Feb 12007
The Sarah Silverman Program Premieres Tonight
Filed Under Sitcom
I'm very excited, even though I'm disappointed they dropped the "me" from the original title "The Sarah Silverman Programme." It's a stupid little detail that I just kind of enjoyed. Still what's an "me" when there's a lot of rave reviews. Anyway, you should be watching/tivoing/dvring Comedy Central at 10:30 PM tonight. Here's some clips to wet your appetite:
Posted by Todd Jackson at 6:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Jan302007
Mitch Hedberg's "Los Enchiladas"
Filed Under Movies
As a follow-up to yesterday's post with a recap of the Mitch Hedberg tribute from the SF Sketchfest, here's a few clips from Mitch's film "Los Enchiladas." Even though Ian didn't think it was very good, he felt it was still worth seeing just to see how Mitch pervades all the film's dialogue. Clip #1 features both Mitch and Todd Barry.
I'm a little torn myself after seeing these clips. I wouldn't particularly want to see this in a theater, because I think I'd need the ability to fast forward to the good stuff. There's three more clips after the jump.
Posted by Todd Jackson at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Jan292007
Steal this Joke: Louis C.K. vs. Dane Cook vs. Steve Martin
Filed Under Stand-Up Comedy
In a recent post, I talked a bit about how some people have used a piece of audio to conclude that Dane Cook stole three bits from Louis C.K. I've never been entirely convinced by the audio evidence - one, "itchy asshole," is just the same topic. I think it's a common enough experience.
Here's some proof on another of the bits, this one about naming kids. It's oriented exactly the same way as the original, Louis first, Dane second and then a joke that predates both recordings by at least 20 years. It's called "My Real Name" by Steve Martin and it's from his album A Wild and Crazy Guy
The general comedic concept is there in Steve Martin's joke: a child having a ridiculous name made up of a repeated sound, which is then emphasized when the parents call their kid home. The only major difference here is that Steve Martin is the kid.
Does this mean Louis C.K. and Dane Cook stole from Steve Martin? Absolutely not. This is a joke that doesn't belong to anyone. It's going to be discovered and rediscovered again and again by comics - each of whom will put their own spin on it. For example:
- Louis C.K. goes on to talk about naming a child "Ladies and Gentlemen" so he can say, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please!"
- Dane Cook talks about naming his kids after Transformers, particularly Optimus Prime.
- And Steve Martin abandons the concept all together and goes on to something else.
Joke stealing happens. It does. But I think it's very hard to particularly prove with material as universal as this. If Dane Cook came out now and started to talk about how his daughter is an asshole, of course he'd be a thief, because (besides not having a daughter) that material is so unique and personal to Louis C.K.'s experience that there's no way that could belong to anyone else. It's inescapable. It's beyond putting your own spin on an experience, it's putting a trademark on it. And that's the type of stuff comics should be crucified for stealing, not for something that's lying around on the street, waiting for the next guy to pick up.
Posted by Todd Jackson at 1:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Jan292007
SF Sketchfest: Mitch Hedberg Tribute
Filed Under Stand-Up Comedy
The San Francisco Sketchfest ended just last night, but we got a little bit of coverage from last Wednesday's Mitch Hedberg Tribute courtesy of Ian Lendler, author of Alcoholica Esoterica
It was an odd concept for a comedy festival show– a memorial concert. But then, nothing about Mitch Hedburg was too normal. He was the bastard child of Seinfeld and Stephen Wright. Observational, but with such a surreal take on the world that it qualified more as a personal viewpoint than a series of jokes.
The show was a series of home videos, footage of a half-hour set he did at a club in San Francisco a week before his first Letterman appearance, and his independent film, “Los Enchiladas,” all of which was narrated and explicated by his friend and comedian, Brian Malow, and his wife, Lynn Shawcroft.
The home videos and stand-up were absolutely fascinating. The video was of Mitch and Brian talking about his upcoming stint on Letterman, whereupon Mitch rattled something off the top of his head, “Your jokes are all great. It’s like a wizard gave you a magic pen that makes everything you write be funny.” Mitch then writes this down in his notebook. That night, we see him perform that joke on stage in San Fran. It bombs. Mitch tries it again later in the act. It bombs even more. Mitch ditches that bit of material.
And that’s what was utterly absorbing about the night. Not only did we see several instances of Mitch incorporating his random thoughts into the act, but we watched the process of him writing it, re-writing it and trying it out. Mitch gave off the lovable stoner vibe on stage, and lived it in real life, but if the footage showed anything it was that he took his craft damn seriously. Pen, notebook, staring at a page. He did this every day.
