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What have you recently watched, non-movie, non-series?

We have popular threads on what TV series folks are watching and what movie they watched most recently, but we do not seem to have a thread that covers things like comedy specials, so I thought I would start one, since I could not decide where Chris Rock's recent Netflix special "Selective Outrage" would go.

Full disclosure: I am a pretty big Chris Rock fan. I think when he is on, such as in "Bring on the Pain," he is as good as anyone has ever been as far as cutting edge, in your face, standup. Pryor, Eddie, Bill Hicks, Chappelle, Kinison. (I have heard and seen video of Lenny Bruce, but sadly was not all that impressed. I do not love George Carlin as much as a lot of folks do. He a few glimmers of genius, but that was about it.) That should give you an idea of my tastes in comedy.

Anyway, I was not that impressed with this special, the first time through, until at the end he got to Will Smith. That last part I thought was excellent. Then I re-watched it last night and was more impressed at the skill level. One man on stage bringing it in front of who knows how many people, even if not always laugh out loud funny. His humanity. To seem self-revealing and guarded at the same time. His ability to communicate emotion with a raised eyebrow. To turn a phrase. To deliver a punch line. To keep you off balance.

What did others think? Of course if you tuned in to watch this with your pre-teen children, that was a mistake. If you have a low tolerance for racial politics, this was never going to be your cup of tea.

I would not want to be Will Smith right now.

After seeing it twice, I think a master standup at work. But not consistently his best work.
 
Fantastic Fungi on Netflix was good. As was a special on the music of the Bond films. The Alpinist was another good one.
 
Watched the Chris Rock special too, made me laugh while on my exercise bike. The wife came in to me as she thought I'd injured myself because I was laughing so loud.
 
I am glad you liked it, StuMcB. That is a funny scenario you describe.

I think of myself as sort of having kept up with the standup comedy scene over the past, I don't really know and hate to say it, five or so decades. And I think there was something of a golden age of standup that started in, say, the late 60s around the time Richard Pryor was getting attention and continued for I do not know how long but at least though Eddie Murphy's best years and beyond.

I do not think we are going to see the likes of a Richard Pryor again. Times have changed, for one thing. But I think Chris Rock, when he is on, is as good as anyone back in those days. And he is on, for part of this special! He is certainly not going to be to everyone's taste. But, at least in my opinion, he is one of the greats and at least in some instances is performing at a top level, a level way beyond most standup out there today. Some highly skilled, transcendent stuff.

I personally think that sometime after SNL, CR sold his soul to the devil! He was not all that great for quite awhile!

Will Smith is mentally defenseless!
 

Legion

Staff member
I watched the Chris Rock one. I thought when he was putting the boot into WS was funny, but the rest was Meh. I normally find him kind of annoying, though. Far from my favourite comedian.

I watched a documentary about people who are persisting with film photography called Grain. That wasn't bad.
 
We have popular threads on what TV series folks are watching and what movie they watched most recently, but we do not seem to have a thread that covers things like comedy specials, so I thought I would start one, since I could not decide where Chris Rock's recent Netflix special "Selective Outrage" would go.

Full disclosure: I am a pretty big Chris Rock fan. I think when he is on, such as in "Bring on the Pain," he is as good as anyone has ever been as far as cutting edge, in your face, standup. Pryor, Eddie, Bill Hicks, Chappelle, Kinison. (I have heard and seen video of Lenny Bruce, but sadly was not all that impressed. I do not love George Carlin as much as a lot of folks do. He a few glimmers of genius, but that was about it.) That should give you an idea of my tastes in comedy.

Anyway, I was not that impressed with this special, the first time through, until at the end he got to Will Smith. That last part I thought was excellent. Then I re-watched it last night and was more impressed at the skill level. One man on stage bringing it in front of who knows how many people, even if not always laugh out loud funny. His humanity. To seem self-revealing and guarded at the same time. His ability to communicate emotion with a raised eyebrow. To turn a phrase. To deliver a punch line. To keep you off balance.

What did others think? Of course if you tuned in to watch this with your pre-teen children, that was a mistake. If you have a low tolerance for racial politics, this was never going to be your cup of tea.

I would not want to be Will Smith right now.

After seeing it twice, I think a master standup at work. But not consistently his best work.
Lenny Bruce is definitely not impressive by today's tastes, I don't think Mort Sahl is either. In their day they were both very cutting edge. I think the more traditional comedians from that era have aged better.
 
