The Dilemma of Stand Up Comedy

I love stand up comedy. The whole goal of making people laugh is a very good one. We take ourselves WAY to seriously in America now-a-days, and plus, so many people are just downright depressed. (I know you cannot have true joy without Christ, but that is a topic for another time. And yes, I'm going to be like Herodotus and just die before I can actually come back and address something that I promised you all I would address).

But with stand up comedy going the way it is now, well, I am presented with an interesting dilemma. So much of the comedy scene is populated by downright dirty, smutty, vulgar jokes. Dane Cook is a great example. He certainly has a stage presents, he is one of the best paid comics in the world, but boy is he vulgar! "F***" replaces "like" as the standard verbal tick when he's on stage.

Then you have people like Jim Gaffigan. Clean, really funny... but then I started stumbling upon some of his more blasphemous routines and became very uncomfortable.

Even worse is Lewis Black, who is as vulgar as Dane Cook, and has all the passion of Richard Dawkins. Outspokenly Jewish, Black goes on to rail against the Old and New Testament and how evil the God of the Old Testament is. Blasphemy to the nth degree.

You're left with comics like Brian Regan holding the bag, as far as good family friendly comedy goes. He does an admirable job, but it's not enough. He's a good comic, but not an excellent one. But if he and his kind are not supported, we won't see many more, if any, clean comedians take the stage and make the masses laugh harder than they have ever laughed before.

Is there a need? Yes, I would say so. We need more really solid Christians playing the comedy circuits. If I'm so adamant about it, why don't I go? Fair question. Safe to say... I am seriously considering it. (Or would that be funnily considering....? Nevermind.)

In the meantime, here's a clean comic doing the routine I stole in my last post: "On a chair... IN THE SKY!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOtEQB-9tvk

In Christ, with laughter, though war,
JSTT

Why I hated "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog"

Sorry, I know it's been a while. I've been in the middle of a move, getting ready for school and lots of other personal stuff to resolve or deal with. But it's good to be blogging again.

Today's topic is, as you probably guessed from the title, about the recent internet phenomenon: "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog" created by Joss Whedon (Creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly and Serenity). If you want to learn more about the show, you can read about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Horrible

As usual, I need to have my little, or big, disclaimer: WARNING, THIS REVIEW AND/OR ESSAY CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!!!!!

 Now I just recently was introduced to Joss through the film "Serenity" and the comic book "Fray" and loved both. Then I saw all this hype about this new internet show floating around, so I decided to go check it out. At the time, only the first two parts were out. I watched them and loved it! It was funny, it was moving, it was great! In the words of Larryboy: "I laughed, I cried, it moved me Bob!"

I had learned that the final episode premiered at midnight last night, so I resolved to stay up until then to watch it. I was all excited. To prepare, I read a bunch of interviews with the cast and crew and then caught up on the story for the fifth time about by watching the first two episodes again. Then finally, the moment had come! Millions of sci-fi, comedy, superhero, musical and Joss Whedon fans around the globe waited till midnight..... and THEN..............................................................................................

....................

......

I hated it. My take on it can be seen plainly in a short essay which I wrote on a forum I post on regularly.

Me: "Just watched part III. It was horrible!!!! And I do NOT mean that in a good way! I got hooked on parts one and two, and watched them over and over and over again. Well all I can say is: "THANKS A LOT JOSS, YOU..................!!!!!!!!" *shoots self in the head* I can't believe that I stayed up till midnight to see that! Anyone else agree that the ending was awful?? 

Forum member #1: "I completely disagree. Joss did a brave thing with the ending. Killing Penny was Brave!After all Dr.Horrible is evil, not the good guy.This show was meant to show how just because someone is good doesn't mean he isn't a total douche.

I really don't know why your upset, he was evil, even if you sympathized with him.I thought the ending was perfect. Why complain when you got it for free? I'll buy the DvD for sure!!!!"

Forum Member #2: "Also... It's Joss Whedon... Did you expect roses at the end?"

Me: "Did I expect there to be roses? Ummmmm... is that a trick question? 

Here, perhaps I should explain. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the occasional tragedy every now and then, ("Sweeney Todd" is one of my favorites) but I like them to stay where they are; tragedies should stay tragedies and comedies should stay comedies. None of this mixing and matching, please! But if I HAD to pick, I'd choose a tragic comedy (a sad story with a happy ending) over a comic tragedy (a funny story with a sad ending) anyday!

Guillermo del Toro put it very well in an interview recently. When asked why he turned down the chance to direct the film "Se7en," he said: "Because I'm a fat, sentimental fool who doesn't ascribe to that world view." I feel EXACTLY the same way!

See, unlike a lot of people today, I rarely view things as morally ambiguous. They are either right, or they are wrong. In the case of "The Sing Along Blog," no matter what the characters the show are called, Dr. Horrible is good and Captain Hammer is evil.... I don't think that anything could convince me otherwise. And then it is also a comedy (I'm laughing, aren't I?) So by definition, Dr. Horrible should get the girl and Captain Hammer should be....um....well.... killed. That's the kind of just and right ending that I was expecting and then......well, if you saw act III, you know the rest.

Let me put it another way: someone you trust introduces you to a friend of theirs. You and the friend hit it off instantly. Going to the movies, having meals and going bowling together becomes a regular thing. Then one day, the person who introduced you calls you up and tells both of you to come to his place cause he has a surprise for you. Once you both get there, the man takes you into his house, closes the door and then drives a knife into your new friend's heart. Gasping for breath, she falls to the floor. You scream at the man you once trusted, but he doesn't even seem to notice. Then once the girl is finally dead, he looks at you and says: "Now wasn't that fun?"

Joss Whedon has become the Joker of Batman fame. Perhaps Nolan should give him a part in the next film?

I think that the film "Stranger than Fiction" puts it well when Hoffman says: "A comedy is a tragedy that ends too soon." All I can say is that Whedon ended it too late.

So, I know that it is just a movie, TV show, internet show, whatever and that it's not real. But I really get invested in the characters of any story, and Whedon was successful in making me sympathize with Dr. Horrible and Penny. But then he betrayed my trust with the final installment. 

Not amused,
Frank'n'stay"

Frank'n'stay is just another alias I go by, in case you were wondering. But anyway, that's really all I have to say on the subject. I've been sitting on a bunch of reviews. I try to get them to you asap, or, that is, whenever I get around to it.... :P

Till Then,

Scott