First, a joke of Benson's that deserves attention: when making fun of Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze tags in Batman & Robin (great lines like "I'm afraid my condition has left me cold to your pleas of mercy" and "Ice to see you!") Benson suggests several more that didn't make it. The best: "Would you like to be a stalactite? I thought you stalagmite."
So: he's good. He's absurd and low-key, and loath to spit out a joke too eagerly. He plays nicely with transitions (see, for instance, his Comedy Central Presents set--available for instant viewing on Netflix). And his album title, Professional Humoredian is… well, funny. And even tho I don't know why, the title Unbalanced Load is funny too. As are the albums themselves. Super High Me is not an embarrassing potslobber. But it's not as good a dissertation as The Marijuana-Logues.
But if you want to sidestep the constant 'he smokes pot!' giddiness that follows him, just listen to his podcast: Doug Loves Movies. (iTunes owners go here.) The conversations with his guests (typically three visitors on a show) are entertaining, and pointless. And the live audience isn't annoying. (Or at least they're not miked loud enough to distract from the stage.) The centerpiece of the show is The Leonard Maltin Game—think Name That Tune with cast members instead of notes—but the crowd favorite is probably Build-A-Title. Doug provides a title and each guest has to add to the title either with another one that starts with the last word in the center title, or ends with the first word. It's an addictive game. Good for traveling.Good guests have been Jimmy Pardo, Patton Oswalt, and of course, Paul F. Tompkins. John Hamm was… alright.
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Good. I've been watching more "Louis," which is what?--C.K.'s sitcom or something? Are those re-runs of something, or are they on "now" on Comedy Central? He's funnier than I first thought.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen Inception yet? It's hilarious.
yeah, Louie just started a few weeks ago. the first runs are on FX. i think they're available online a week later, but CK is asking fans to watch it on TV if they want it to stay on the air.
ReplyDeletesome people are calling it the new seinfeld because of the format: a sort of minimalist plot, framed by standup observations.
the standup is his actual act. if you know his work it'll be familiar.
i've loved his standup for years. back when he was really an absurdist, i loved it, but really didn't expect him to get big. but he's changed his act lately, and it's very non-harland-williams, where before he would have been just this side of it. he just gets bitter and better.