICK DIPAOLO or even JIM NORTON. comedy seems to be at its core about empathy. the idea that you and i see the ridiculousness of some aspect of daily life enough to laugh about it. if you have a closed mind, or rely on others that share your shuttered perspective than thats no longer comedy any more, or at the very least its an inferior version of it in mind because there is no friction, only confirmation of a rigid belief system.

when STEWART was at his best was when he was lampooning his targets with their own words, often replacing his role as the presenter of the joke to that of a commentator on the joke. i loved it when this meta-discussion happened because it confirmed the cognitive dissonance and verbal gymnastics that conservative politicians had to go through pre-TRUMP.

now, nothing matters. facts. truth. shame. accountability. its a sad time.

we need STEWART back, not that his brand of comedy would somehow change the political landscape. but his return would bring hope at a time when such is in short supply.

as an aside his work on behalf of 9/11 first responders is the work of a true PATRIOT. not the phony flag-waving, jingoistic bullshit we have come to associate with that word. an actual PATRIOT. god bless him.

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SPOTLIGHT | NORM MACDONALD

10/9/2019

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oh my god, i love NORM MACDONALD. dude is my spirit animal.

he is quite honestly the funniest comedian ever. my opinion. what i love about him is his ability to self-sabotage and decimate every premise available with absolute conviction. watching him is watching a tight-rope act of the most highest order. he is the comedy equivalent of a sledgehammer, disregarding form, audience and even time limits.

in other words he is beyond unique and a comedian's comedian. dude hosts the ESPYS in the 90s and eviscerates his audience, a RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL audience full of athletes. he hosts SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE within a year of being fired for making fun of his boss only to eviscerate his former boss and the show in his opening monologue. NORM even does a roast of his peer BOB SAGET with unfunny jokes designed to bomb. then there is his legendary moth joke. i could do this all night. but i wont.

dude is a legend.

whenever i am down i just search for his guest appearances on LETTERMAN or CONAN and just laugh. to me he is the ultimate because he is absolutely unhinged. other comedians feign like they are out of control, but NORM truly doesn't give a shit. his career is so up and down because of his unpredictability, but im telling you, when its all said and done he is the LENNY BRUCE, the RICHARD PRYOR, the GEORGE CARLIN of this era.

him and CHRIS FARLEY are my two favorite comedians ever. please check out his material embedded below.

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SPOTLIGHT | CHRIS FARLEY

8/7/2019

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man i still miss CHRIS FARLEY. watching his stuff still makes me laugh.

its between him and NORM MACDONALD for my favorite comedians of all-time. i can't choose.

this might come off as tone deaf or unsympathetic, but normally when a celebrity passes on i am not that affected by it on a personal level. don't get me wrong, i have compassion for the family of the deceased and the suffering they must be going through. but i don't usually take the next step and feel personally affected. i didn't know them personally. i can't think of another celebrity i had such a strong reaction to upon learning of their demise. not even KURT COBAIN or later PHIL HARTMAN and OL' DIRTY BASTARD. FARLEY still stands out to me as uniquely american tragedy, as our culture promotes narcissism through empty capitalism, but never checks the dark underbelly of consumer culture that defines our self-image.

to me FARLEY's passing was different. his death from a speedball overdose in 1997 happened during my middle school years and it bummed me out. sounds selfish, i felt like something was taken from me when he died. like we were all deprived of his brilliance. dude was so vivacious and full of life, he just seemed like a force of nature in his performances which were so intense it had an almost kinetic energy that just sucked you in from its sheer force of will.

it is so tragic to know now that his performances were fueled by pain and insecurity. being overweight and seeing his father ridiculed growing up for his weight issues in rural WISCONSIN just breaks my heart. what really gets me is the idea that the gift for which he was celebrated for, his humor and larger-than-life personality, was born out of a desperation for feeling like a social outcast due to his stature. his acting out a way of gaining attention and notoriety and at its base, love and adoration. the feeling that his frame made him unlovable.

that idea still makes me sad. that his gift was his curse. being celebrated for your sublimated creative expression of deep unbridled pain and social anxiety.

i love the guy 20+ years later and i still miss him even though i never knew him. dude was a legend.

R.I.P. CHRIS FARLEY.

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