An Hallucination

Posted on August 7, 2011 at 5:00 pm by JM Ashby

A quick clip of one of my favorite comedians, Lewis Black, covering the topic of Sarah Palin.

“I could not live in this world if I believed she was a real person.”

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  • The_Dork_Knight

    George Carlin left shoes that can never be filled, but Lewis Black comes close.

    • http://cousinavi.wordpress.com cousinavi

      I like Lewis Black…but no he doesn’t.
      Louis CK, maybe. Bill Hicks…if he hadn’t died too young.
      Carlin stands alone.

      • D_C_Wilson

        No, Carlin can never be replaced. But Lewis Black has his own style and message that is almost as great.

        • http://cousinavi.wordpress.com cousinavi

          I want to be clear because I really do love Lewis Black. He smart, honest, and deeply and profoundly aggrieved – perhaps the finest motive for any serious comedian.
          George Carlin is an ICON. He changed everything. There are many people who make a living telling jokes…then there’s Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor and George Carlin.
          I want to put Steve Martin in there but I think Steve would object.

          • D_C_Wilson

            I agree that Carlin is an icon.

            Steve Martin? No. He’s been phoning it in on far too many movies lately. Pink Panther? Seriously? Sometimes I think he only does comedy these days just for the paycheck to finance his Broadway plays.

            Might as well have said Robin Williams.

          • http://cousinavi.wordpress.com cousinavi

            THAT is some cold shit. Pink Panther? Fuck that noise.
            Comedy Is Not Pretty 19-Fucking-77!
            Steve Martin. You might as well say something equally stupid like, “Robert DeNiro sucks as an actor – did you SEE Meet the Fockers?”

          • D_C_Wilson

            Did you not see the significance of that date? What has Martin done lately?

            I’ll forgive DeNiro for working with Ben Stiller. But the Pink Panther? Martin deserves to be haunted by the ghost of Peter Sellers fro the rest of his life.

          • http://cousinavi.wordpress.com cousinavi

            No reply button down there…have to be here…
            Look man, it wasn’t JUST one comedy record in the 70′s…The Jerk, Roxanne, King Tut, Two Wild and Crazy Guys…
            Steve Martin was a goddamn GENERATION of genius comedy. If you want to dismiss that off the back of Father of the Bride and Pink Panther, go ahead.
            He might not rank with Lenny, Richard, Bill and George…but I’ll wager donuts to blowjobs that Lewis Black would balk at being mentioned in the same breath with Steve.

          • D_C_Wilson

            Hey, I’m not denying the guy was funny in the 1970s and 80s. But the fact that the most recent item on your list is Roxanne (1987) should tell you something. It’s been over a generation since he’s done anything worth watching.

            He lost whatever he used to have long ago. That forfeits any claim he has on icon status.

          • http://cousinavi.wordpress.com cousinavi

            It wasn’t A LIST, merely examples.
            I never said Steve was an icon (although you now make me inclined). I SAID Steve would object to being so identified, even if it were true.
            I am beginning to get the impression you’re a Dane Cook fan.
            But let’s turn the tables, shall we?
            Leaving aside those we have already named – Pryor, Bruce, Carlin, and Louis CK (without peer the smartest comic alive today)…and without dismissing a generation of genius off a few cash grab movies (of course, you don’t include Planes, Trains and Automobiles in there because that was a MONSTER of comedic perfection)…
            Name some comedians you think exceed the bar set by Steve Martin.

            If you say Lewis Black, I’m gonna tell Lewis Black you said so, and HE will hunt you down and beat you like a red-headed stepchild.

          • D_C_Wilson

            Lewis Black. :-)

            Seriously, why should it matter whether I think Black is an icon? the point is, Martin is a has-been.

            Oh, and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles was released the same year as Roxanne, so you’re really just proving my point that he’s been phoning it in for over two decades now.

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  • dildenusa
  • http://cousinavi.wordpress.com cousinavi

    AN hallucination, please.

    • JMAshby

      That doesn’t seem right. But I guess you’re the English teacher.

      • http://cousinavi.wordpress.com cousinavi

        I will see you an A HOUR.

        An hour.
        An historic…
        An hallucination.

        A hat.
        A harp.
        A hog.

        Go figure.
        Teaching English is merely a sideline. I’m a writer. See the Harlan Ellison link…s’why I teach English.
        If this recession ever ends and Taiwanese lawyers start needing English documents again…
        Swear to jebus, I may have to resume suing people just to make the rent.

        • JMAshby

          Okay. You win. I corrected it.

          • http://cousinavi.wordpress.com cousinavi

            It’s never about winning…well, okay, sometimes it’s about winning.
            But in this case it’s merely about being correct.
            I know you dig on correct. ;-)

  • Lexamich

    The best way to take Palin is to treat her serious.

