Thursday, August 6, 2009
Congratulations, You're Not Funny
CAUTON: There is nothing terribly positive about this post...just me generally being an a-hole. I try to keep this blog to things I like but hey, I'm entitled to not liking something every one in a while right? So read at your own peril. And don't worry about arguing with me here, my minds made up, lol. Humor, just like music, movies, and art is such a highly subjective thing. Everyone has an opinion and everyone thinks they're right when someone has a differing opinion. I guess ultimately we all just like what and who we like. At some point I will write a more positive post to counter the negativity of this one (haha) but after listening to Observe & Report , 
and yes I mean listen, since I was within earshot but not in the same room as the movie was being watched, I can honestly say that Seth Rogan is perhaps one of the least funny people doing supposedly funny movies today. I have yet to enjoy him in any role he's played. He basically plays the same role in every movie: boorish, pot-smoking (or generally lazy) dim-wit that for some reason the viewer is supposed to actually care about. I guess maybe I just can't relate to pot-smokers or generally lazy (yet opinionated) people. I do have to tip my hat though... I'm truly stunned and amazed how successful he is. No one has done so little for so much in the world of comedy recently.
Since I'm at it, here are a few other 'comedians' I've never found all that funny:
Obnoxious, loud and generally disgusting to look at, Jonah Hill's popularity utterly baffles me. He comes on Letterman & literally guffaws at his own jokes while the crowd sits in relative silence. He always sort of looks like he just got out of bed and, not surprisingly, seems to be good friends with Seth Rogan. It's definitely the same bread of humor... just even more annoying, if that's possible.
Chris Rock is perhaps the most angry comic I've ever seen. I take complete ownership as a white man of not understanding what it's like to be discriminated against simply for the color of your skin and I will never belittle that plight. But what bothers me about his routine is his 'all white people are evil' thing. It's so incredibly negative to the point where I don't see how I can possibly be someone who is supposed to appreciate his humor. I mean, the man clearly hates me because of the color of my skin and I've never even met him. Isn't that a bit hypocritical? And when do you get rich and famous enough that you yourself can't relate to your own routine anymore? Just curious.
My dislike for Sarah Silverman runs long and it runs deep. I've had to watch a lot of her comedy since other people I know love her, and I just don't get it. Where other comics humor seems effortless, for some reason hers seems like she's trying really hard to be funny and all she can come up with are vagina jokes. There are countless other comics out there doing the same thing she is that I actually do like so I can't say it's not my 'brand of humor' and that's why I don't like it. I just don't think she's cute, quirky, or silly. I just think she's incredibly not funny.
These last three have been around much longer and all had successful comedy shows where they just basically play themselves but in some fictional life that isn't their own. The most famous of them is certainly Jerry Seinfeld. I find him incredibly annoying. Why? Because he's a complainer. And I generally hate complainers. Sure, we all do it. But Seinfeld reminds me of that co-worker you always try to avoid. They come up and say, "How are you?" You say, "Fine, how are you?" (even though you don't care). And they sigh, and then go into every detail of why their life sucks. It's absolute torture. The odd thing is, I find Larry David very enjoyable and he's doing the same type of comedy. For some reason David won me over though...perhaps because ultimately, he's actually funny. So again, for me it's not the comedy per say but the comic.
Ray Romano does dumb husband comedy. Half the comedies on TV seem to be built on the same premise. Mix one dopey husband who thinks they are always right about everything but to everyone else is clearly wrong. Add one bitchy, know-it-all wife (who usually is far too pretty & intelligent to be with said dopey husband) who loves to play the "I told you so" role to the hilt. Sprinkle with quirky parents/in-laws and basically irrelevant children. And Presto! Laughs aplenty. Only problem is I just find it annoying. I don't feel for the dumb husband and I don't understand why the idiotic behavior is put up with. You can only play stupid so long. So, no it's not true. Everybody does not love Raymond.
Truth be told, I'm not even sure George Lopez belongs on this list. Not because I don't think he's funny... more just that he doesn't actually elicit any real venom from me. I don't care enough about him to dislike him. It's probably for the simple fact that I've pretty easily been able to avoid him. But when I am subjected to his comedy it's clear he's cut from the same sort of cloth that countless other comics before him are cut from (like the two just above). He just happens to be hispanic and apparently every ethnic group needs their populist yet unentertaining comic. Congratulations George for filling that hole we never knew we needed filled.
Well, I figured I'd throw a late night host into the mix. And who better than Jay Leno? The King Of The Unfunny. His opening monologue? Painful. His desperate attempts to toss zingers in between guest's responses instead of actually listening to the answer? Cringeworthy. His bobblehead bouncing around as the crowd reacts to his jokes? Ugh. When the only thing that's funny about your show is Headlines (where the comedy writes itself) you know you've got problems. My favorite thing he does is after a guest segment is over and they are going to commercial the guest will be looking out at the applauding audience and Jay leans over and places his hand on their shoulder to get their attention, like he has something personal to tell them. When they look over he doesn't say anything (since, even though he wants the viewer to think they are friends, they aren't) and he just nods and laughs. It's just part of a facade Jay puts on nightly. A facade that is so easily seen through, that I just don't get why he regularly beat Letterman in the ratings. Madness.