Anyone who knows their Hedburg knows him through his limited recorded acts– the Strategic Grill Locations album and his Comedy Central show. But the pre-Letterman show that we got to see last night was incredible. We watched a comedian have to win over a crowd who didn’t know who the hell he was and didn’t give a damn. It’s easy to tell jokes when a crowd of people have paid money to see you and are screaming your name. It’s hard when a roomful of sullen drunks in a comedy club is waiting to be impressed.
So Hedburg didn’t immediately launch into his jokes, he came out and presented the crowd with a concept: He was a dishwasher at the club. He won the contest to see who was the funniest dishwasher, so he got to do stand-up that night. Sample Joke: “Hey, you know when a whole pile of dishes comes all at once…that sucks.”
This immediately deconstructed the whole comedy-club observational-humor thing with one punch line. The audience was willing to work with him after that, and he moved into his regular act. (Another fascinating part of watching him perfect his jokes– his signature “Dufraine, Party of 2” joke was originally “Anderson, party of 2.” He just changed it on the fly and liked the sound of it.)
After a brief, funny and moving speech from his wife, Lynn Shawcroft, the crowd was treated to the first ever non-Sundance viewing of Hedburg’s self-written and directed 70-minute film, “Los Enchiladas,” about a Mexican restaurant in a mall in Minnesota. How was it? Well…
The basic review would be: crap. But that’s not quite right because anyone who’s seen an undergrad film from NYU know the vibe of Los Enchiladas– a lot of hipster attitude, a total lack of technical know-how, coupled with no plot or characters to move things along. But with that said, it really was worth watching. For instance, have you ever wondered what it would be like to hear everyone in a movie speak as if their dialogue was written by Mitch Hedburg? It was kind of cool, if a bit monotonous.
Fortunately, the inept moments leavened by a few brilliant scenes. For instance, Marc Maron appears as a menu-writer, who invites the restaurant chef out to a local bar to give a reading of his menu. And Hedburg displays a real talent for subtle, behavioral humor when he shows us the little interaction between couples discussing the menu options. This sounds totally lame in print, but it really came off as the best part of the movie, simply because it was humor derived from a real situation as opposed to goofy, overwrought characters and scenes that populate the basic indie comedy (like “Clerks”).
Just as a side-note, which really rattled Your Frog Abroad Correspondent (YFAC): A good deal of the host’s reminiscences about his life with Mitch revolved around their drug experiences. This is perfectly fine and fitting, considering it certainly seemed to play a large part in Mitch’s life. But what disturbed YFAC, who is by no means a prude about drug usage (ed's note: no shit), was that the host and the crowd really treated this material in the college crowd “WHOOOO! DRUGS!” vein. Being high was treated as a proof of awesome-ness. And again, this certainly was in keeping with Mitch’s spirit…but was no one in the audience aware of the fact that we were here to commemorate a man who died from drug abuse?
YFAC did not need a “drugs are bad, m’kay?” speech. But to allow the crowd to cheer these moments without reminding them that, you know, the guy did kind of destroy himself with drugs seemed disingenuous.
Overall, this was an amazing night. To see lost footage of one of the great stand-ups of our time was worth the ticket alone. But to see the home videos of him the day before the show working on that night’s material was a revelation. Sadly, it was also a reminder that the only thing we have of him now is video and memories.
P.S. His mother got on stage and asked folks to please donate to the Mitch Hedburg Foundation which can be found at Mitch's website. The family is donating the money to causes that were close to Mitch’s heart.
I've teased this before in the Blotter, but this footage sounds like the beginnings of a great documentary. Here's hoping it makes it more places around the US.
Posted by Todd Jackson at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Jan222007
Aspen Update including Colbert, Edwards and Olde English
Filed Under Aspen Comedy Festival
More announcements about next month's US Comedy Arts Festival. Here's some more of the upcoming programming:
- Stephen Colbert, in an event that's sure to be featured in "Who's Honoring Me Now" segment on the Colbert Report, will receive the 2007 Person of the Year Award. Colbert: “I am humbled to be part of the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival’s tireless efforts to bring joy to the wealthy."
- Blake Edwards will get a Filmmaker Tribute for his body of work which include The Party, S.O.B. and multiple Pink Panther films.
- Hosts have been announced for the previous nebulous roundtable Gaggle. They include Marc Maron and Time's Ana Marie Cox. Wasn't too interested in this before, but Marc Maron always a fascinating performer to watch.
- Supposedly the film program will be partly programmed by the online audience, who can both submit content and rate it. All that will take place at funnypictureshow.com, but so far it seems pretty much a placeholder. More to come I'm sure.
Also part of the festival will be the NYC based sketch group Olde English, who are also part of my new favorite obsession Super Deluxe. They are contracted to create a lot of installments for the website (trust me, it's a lot), the first is the sure-to-be-viral "Writers of Lost" (featured below), which is probably more accurate than fans would like to admit.
They're also a San Francisco this week for the Sketchfest performing a show that they wrote on the cross country van trip from NYC to the event. They'll also perform the same show in NYC when they get back. Get all the details of when and where from this post on their blog.
