Joan Rivers, we hardly knew you...

Love her or hate her, one thing is certain: Joan Rivers -- a first generation Russian Jew from Brooklyn -- was a trailblazer and a genuine powerhouse that became a hit on The Tonight Show at 32 and never stopped working.  Some performers hope for a victory lap in their old age -- a gig that allows them to step out into the spotlight and shine once more before they leave this world. Elaine Stritch had a wonderful victory lap. So did Alberta Hunter and Eartha Kitt.  Joan Rivers, on the other hand, was sprinting around the track of life and when she checked out of here, her career was on fire.  At the time of her passing, she had a reality tv show, a ridiculously popular youtube show (In Bed with Joan!) and a fashion talk show on E!  Nevermind her stand up comedy appearances, her must-see red carpet interviews for the Golden Globes and the Oscars, and all that  jewelry she was selling -- of her own design! -- on QVC.  She wasn't just working. She was culturally relevant. That's a formidable accomplishment.

She finished at Barnard College with a major in English Literature and anthropology -- which seems ideal, in retrospect. She's one of the few comedians that actually wrote her own material.  Actually, she wrote 12 books (!!!) and released several comedy albums. She didn't win every award out there but she was nominated for a Tony, a Grammy and won an Emmy in 1990 for her daytime talk show.  And she's the first woman to host her own late night talk show on network television.  Think about it: how many women have they allowed to take that coveted late night seat, to even co-host?  Can you name three? Unless I'm seriously missing something, Joan Rivers is the only one I can think of.

After a certain point, I made a point of ingesting as many biographies, autobiographies, documentaries and Behind The Music episodes that I could. Everyone's trajectory is so revealing and important, and teaches so many lessons about what not to do and how this business really works. A part of it is a history lesson but what I look for is the cautionary tale that's inherent in just about all of them. The documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work is essential must-see viewing for any performer.  It's a glimpse into her work ethic and the anatomy of the machine that she built to propel her business of show forward.  And somewhere in there is the Joan that hardly anyone ever thought they knew.

Godspeed, Joan Rivers. What a fantastic life you had.  Long may you run.

Sid Caesar, Rest In Peace

No cue cards. No teleprompter. No human prompter. No script. No nothing. Just you, spazzing out -- and a few cameras, broadcasting your low brow hi-jinx to millions. Talk about flying by the seat of your pants. Such was the infancy of television, those early bad old days when Ernie Kovacs and Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner and Woody Allen and many more ruled the airwaves as writers initially, and Sid Caesar ran the show.  No. He was the show, in Your Show of Shows.   What's breathtaking is how well so much of that material still holds up -- and how far reaching his influence has been/still is.


I know, I know -- we have The Groundlings, we have The Upright Citizens Brigade. We have a lot of comedy troupes nowadays that have churned out a few diamonds in the rough that institutions like SNL have polished to a brilliant sheen, more or less.  But SNL hasn't been seriously funny in a really long time.  And SCTV happened in the 80s. In Canada.

Very few artists get to live long enough to know how they mattered within their genre or that their work will outlast them.  Sid is clearly amongst them.  I don't know why but somewhere in there, I began to look for the ones whose work had outlasted them. I looked for the qualities that connected them. I deliberately veered away from the trendy, the popular, the now.  I was certainly aware of what everyone else liked but I knew that there was something more.  When I glimpse work that connects with the eternal, I know I'm on the right road.

Avoiding hacks at all costs is key, of course.

This is by far one of my favorite bits.  Sid has this long drawn out wordless argument (!!!) with Nanette Fabray (quite the humdinger in her day -- and yes, she's still alive) -- with the Fifth of Beethoven as an aural backdrop. 

I've got to work with Mel Brooks.  I've just got to...!

A (Neo) Vaudeville Moment: The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour

Straight outta 1978, it's a segment from The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour, featuring a hot jazz quintet -- the Foxx himself as Dr. Sausage, backed by His Pork Chops -- and some of the most recognizable comedians/characters from the 70s, including Bill Saluga (that infamous Raymond J. Johnson), Billy Barty and The Unknown Comic (Murray Langston) who was a regular on The Gong Show, and yes, that's Hal Smith -- otherwise known as Otis Campbell the town drunk on The Andy Griffith Show.

