On This Day in Comedy History - 1972

    On this day in 1972 George Carlin recorded his "Class Clown" album at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. This would normally be the point where I would go on to discuss the importance of not only the album but the content etc., but I stumbled across an article today by Timothy Bella(writer for The Atlantic) that does a fantastic job doing just that. Timothy discusses "Class Clown" and the subsequent "7 Dirty Words" with the same enthusiasm and passion that any true comedy fan will appreciate. So without further ado, follow the link and read the article.

7 Dirty Words Turn 40

On This Day In Comedy History - 1958

    On this day in Comedy History Drew Carey was born. Like so many of the wildly successful comedians from the 80's Drew Carey is mainly known for things other than "stand-up" to the current generation. If your 16 or younger you probably know him as the host of "The Price is Right". If you are 20 - 30 you'll recognize him as the star of "The Drew Carey Show" or the American version of  "Whose Line is it Anyway?" and if your over 30 you might just remember seeing him doing stand-up.

    Drew started performing stand-up in 1985 in Cleveland after a friend of his encouraged him to give it a shot. Within a couple of years he was doing shows in Cleveland and Los Angeles and by 1988 he was given a shot at competing on the hit show "Star Search". After the Star Search appearance it was back to the grind until 1991 when he appeared on "The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" and received the highest and rarest of honors for a comedian with Johnny - he was invited over to the couch.(Below is Drew's first appearance on Carson and you can see his shock when Johnny calls him over and he can barely control his excitement once he is seated between Ed McMahon and Johnny.)

    He continued to find steady work all through the early 90's when everything seemed to come to a head in 1994. He wrote and stared in his first comedy special on Showtime titled Drew Carey: Human Cartoon for which he won a CableACE Award for best writing. It wasn't too long before The Drew Carey Show would make it's premier in 1995 and would go on to run for 9 season's producing 233 episodes.

    Drew has kept himself busy over the years from hosting the improv show "Whose Line is it Anyway", to being an owner in the MLS(Major League Soccer) to his current role of hosting "The Price is Right" his passion for a live audience is in everything he does.

   I want to wish Drew a Happy Birthday and continued success...

A Dirty Rotten Review

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Starring: Steve Martin and Michael Caine

Released: December 14th 1988 

     Every now and then while flipping through the channels on a lazy afternoon you are bound to stumble across a classic movie being shown  - this is how I came across "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels".

    "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" is a movie that I have had every of intention of watching for years. A long time ago I put it on my IMDb "To Watchlist" - for those who don't know what that is you can register on IMDb and create a "To Watchlist". You simply click through all the movies you've ever wanted to watch and then as you watch them you remove them, it's a great way to make yourself feel accomplished without actually accomplishing anything. But I digress.

    The thing that drew me to this movie were the stars of the film, Michael Caine and Steve Martin are two of today's most well respected and bankable actors and the idea of them working together had me intrigued. "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" is the story of two con men at different points in their careers. Martin plays the young swindler who is always looking for a quick buck from an unsuspecting and sympathetic female where as Caine is at the top of the food chain with elaborate back stories and a sprawling mansion - Caine is only after the big fish.

    A chance meeting leads to Caine and Martin forming a mentor and protege type of arrangement until inevitably the protege believes he is ready to surpass his mentor and thus a conflict is born. The two men agree upon a target and the first one of them to get the woman to give up $50,000 is declared the winner and the other must leave town. Hilarity ensues.

    "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" does what it sets out to do. It entertains you. The story(written by Dale Launer, Stanley Shapiro and Paul Henning) has great pacing(even while watching it on TV with commercial breaks) and the Director(Frank Oz) does a masterful job of not having this movie become goofy or unhinged. He plays up Martin for the laughs and uses Caine as the straight man. The two have great chemistry and play off of each other extremely well.

    In fact the two work so well together I am truly surprised that we have never seen a sequel. With Hollywood seemingly running low on ideas(everything is either a reboot, a remake or a sequel) this movie would surely fit the bill for one of those, I would love to see an older Caine and Martin still making their rounds some 25 years later.

    

    After taking some time to digest the movie I really regret not seeing this movie earlier in my life. While I was only three years old when it initially came out I can't help but think that if I had been exposed to this movie in my teen years it may have become one of my favorite movies of all time. As it stands now, it's very good and I'd be happy to watch it again. If you haven't seen this movie yet, do yourself a favor and go pick it up($9.99 at Best Buy) grab a tub of popcorn and just enjoy yourself for a couple of hours.

One Year Hiatus

Well world it's been a bit of a busy year since my last update - I've switched careers, got engaged, become an Uncle and lost a Grandparent so life has been more than just a little busy and to be honest my motivation suddenly fell off the map. However everything seems to be going my way right now and I felt that it was time to get back to sharing my passion with the world(I know the kids in Africa really want to hear my thoughts on The Three Stooges Movie).