Previous Aspen updates: Major Programming and Early Discoveries
Posted by Todd Jackson at 8:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Jan192007
A Semi-Defense of Dane Cook
Filed Under Stand-Up Comedy
There's been a bit of a dust-up after Alex Blagg, a comedian who pens the daily blog for VH1's Best Week Ever, received a message via Dane Cook's myspace account. Alex, who does delight in making jokes at the comic's expense, was asked "Why all the cynical bullshit?"
Alex didn't budge an inch and called the sender, if it was Dane, a "joke-stealing jerk-off." This brought a long reply from "Dane" that can be characterized by this excerpt:
"Go ahead sweetness write back with your well oiled quips — call a friend maybe they will help write it. Or better yet do what you ALWAYS do and take out your lack of worth on Dane Cook and others that work hard, contribute and get their goals — the ones that CAN’T FIGHT YOU because they are too busy and have too much to do to even notice you."
(Note the use of third person there) Alex, of course, put all of this together into a Best Week Ever blog post. If the sender's goal was to stop the "cynical bullshit"...
After a Radar story on the whole matter where his publicist asserted that Dane did not know who wrote the message, Dane put a note on both his website and myspace blog describing how he believes someone pretended to be him, possibly hacking into his page. (Which has happened before, his whole profile was deleted in May of last year and replaced with pictures that sound akin to goatse and lemon party.) He encouraged his fans to ignore haters and instead
Go to ANY SOLDIER and write someone in the armed forces. Don't blog back tonight. Do something that feels positive and benefits these people's lives. These soldiers would love to be opining on a blog site about their favorite comedians but, oh yea, THEY ARE GETTING SHOT AT and defending their fellow soldiers from people lurking around them ALL DAY AND NIGHT TRYING TO KILL THEM. "Hi, I'm perspective nice to meet you!"
(Short aside, I'd love for the soldiers to be opining on comedians on a blog too, preferably mine. Let's bring them home.)
I have to admit I get where Alex is on this. It's a little fun to find that you've annoyed someone - I remember being more than a little excited at discovering Larry the Cable Guy was annoyed by one of my interviews questions in his book. But, I kind of feel a bit more in the right in that I was never trying to make fun of him. In fact, my interview with him, was as one reader said "so respectful." So while I'm glad Alex is having a good time, I think some of the arguments detractors make against Dane Cook come off a bit cheap.
The biggest evidence most people point to is that Dane Cook is a joke thief, using an mp3 which mixes three jokes by Louis CK and Dane together to show the similarities between the performers. And I kind of hear it and I kind of don't. Louis CK's said after hearing one of Dane's similar bits that "this kid is stealing from me." I trust his opinion, but I'd still love to hear Dane's side of the story.
Those jokes aren't really Louis CK or Dane Cook anyway. None of them feel uniquely theirs and in some ways they all play on common experiences. I know I've had the moment described in both jokes where I was about to witness someone get hit by a car and felt powerless to stop it. An experience can be fair play and two people can separately find the same distorted logic within it. This happens a lot with current events jokes. How many jokes about using Mexicans to build the wall to keep out immigrants did you hear? The same joke was told everywhere from the Daily Show to Carlos Mencia. Human beings aren't so unique that this couldn't happen with personal events as well.
And in some ways imitation is how a comedian develops. So many comedians' bios mention that they first came aware of comedy by memorizing Bill Cosby's routines or Woody Allen's albums or a Richard Pryor set. In many cases, they'll actually perform those comics' jokes when they're starting out. Mimicry of others helps them find themselves. At the Chris Rock tribute at The Comedy Festival, Mario Joyner pointed out that comedians borrow from each other all the time and sometimes it's the guy who gets on stage first who gets to claim ownership. None of these necessarily directly apply here, other to say there's a lot more grey than black and white when it comes to being a joke thief. The evidence makes me wary and there well could be fire where there was smoke, but I don't think three jokes is enough to condemn Dane Cook's career.
My biggest problem with Cook is that he seems to have a perception that anyone who criticizes him is a hater. (Although the virulence of the criticism, sometimes frothing, may make that feeling seem justified.) People can have a response to his work and say something sincere and critical and not be a "keyboard assassin." Just because I'm not going to buy a ticket for the "Dane Train" doesn't mean I want it to crash and kill everyone on board. Comedy is an art form and my ridiculous goal with Dead-Frog is to try and raise the awareness of it as an art without being boring or pretentious. I want to help get more good shit in front of people. The only way to do that sometimes is to share what I think could be better. This with us or against us mentality is disappointing and plays into a lot of detractors thoughts that his fans are cultist.
(I should note here that Alex is a friend of the blog. I don't know if Dane is.)
Posted by Todd Jackson at 1:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