Lenny Bruce is definitely not impressive by today's tastes, I don't think Mort Sahl is either. In their day they were both very cutting edge. I think the more traditional comedians from that era have aged better.
Interesting. I do not love Mort Sahl, either. Taking things a bit further down the line, I am not that impressed with George Carlin, except for a couple of specific routines.

I would not say that my favorites were exactly traditional. :) Like I said earlier, Pryor, Eddie, Bill Hicks, Chappelle, Kinison. I am leaving out lots. Would we consider Chris traditional? I think he will hold up. I think Jerry Seinfeld, is, or has become, pretty lame. I like Louie CK a lot. Doug Stanhope. I can't decide whether CK is trad. Stanhope maybe trad, but pretty obscene.

Marc Maron is an interesting case. Is he traditional? Maybe more a story teller. But from time to time very, very funny, and I think he has good comedic chops, even if his material is not always hilarious.

Actually, as I recall and it has really been a while, both Lenny Bruce and George Carlin both started out as pretty traditional night club standups. I did not think that either was very good at it.

Fun to think about.
 
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Interesting. I do not love Mort Sahl, either. Taking things a bit further down the line, I am not that impressed with George Carlin, except for a couple of specific routines.

I would not say that my favorites were exactly traditional. :) Like I said earlier, Pryor, Eddie, Bill Hicks, Chappelle, Kinison. I am leaving out lots. Would we consider Chris traditional? I think he will hold up. I think Jerry Seinfeld, is, or has become, pretty lame. I like Louie CK a lot. Doug Stanhope. I can't decide whether CK is trad. Stanhope maybe trad, but pretty obscene.

Marc Maron is an interesting case. Is he traditional? Maybe more a story teller. But from time to time very, very funny, and I think he has good comedic chops, even if his material is not always hilarious.

Actually, as I recall and it has really been a while, both Lenny Bruce and George Carlin both started out as pretty traditional night club standups. I did not think that either was very good at it.

Fun to think about.
When I was thinking about Sahl and Bruce, I was actually thinking more contemporaries like Bob Newhart, Jonathan Winters, Jackie Mason, Vaughan Meader, Stan Freberg, Allen Sherman, and folks of that era.
 
When I was thinking about Sahl and Bruce, I was actually thinking more contemporaries like Bob Newhart, Jonathan Winters, Jackie Mason, Vaughan Meader, Stan Freberg, Allen Sherman, and folks of that era.
Yeah, I know! :) You said "more traditional more comedians from that era." Your list is a good selection. I am not sure whether I would consider Jonathan Winters traditional. I admit I do not know how well he has held up. There was a time, I guess I was just a kid, when I would have considered him my favorite comedian. I should go back and listen to some of his material.

I am not trying to put you on the spot. I think it is hard to think about who exactly is a traditional comedian Certainly Sahl and Bruce were edgy. Dick Gregory, I would say. I thought Woody Allen as a stand up was not wholly traditional. Newhart, Mason, Meader, Freberg, Sherman, Carson, Berle, (does Joan Rivers go back that far?), even someone like Phyllis Diller, all pretty trad to me. I could argue that Newhart was deadpan and dry enough not to be trad. Bob Hope utterly trad and I do not think he holds up at all. Not sure where to put Peter Sellers. I hate to admit that Jerry Lewis was edgy. Mel Brooks is an interesting case. Not really edgy. How about Redd Foxx? Where does Rodney fit?
 
Yeah, I know! :) You said "more traditional more comedians from that era." Your list is a good selection. I am not sure whether I would consider Jonathan Winters traditional. I admit I do not know how well he has held up. There was a time, I guess I was just a kid, when I would have considered him my favorite comedian. I should go back and listen to some of his material.

I am not trying to put you on the spot. I think it is hard to think about who exactly is a traditional comedian Certainly Sahl and Bruce were edgy. Dick Gregory, I would say. I thought Woody Allen as a stand up was not wholly traditional. Newhart, Mason, Meader, Freberg, Sherman, Carson, Berle, (does Joan Rivers go back that far?), even someone like Phyllis Diller, all pretty trad to me. I could argue that Newhart was deadpan and dry enough not to be trad. Bob Hope utterly trad and I do not think he holds up at all. Not sure where to put Peter Sellers. I hate to admit that Jerry Lewis was edgy. Mel Brooks is an interesting case. Not really edgy. How about Redd Foxx? Where does Rodney fit?
Bob Hope is the previous generation IMO. The stuff he did during WWI I is amazing. Woody was a bit too whimsical. Funny but a bit fantasy based. I don't associate Sellers with standup. He has the goons but his stuff seems to be ensemble. This is really making me think!
 
That is fair Sellers not being stand up.

