The best thing about HOUSE PARTY was missing from HOUSE PARTY 2, that was Robin Harris. Of course they probly would’ve worked him in somehow if he was available, but he died of a heart attack in his sleep shortly after the release of the first one.
Harris seemed like he was on the verge of much bigger fame, at least according to two DVDs about him: ROBIN HARRIS LIVE FROM THE COMEDY ACT THEATER and WE DON’T DIE, WE MULTIPLY: THE ROBIN HARRIS STORY.
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DAVE CHAPPELLE’S BLOCK PARTY is the happiest, warmest, most joyful movie I’ve seen in a long god damn time. And not in a stupid way. The problems of the world are not ignored. There’s some light-hearted jokes about race issues, there’s a mention or two of the war, there’s some militant rap lyrics and a brief sermon by Fred Hampton Jr. All things I’m in favor of discussing. But mostly what this movie is is a whole bunch of people coming together to laugh and make beautiful music and have a good time together. In that sense it turns out it is kind of like WATTSTAX, the movie they mentioned as a model when they were filming this. I made fun of my ain’t it cool colleague Quint for writing that the trailer gives off a Wattstax vibe as if he came to that conclusion on his own. But there is a faint whiff of that vibe in the final movie I guess, if you’re really making a close examination of its vibes.
I saw this movie in what I consider a JASON X set up: the same big auditorium where I saw JASON X, mostly empty with only a few people peppered throughout, but sharing their love for the movie across the empty rows. At the end of the movie people clapped, like it was a live performance. I can’t remember the last time I saw that at a regular multiplex showing like this. (more…)
Richard Pryor. God damn. I don’t know why a guy like me always has to eulogize somebody I never met, but it always bums me out when the world loses a genius like Richard Pryor. So I gotta write something about my favorite Richard Pryor works and it helps me to cope and I apologize if you end up suckered into reading the damn thing. (more…)
Sarah Silverman’s JESUS IS MAGIC vs. Spike Lee’s SUCKER FREE CITY
Howdy boys. I got basically two reviews for you here. One is a standup movie by some female comedian, or comedienne, that readers of this sight are familiar with from jerking off. Er, I mean, from Comedy Central. The other one is a Spike Lee Joint made for Showtime as a pilot for a TV series but then turned into a full blown straight to cable feature. So it’s not a big screen movie but yes, it is still officially classified as a ‘Joint’ according to the box art. Anyway, I’m not sure what connection there is between these two other than that I watched them both yesterday. But that’s really the important thing here, isn’t it? Me.
JESUS IS MAGIC comes to theaters this week and no, it is not that family friendly cut of THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST. That already came out a while back and it was called THE PASSION RENAILED I believe. JESUS IS MAGIC is the name of a standup comedy movie and the star is Sarah Silverman, who apparently haunts the dreams of straight men in their 20s and 30s because she is real funny but also cute. She’s just one of the guys because she goofs around and talks about pussy all the time, but also she’s not just one of the guys because she has boobs. Female boobs. Unlike alot of comedians her comedy isn’t cruel, she is usually the butt of her own jokes. She doesn’t straightforwardly point out other people’s shortcomings, she portrays herself as an oblivious character. So maybe if she ever breaks up with that guy from TV she will go out with you and won’t make fun of you. Seriously dude I think you have a shot. (more…)
This is a whole documentary about one single joke, so let me tell you what the joke is. I am not a good joke teller but this is the joke.
Some guy walks into a talent agency, says look mister can I please have a moment of your time, I got an act here and I think you will agree it’s gonna knock your fuckin socks right off of your ass. It’s a family act, I got my wife and my kids involved and what not, real fancy, etc. So the talent guy says okay, you know I got a couple minutes before I have to meet somebody, you got two minutes to give me your pitch there asswipe.