To recap some of my favorite posts from the past and to introduce any new readers to what we do around here I would recommend the following readings:

• Class Clown - The George Carlin Movie(below). I asked George's daughter a question regarding this and her response got me excited.
• A Grown Up Review by an Immature Man(12/2/2010) - I review the movie Grown Ups
• I'MA Be Me - A Review(10/14/2010) - I review Wanda Sykes latest special
• A Button Down Mind Review(10/26/10) - I review Bob Newhart's "The Button Down Mind Strikes Back!" - This review actually got Retweeted by Bob's official Twitter page.

The Clown's Poem

I recently stumbled upon something called The Clown's Prayer or Poem and since the last thing I would ever want to do is support or encourage religion I'll refer to it as the The Clown's Poem. It has been around for years and apparently is quite well known(it's rumored that Chris Farley carried around a copy of the poem in his wallet) so I found it odd that I had never heard it before. The poem is simple, sweet and Anonymous - which is an antiquated idea.

Quotes are no longer Anonymous in our culture because everyone wants their fifteen minutes of fame. Everyone wants their own show on the E! network. Everybody wants their words to go viral and everybody wants to be "retweeted"(follow me on twitter @idolizingclowns). So without further ado or self promotion(Like us on Facebook)...

The Clowns Poem

As I stumble through this life,

help me to create more laughter than tears,

dispense more cheer than gloom,

spread more cheer than despair.

Never let me become so indifferent,

that I will fail to see the wonders in the eyes of a child,

or the twinkle in the eyes of the aged.

Never let me forget that my total effort is to cheer people,

make them happy, and forget momentarily,

all the unpleasantness in their lives.

And in my final moment,

may I hear You whisper:

"When you made My people smile,

you made Me smile."

Class Clown - The George Carlin Movie

Biopic - noun - a biographical movie or TV show.

Lenny Bruce has one. Lenny starring Dustin Hoffman

Richard Pryor has one in production. Is it Something I Said? starring Marlon Wayans.

    So why doesn't George Carlin have one? It's something that has been bothering me for quite some time.(And yes it really does bother me, hardly a week goes by when I don't think about it.) So I took my question to the only person I thought would give me a definitive answer either: Kelly Carlin(George Carlin's daughter). She's very active on Facebook as well as Twitter and is one of the more approachable people on these sites. She takes great pride in her last name and what her father represents. Below is the brief dialogue we had that spurred on this post.

@kelly_carlin has there been any talk of a biopic about your Dad? His influence on North America culture is worthy of an epic movie.


@idolizingclowns Lots of talk. But we are holding off right now. It will happen some day!!

     So there you have it. A direct answer from the most trustworthy of sources. It puts my mind at ease although now I guess I have opened the door to all kinds of speculation about who could potentially star as George and what the movie would be called.

My best guesses for titles of the movie are:

• Class Clown
• Last Words
• 7 Dirty Words
• It's Bad For Ya
• You Are All Diseased
• Playing With Your Head
• Brainddroppings
• Life is Worth Losing

    As for lead actors, surprisingly, I don't have any ideas. So I'll show you some people who could do it based upon looks and acting ability. These are my top three:

Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Gosling

Russell Crowe

    Ryan Reynolds is far and away my first pick. He has a natural comedic talent and he's been known to do the occasional dramatic role and finally I think he's animated enough to pull off all of Carlins animated facial expressions. 

    As for Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe both are good actors who look enough like George. Both are known mainly for dramatic roles however so I would be concerned about their ability to have the stage presence that George did.

    Regardless of when this movie gets made and who stars in it I can promise you one thing: I will be there opening night and someone I love will have to deal with my giddiness. 

A Community Endorsement

You're Not Watching This Show And You Should Be!

This really is more of a rant/public service announcement so please bare with me.

    I'm getting really tired of the strange looks I get from people when I ask them if they've watched the latest episode of Community. I usually then have to explain what Community is. Then I have to explain who Joel McHale is.

    Community is probably one of the funniest shows on television right now and you aren't watching it. The premise is that the lead character Jeff Winger is a disgraced lawyer who needs to go back to college to get enough credits so he can begin practicing again. Jeff decides he wants to "hook up" with the hot blonde from Spanish class(Britta, like the filter) so he creates a study group to get her alone but Brita ruins those plans by inviting other people from Spanish class to attend and what we end up with is a great ensemble cast with terrific chemistry.

    The cast plays their often times stereotypical roles brilliantly and seem to really enjoy themselves. Joel McHale plays Jeff Winger the hot shot, charismatic, "too cool for school" character. Gillian Jacobs plays Britta Perry the feminist, uptight, socially aware character. Danny Pudi plays Abed Nadir a completely unconventional character who comments on the events that are going on like a third party to whole situation. Yvette Nicole Brown plays Shirley Bennett a Christian, single mother with a heart of gold. Alison Brie plays Annie Edison a typical "good girl" whose innocence is her most prominent characteristic. Donald Glover plays Troy Barnes the ex high school jock who used to be the big man campus and finally Chevy Chase plays Pierce Hawthorne a racist, sexist, old man who tries desperately to be "hip".

    Community is unlike anything you've ever seen in a sitcom before in that they do "theme" episodes on a regular basis. They have done an episode in a style of a mafia movie, a zombie movie and this years Christmas episode was done in stop-motion animation just like the old "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". But best of all its consistently funny, which not something I say about sitcoms very often.