Tuesday, September 21, 2021

Subjectivity

 

There are few things on this planet more subjective than comedy.  Things I find hilarious, you might hate, and vice versa.

Norm MacDonald died last week, at the far too young age of 61.  I watched a lot of his stuff on You Tube after his passing.  His last Letterman appearance in 2015 certainly was touching.  Many of MacDonald's contemporaries viewed him as a comedy genius.

I'm going to say something horrible.  I just didn't see it.  I smiled at some of his jokes, a mild chuckle.  I didn't hate the guy, but Norm MacDonald just wasn't on my list of favorites.  He seemed to love it when his jokes bombed, and I didn't understand that.  The legendary Johnny Carson had the amazing talent to play off a bomb and make the next monologue joke even funnier.  MacDonald took a different route, emphasizing outrageousness and absurdity.  I'm sorry to say it just didn't work for me.

Page 2.

Stephen Colbert, Letterman's successor, won an Emmy Sunday night for his post-election show.  Congratulations!  I had high hopes for Colbert, a smart and funny guy.  I thought he'd follow in the Carson, Letterman, Leno "generalist" mode, and he did try that at the beginning.  It bombed, so Colbert went back to political humor.  I tried.  I really tried, but the same thing, night after night, just became tedious and tiresome.

Colbert has the highest ratings of the guys on the three major networks at 11:35 pm, so I am clearly in the minority on this one.  It's ok.  It's all good.  There is still some good stuff on late night radio.

NBC extended Jimmy Fallon's contract several months ago.  As I have said here before, Fallon is an exceptionally talented man, but I still don't see the "Tonight" show chair as a good fit.

So, that brings me to the question: "Who makes Andy laugh?"  I'm scratching my head over this one, trying to think of men and women who excel at stand up comedy.

Jerry Seinfeld's TV show did nothing for me, but I did enjoy his stand up routines.  Steve Martin no longer does stand up, but he always had me on the floor when he did.  I always looked forward to David Brenner and Robert Klein's talk show appearances.  George Carlin's HBO shows are classics  Amy Schumer could be a bit raw, but she was really good.  Chris Rock made me laugh.  Rodney Dangerfield never failed to have me in stitches.

I just can't think of any current comedians that I go out of my way to see.