    Seriously!

    The comedy is much more potent when you do this.

    She’s the fish out of water in most political situations. Her expansion beyond local Alaskan politics is where the real comedy lies. All things related to Alaska reveal a very self-centered, yet controlled woman with a political agenda inspired by personal decisions and relationships. She’s completely normal in that respect. However, take her out of her element like McCain’s campaign did, she goes haywire after prolonged exposure.

    The key is not treating the woman herself as an hallucination, but treating her delusions of grandeur with the respect one would pay to a pig with lipstick across its snout.

    Just picture Miss Piggy running for office, is what I’m saying.

  • mrbrink

    Steve Martin is an icon, in my family, anyway.

    I referenced The Lonely Guy just the other day for crying out loud. And that isn’t even one of my primary Steve Martin go-to-for-funny credits.

    If you get me and my brothers in a room, you’re going to hear some Steve Martin lines. You might hear, “I don’t need this, or this… just this ashtray…” from the Jerk. That scene from the Three Amigos where Steve Martin’s on the roof making human/animal hybrid calls trying to get attention(“Look up here, look up here, you two, you two”) My Blue Heaven, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Roxanne, Planes/Trains, fuck, you’ll even hear some All Of Me(“Backinbowl”) and LA Story(“RUOK?”). Every time someone opens a bottle of wine around me I can’t help think about his cameo in the Muppet Movie where he asks Kermit, “would you like to smell the bottle cap?” Steve Martin runs through my mind like the soundtrack to my funny bone, and I haven’t even seen all of his movies! Leap of Faith, at the end, where he’s riding out of town, and he’s hanging his head out the window saying, “c’mon rain!” I get fucking chills, man. And that’s because the set up was brilliant. That’s Steve Martin. Perfect comedic timing? Steve Martin revealed once, after a hilariously self-important pause, that it was, in fact– “A second and a half.”

    You bet your ass it is.

    I catch myself singing King Tut all the time in the shower, and believe me, I’ve got a lot of other non-Steve Martin material roaming the corridors of my psyche. He’s just a fraction of funny, but he’s a blessed icon and that shit all stands the test of time. he could have stopped in the 70′s, after his albums, disappeared from the world, and comedians today would still be playing catch up. They’ll never catch Steve Martin’s cultural impact and resonance. Not Louis CK, not Ricky Gervais, not Chris Rock, or Jeff Foxworthy, or Dave Chapelle, not even Jerry Seinfeld.

    I’m pretty sure none of those guys can play a banjo, either!

    As far as I’m concerned, I don’t remember every fucking episode of Seinfeld, and if you do, stay away from me. You bore me. I can’t stand when people ask, “remember that episode of Seinfeld when Jerry was slamming George in the ass and Kramer walked in?” Yes and no!

    Lewis Black is hilarious. Louis CK is some sort of pale god send and reminds me of one of my brothers. I love Bill Burr. Ricky Gervais is brilliant. I don’t give two skidoos if anyone thinks Robin Williams is lame. Or Bill Cosby is too sweatery. Or the hillbilly comics are too jewy, or the jewish comics are too Def Jam, or Lisa Lampanelli is too sexy when standing in between Dave Atell and Jim Norton. I don’t even care about the shit they say about Dane Cook– the guy has made me laugh and damn it! that counts for something!

    I’m a Laugher. I laugh at the silliest, absurdist, driest, darkest shit. Dana Carvey kills every time in my eyes. I like some of the shit Carrot Top pulls out of his bag and cracks me up. The Amazing Jonathan is funny to me. I already miss Greg Giraldo and I barely realize he’s gone.

    I’ll even go back to black & white funny. The archives! Bob Hope, George and Gracie, Uncle Milty, Jack Benny, Jackie Gleason, Lucille Ball!!!

    There will never be another George Carlin. I’ll never replace Bill Hicks. Richard Pryor was/is a brother in the best possible connotation. Mitch Hedberg reminded me of one of my best friends growing up.

    But there’s a couple, few, out there who I just can’t fucking stand and won’t “get.”

    Carlos Mencia and that Tosh guy. Fuck em’.

    If you’re not on this short list, you’re probably okay in my eyes.

    • http://drangedinaz.wordpress.com/ IrishGrrrl

      I’m with you MrBrink! I love some of the older stuff too. Lucille Ball is one of my comedic heros….in fact a lot of the goofiness that I use to make my daughter laugh is the kind of physical, voice and slapstick comedy that Lucy was so well known for.

      For me the best comic alive is Louis CK but I adore Steve Martin and Ricky Gervais. And George Carlin was the best ever as far as I am concerned.