<The stuff he did during WWI I is amazing.>

Do you mean the On the Road movies or the USO tours? I think I read somewhere that he had vast files of jokes. Jokes do not really make a comedian. I have been trying to remember whether my Dad liked him. He would of been of the right generation. I think my Dad thought he was pretty corny. The two comedians I remember my Dad really liking were Jackie Gleason and Red Skelton, although I think he would say that the latter was pretty corny, too. Props for Gleason though. I did not love him back in the day, but I get it now.

<Woody was a bit too whimsical. Funny but a bit fantasy based.>
Wow. That is a brilliant way to think about him in his standup years. To me Woody is like someone who has minor stroke and undergoes a personality change, although his foibles may have been evident all along. I feel about him about the same way I feel about JD Salinger.
 
I watched the Netflix David Geffen bio. Pretty good bio. Geffen was an impressive guy, even if not very warm and cuddly. He did apparently go all out for his clients, at a time when most of the music industry just ripped the performers off. I am not sure that last part has changed.
 
I have started to watch Vice Grip Garage on YouTube. This guy is hilarious. And he fixes old cars and drives them home!
 
That is fair Sellers not being stand up.

<The stuff he did during WWI I is amazing.>

Do you mean the On the Road movies or the USO tours? I think I read somewhere that he had vast files of jokes. Jokes do not really make a comedian. I have been trying to remember whether my Dad liked him. He would of been of the right generation. I think my Dad thought he was pretty corny. The two comedians I remember my Dad really liking were Jackie Gleason and Red Skelton, although I think he would say that the latter was pretty corny, too. Props for Gleason though. I did not love him back in the day, but I get it now.

<Woody was a bit too whimsical. Funny but a bit fantasy based.>
Wow. That is a brilliant way to think about him in his standup years. To me Woody is like someone who has minor stroke and undergoes a personality change, although his foibles may have been evident all along. I feel about him about the same way I feel about JD Salinger.
just getting back to this thread. As a huge fan of Old Time Radio I've listened to a lot of the Bob Hope Show, particularly during the war years. Most of the shows he was broadcasting live from VA hospitals, so maybe the crowd was a little more appreciative than a standard theater audience. His routines were a bit edgier and always had military jokes thrown in, but Hope was quick with ad libs too. He's even better chatting with his guest stars and you can hear from audience reaction that not everything gets translated to the spoken word. Gleason and Skelton are also excellent examples of that era too. I do think Hope coasted on the tremendous good will he built up during and after WWII. I think he really believed supporting the war effort however he could.

My dad was in high school during WWII and he idolized Hope who was a smooth, cool jazzy guy for the era. He would probably have never listened to a black comedian other than say Flip Wilson (who I've heard again recently and he was pretty funny in a traditional way). I think Red Foxx is outstanding, but a very traditional comedian. Mel Brooks I can't recall any real "standup" other than the stuff he did with Carl Reiner (and then we need to include the teams, like Bob & Ray, or Hudson and Landry, or even Burns and Allen (and Burns and Schreiber!)).
 
Wow, I must have been too late to Bob Hope and too lazy to listen to the vintage stuff. You have me feeling ashamed of myself. :)

I do think Hope coasted on the tremendous good will he built up during and after WWII
I had not thought about it that way. You may be right. Hope had an extremely long career though. Of course, I never really understood the appeal of Bing Crosby either.

<Gleason and Skelton are also excellent examples of that era too.>

Like I said earlier, I really did not love Gleason when I was a kid, but these days I think there is something really sublime about him and his humor. Something modern perhaps? I think thinking something seems modern comes about because the person was influential. Gleason was a fat guy, who, as I recall, never relied on his being fat for laughs. Kind of an anti-hero in a way.Not a nice guy. I did really like Skelton and his jokes and much of what he did seem corny to me now. But I have to give him props for his physical comedy, something I consider a sign of a truly skilled comedian. Of course, he did play up being a nice guy.

I never thought of Hope as the cool guy. It is hard for someone who was not there to know where folks fit in!

I have not thought about Flip Wilson in a while. I guess he was ahead of his time. He could have been a British comedian in that he liked to dress up like a woman and shriek. :) Does anyone remember Godfrey Cambridge?
 
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Not sure where to put Peter Sellers.
Spike Milligan, who knew Sellers as well as anybody, at least professionally, said Sellers was a freak. There was nobody to compare him to. He was a one-off.

Mind you, the same could be said about Milligan.

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I watch a lot of single episode docos. Just about any subject matter, as long as it is well done. Mainly falls broadly into the science & history categories.
 
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