Archive for May, 2008
Sunday, May 18th, 2008
APPLAUSE AS SELF EXPRESSION
Though I paid to see the above pictured comedian perform, it was the behavior of the crowd that captured my fancy last night. Sporadically through the evening, what should have been applause for the entertainer’s act was stealthily replaced by announcements of some audience members’ predictable personalities.
When he made a joke about religion, for example, atheists laughed a little extra hard… not because it was a little extra funny, but because they’re atheists. And what better way to come out of the nihilist closet than at a comedy show? When he joked about forgetting the Pope’s real name, 15 people with a theology inferiority complex actually screamed at the stage “Joseph (Whatever)!!!” As a result, we all knew just how much NPR these people really listen to. And upon his simple mention of Apple, a few hundred people started actually cheering. It wasn’t a joke. It was even a sentence yet. But apparently it WAS an opportunity for Apple users to momentarily steal the show and tell a captive audience, “Wooooooooo!” (translation: I like Apple). And the jokes with obscure references… sigh. I wanted to eat glass every time 3 people laughed excessively hard so everyone around them would think, “I wish I hadn’t dropped out of grad school so I could get that joke too.”
The problem with this kind of behavior is that it annoys me. The somewhat less important problem is that it’s parasitic to the performance and it’s disgustingly self-serving. Applause and laughter are primal, instinctive responses. It’s what a comedian goes for and it’s what we owe the good ones. When it’s calculated and used for trivial personal showoffery, it metaphorically fills our stomachs with glass.
Because it’s not your show: applause as self expression = no.
After a hard-fought battle between Jesse and Mari, right to the last minute, I am happy to say I will no longer have Clerks II in my possession. Just look at this savage volley, worth 3 points each:
In the end, Jesse pulled off his mask revealing a bare skull-head, turned towards Mari, and blew from his gaping mandible a blaze hotter than a thousand suns, engulfing Mari and officially ending the contest. Fatality.
The next Terrible Prize contest is coming soon, with brand new ways to make you dance for crap!