While comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and Rodney Dangerfield riffed on matters ranging from Superman and cereal in one and the eternal quest for respect with the other, there seems to be a new generation of foul mouthed comedians hitting the circuit and laying their unequivocal and undeniable stamp on material laden with expletives.
Comedy with an edge is nothing new; nor is comedy filled with expletives all that original. Denis Leary came to fame with his edgy humor including things like his song about American men, "Asshole," his breakout comedy record, "No Cure for Cancer," and, later on, the EP Merry F#%$in' Christmas." Loudmouth talk show host and general agitator, Morton Downey Jr. would often put the edge on everyone who disagreed with him, laying the framework for future comedy mavens Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and even big mouthed sportscaster turned lib turned Sunday Night Football co-host Keith Olbermann (just because you're liberal does not preclude you from having a big mouthpiece.) Regardless the content, the tenor of edgy opinions is still there and has been in a variety of platforms.
However this latest run in with comedy-come-lately could be pushing some boundaries. Take up-and-comer comedian Michael Mattera. In response to a discussion we had been having about a piece I'd written, I did some admittedly elementary research on this comedian and was nonplussed as to my discoveries.
From a YouTube video which came up in a search for more information on this comedian, it seems that Michael Mattera has something of a scathing lip. In his short routine Mr Mattera lays jokes laden with F-expletives. Moreover he has some strange infatuation with the vagina of one of pop music's most discussed mavens, Brittney Spears. It is the contention of Mr. Mattera that Ms. Spears have her vagina taken from her; the benefit to the world would be in that she would not be able to "F#*k anyone else's life up."
I could tell Mr. Mattera is a different kind of comedian from the moment I first encountered him. My confusion lay in the motivation for all this pent up rage. Is he just an angry young man? Is he playing off his audience's understanding? Is there still room for this type of discourse in the increasingly fey world of modern entertainment? What lays ahead for the comedy dynamo? It's tough to say. But it is the contention of this reviewer from my cursory exposure to his rap that he might want to clean his thing up a little bit if he is to achieve any modicum of comedy success. Rodney Dangerfield's jovial delivery lends itself to a warm place in our minds and heart; at an arms length Jerry Seinfeld has achieved wild success in television, commercials, and film; Denis Leary has ditched the hardcore stuff and amped up his style in cable TV's firefighter drama "Rescue Me". Even names like Dennis Miller, who is opinionated, has his comedy laced with subtext which doesn't blunt his audience over the head with vulgarities.
Have we reached the limit for foul mouthed comedy? It will undoubtedly always have its place in society, though the roars from the pits grow further and further dim.
NEW YORK — Having already caused a fuss this spring with the depiction of the prophet Muhammad on "South Park," Comedy Central said Thursday that it has a cartoon series about Jesus Christ in the works.
"JC" is one of 23 potential series the network said it has in development. It depicts Christ as a "regular guy" who moves to New York to "escape his father's enormous shadow."
His father is presented as an apathetic man who would rather play video games than listen to his son talk about his new life, according to Comedy Central's thumbnail sketch of the idea. Reveille, the production company behind "The Office," "Ugly Betty" and "The Biggest Loser," is making "JC."
It wouldn't be the first time Jesus Christ has been on a Comedy Central cartoon; he's a recurring character on the long-running "South Park."
Comedy Central was the target last month of an Internet threat for a "South Park" episode that supposedly showed Islam's prophet in a bear costume.
Whenever "South Park" features Muhammad in an episode, Comedy Central obscures the character with a black box; Muslims consider any physical representation of their prophet to be blasphemous. Following the Internet threat, Comedy Central angered "South Park" producers by editing out a character's speech about intimidation in a subsequent episode.
"It's not certain what is more despicable: the nonstop Christian bashing featured on the network, or Comedy Central's decision to censor all depictions of Muhammad," said William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights.
Comedy Central wouldn't comment on Donohue's statement, said network spokesman Tony Fox, who declined to give further details about "JC."
A development deal is a couple of steps ahead of a series making it to air and, in fact, most such deals don't result in series. The network would have to like the scripts enough to produce a test episode, then like that enough to put it on the air.
This weekend, the Times dissected the "morning-news-romcom-verite" that is MSNBC's Morning Joe, thanks to the banter-filled dynamic between hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. Proving just how convincing a romantic comedy the program really is, reigning rom-com auteur Nora Ephron is a fan. “For me it’s not so much about the politics," she told the Times. "I tend to watch almost anything like this in terms of: is this romantic comedy? And it is … I’m very busy thinking about them as a temporary couple on the air … The conversation is like some kind of dream sequence at a bar, only you can have a part in it, and it’s in the morning.” Excellent tip for anyone who would like to watch Broadcast News all day, every day, but feels guilty not staying on top of current events. [NYT via NYO]
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