So the guy says well you know we come out, my wife is playing piano real soft, we got these matching uniforms – I got some glossies in my billfold here if you want to see em, they got sequins and everything. And I come out and I balance on one toe on top of the piano while she’s playing, right? And she’s real good, kind of a ragtime style but she puts her own spin on it you know? Then my kids come out, they’re teenagers but they’re wearing diapers right, and this homeless guy has them on a leash, and they’re carrying magazines in their mouths, like Motor Trend, The Economist, stuff like that. I got subscriptions to these magazines already by the way, I don’t expect you to provide anything, we have all the equipment already. Just so you know. Anyway they put the magazines down in front of me and I look at the pictures and I just start jerking off all over my wife’s hair. So then my wife stands up and just takes a shit all over the keys of the piano and smears it all over, and smears the cum all over it with her hair, and then the kids start playing a duet of the theme from Rocky. Not Eye of the Tiger, the actual theme by Bill Conti. Then the homeless guy pulls out this mason jar full of brown recluse spiders and lets them loose, and they’re trained to crawl all over us, right. And we all start pissing all over each other, and shaving each other, and smearing the spiders and hair around. And then you know, I don’t know if you’ve seen that movie My Neighbor Totorro. Well my wife has a costume of the neighbor Totorro, but it has an asshole on it, and this shetlund pony comes in from stage right, there’s kind of a real classy sort of reddish orange lighting at this part, very moody and atmospheric you know, so anyway the pony starts just fucking away at the Totoro. And in the movie there’s these little girls that are trying to visit their mother in the hospital, well my kids make little sculptures of the girls from the movie out of all the shit and hair and dead spiders and everything. They’re good sculptures too, I mean my daughter is better at it, my son’s actually looks kinda like a snowman or something but he’s getting better at it. Anyway we got the shit dolls on sticks and then they act out the end of the movie except in this version the pony is fucking the totoro up the ass. I mean don’t worry, it’s only a small pony, we’re not talking no Enumclaw shit. Well I guess medium sized because actually, I mean the pony’s name is Maximus, he’s pretty large for a pony but, you know. Not as big as a horse, it’s not that bad. Anyway, point is we got it timed so exactly as the pony cums, these red white and blue fireworks go off, and we dedicate the whole thing to the victims of 9-11.
So there’s kind of a pause there and the talent agent looks at the guy, says, “Wow. I mean I never– I mean, what do you call an act like that?”
And the guy says, “The Aristocrats!” (more…)
I’m sure most of you motherfuckers know that Rudy Ray Moore is one of the pioneers of independent Cinema, one of the greatest orators of our times and easily the rawest presidential candidate of the last two decades. What you might not know is that in addition to his fine collection of pictures (Dolemite, Petey Wheatstraw, Avenging Disco Godfather, etc.) Mr. Moore has a live concert film in the style of the Eddie Murphy standup pictures he did back when he was trying to copy Richard Pryor instead of dress up in a bunch of funny disguises and fart.
This was released on the “video” cassette format in 1988, the same year that Die Hard hit the theaters. But it looks to ol’ Vern like it was filmed in the early ’80s, not sure about that bud. At any rate he mentions Reagan so it was probaly a little before ‘88 in my opinion.
Anyway, Rudy tells a lot of jokes about dick and pussy and he calls out people (obvious plants) in the audience and says how ugly they are. He is best when he’s rhyming, “rapping” as he calls it about the legend of Dolemite, or Shine (the black folk hero who supposedly escaped the Titanic ’cause “he was a swimmin sonofabitch”). When he rhymes, he almost goes into a trance, his neck starts poppin back and forth and he snaps and gyrates and slides across the floor like James Brown, keepin the rhythm. (more…)
This is Richard’s standup film from 1985 and like you damn well oughta expect from Richard, it’s some funny shit. It is interesting to contrast this one with his 1979 Live in Concert because Richard has gone from being a genius to being a superstar. The opening credits play this ’80s style funk and show giant billboards advertising the show. Then a spotlight comes on in the back of the theater and Richard struts his way through the audience, and you see this cockiness on his face that is almost like a different person. Everybody loves Richard when he’s on stage being funny but this is something else altogether as you feel the outpouring of love from the audience and you see how it gives him strength.
Alot of the shit Richard talks about he wouldn’t have known before he was a superstar. He mentions groupies, a trip to Africa (and how’s he gonna do that before he was rich?), filming a movie. But he doesn’t ever come off as a sellout, he’s letting you in on his life, exposing his flaws, making it all something you can relate to. He also talks about some of his early days, like when he was 19 working at a club run by the mafia. There is a story he tells about trying to get money from the mafia that is a scene in his autobiographical movie he directed Jojo Dancer Your Life is Calling, and I had no idea it was something that really happened to him but I guess it must be. (more…)
This is a video I have seen on the shelfs alot but I never got around to renting it on account of it is only 45 minutes. And who the fuck wants to pay 3.50 or what not for 45 minutes of standup when you could just watch scrambled Def Jam Comedy Jam for free.
But now I finally saw it and it was interesting but hell boys I gotta warn you, this is for Richard Pryor experts only. It is not a good introduction to his works, in my opinion. I don’t want you to watch this one first unless you promise me right here and now that you will watch Richard Pryor Live in Concert and Live On Sunset Strip even if you don’t like this one too much.
According to his autobiography this was his first concert film, originally titled just Smokin’ and filmed at the Improv in New York in April 1971. It was at a time when he was really considered to be breaking new ground. For a long time in his career he was just imitating Bill Cosby but then he decided to start talking about the type of shit he really thought about after growing up in a whorehouse in Peoria, Illinois. (more…)
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