If you know who's in the band, let me know.   That can't be anyone else but Slappy White on trombone...!



It's interesting, the way they're leaning so heavily on slapstick and vaudeville. It feels out of time for the 70s, somehow.  Or was the schmaltz of yesteryear a part of the joke? And wouldn't the audience have to know that language in order to get it? Would any of this fly on television nowadays? Very little of the neo-burlesque/neo-vaudeville I see downtown wallows in this kind of schtick -- but when it does, there's a lot of smarts in it, a lot of irony. And quite a bit of filth.

If there's anybody that's doing it better than The Slipper Room, let me know.  (And I'm not just saying that because that's where I met MPB.)

Obamacare vs The Affordable Care Act

It's not surprising that so many people in that video clip don't know that Obamacare is a nickname for the Affordable Care Act.  Most of the people that they catch off guard on camera with this man on the street schtick don't know who their representatives are in Congress, either.  Or who Louis Armstrong is, or what Cinco de Mayo means, or lots of other stuff that's fairly basic and slap-your-forehead ridiculous and yes, embarassing.  That's the joke, right? Stupid people say the craziest things! You watch it and think, no wonder the rest of the world thinks Americans are idiots and then you move on to whatever is next.

What's especially disturbing -- and yes, cringe-worthy -- about this video is that clearly, the subjects express a dislike for Obamacare because of their patent dislike of Obama, yet they fully support the Affordable Care Act.  One of them even went so far as to say that Obamacare is socialism. (Impressive, right?) All of it smells racist to me, but then again, I suppose this is what happens when most of the country gets their misinformation from Fox News or some other neo-conservative Republican aggregate.  Unfortunately, fear-mongering is big business and simply flat-out believing what you're told never goes out of style.

Once in the not to distant future when everyone in this country has healthcare, once wellness becomes a part of the fabric of our ordinary lives and seeing a doctor for a serious illness isn't something that has to bankrupt you, once everyone realizes that Obamacare is the Affordable Care Act, we will all collectively wonder how we ever went this long without this plan -- and why anyone would think to oppose it.

Think of it -- getting ongoing medical attention for a potentially serious illness won't mean financial ruin.  Its almost inconceivable, really.  And then you look at healthcare in places like Europe and Scandanavia, and realize it's a first world dream come true.

I was a sick American in Dresden recently.  It was wonderful. If you'd like to read all about it, click here.

My kingdom for a comfy sofa...

This classic moment in comedy -- hasn't everyone seen this? -- is brought to you by Monty Python.

The thing is, I'm looking for a comfy chair -- a comfy sofa, to be exact. I don't know why I'm having such a hard time. Probably because I'm not looking by myself. At this point, I've given up on the idea of a sleeper sofa or something brand spanking new that's affordable.  Jennifer Sofas, IKEA, La-Z-Boy. They're all out. I'm either going to find it refurbished at a flea market or a secondhand shop, or I'll pay way too much for it from some high end place like everybody else does.

I really like this one. It's so ugly, it's beautiful.

Or maybe I should just throw in the towel and go for baroque. (Heh.)

After a certain point, all of it looks good. Just not in my apartment.

Except this one. This one does not look good. I'm not even sure it's a couch.

I mean wow, right?

There's no rush but it would be nice to get this whole sofa question answered before my birthday gets here in June...

Bernie Mac, may you rest in peace

everyday i'm hustlin'

kat williams is right. it doesn't matter if you're actually doing illegal business or not. if you're out there working the fryer at mc donald's hustling to make ends meet, then this is your theme song.

and yes, i'm seriously considering dropping major coinage to see katt williams at radio city music hall in april. and chris rock when he comes to madison square garden in may.

Chris Rock's election coverage

glumbert - Chris Rock's 2008 Election Analysis