Published by Suzy Soro on 22 Aug 2008 at 12:33 pm
Comics Roasting On An Open Fire
A few comments on my last post were directed at the recent Comedy Central roast of Bob Saget and what I thought of it.
First of all, there is no one nicer in this business than Saget. Back in the 90’s he and I were part of a read-through for Les Moonves, former head of CBS. It was for a Rita Rudner sitcom and also featured Estelle Parsons among other Hollywood heavyweights. Last year I invited Bob to the Because We’re Not Dead Yet Party but he was on the road and couldn’t make it. A few months later, after these two brief run-ins with him, I emailed and asked for an interview for my blog and he graciously agreed. If I email him, he unfailingly writes me back within the hour. My friends don’t even do that. Needless to say Bob has made an impression on me because of his kindness. Maybe I should ask him for money.
Back to the roast. I’m personally not a fan of them. I think they’re an exercise in viciousness and no one can be more vicious than a comic. Freud thought humor was repression of other emotions, notably anger. I agree.
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts were much funnier because they weren’t mean-spirited, except for Don Rickles, and didn’t attack one’s sexuality. They were also edited for primetime so anything really lowbrow went under the radar. Ditto for the old Friar’s Club Roasts, which were sacred yet profane. And not on TV unless they were edited. But now it’s open season on everyone and the nastier you are, the better. That much more more venom is being directed at Comedy Central’s main demographic, young males, and they in turn are passing this legacy on. Tragic.
Bob Saget’s roast constantly called into play the ‘fuckability’ of certain comics on the dais, which was really just celebrities in chairs. Peoples’ sexual preference also got called into question over and over. Through the magic of editing audience cutaways are usually not a reflection of what a comic is saying. They will often pair up a bad joke with a cutaway of an audience roaring while you sit there and go, “That wasn’t even funny.” They managed to pair up a dour-faced comic with the cruelest jokes being told about them. Susie Essman got the worst of it while Saget himself complained that the jokes about the Olsen Twins really upset him.
But nowadays it’s okay to savage people outright in the name of comedy. It’s the reason most people refuse to sit up front in a comedy club anymore. And who can blame them?
CYA next week.
Chick on 22 Aug 2008 at 5:57 pm #
Yep. Yep. Yep.
And WTF was up with Norm McDonald? Was he trying to do something edgy or something? It was just stupid and disappointing.
Bee on 22 Aug 2008 at 9:29 pm #
I can understand why the Olsen jokes would upset him. He knew them since they were babies and with all the time he spent with them during the show, I’m sure he cares about them.
I’ve heard Saget being interviewed on the radio show I listen to and he is always funny (to me). I’ll never watch the roast, like you said, too mean spirited.
Jenn @ Juggling Life on 23 Aug 2008 at 9:14 am #
Mean-spirited really gets out of control. I can’t fathom why anyone would go, knowing they could be the target.
Brad on 24 Aug 2008 at 8:50 am #
Comedy is truth. Truth is comedy. And some of the best comedy on TV today comes from the CC Roasts. Yes, it’s scathing. Yes, it’s venomous. But the Celebrities know going in that they will be roasted, skewered, and filleted. Although I’m not a suit, nor would I want to be, I would imagine that the demographics for these roasts skew much older than the usual CC audience. Thank God for that as many of the references - including the Henry Fonda eating blueberries line - would be lost in the collective sea of “Huh?”
Mean spirited, yes. Heavily edited, of course. But most of the comics I know who rarely, if ever watch CC (unless they’re on it of course, and the network surprisingly has very few standup shows on anymore) watch these roasts and talk about them for days after they air.
And I have to disagree - what good would I be if I didn’t - with the assessment of Norm Macdonald’s segment. F-ing funny. He went left when everyone has always gone right.
But of course the night belonged to Cloris Leachman. Probably most of the lines were written for her, but I can only pray that I have her comedic timing and sense of humor when, and if, I ever get to be her age…and looking in the mirror this morning it might be sooner than I think.
Aaron on 24 Aug 2008 at 9:27 am #
I’m sorry I didn’t catch this roast but I have to say that defining “mean-spirited” today and comparing it to Dean Martin’s era’s version of “mean-spirited” is very difficult. I’ve always thought of roasts as being the kind of nudge-nudge, pole-poke jibe at the “roastee’s” expense; not as an outright attack on their life or person.
But, today, it seems we have to keep “turning it up a notch” to keep the audience’s attention. The general audience simply doesn’t have the wit, or patience, or mental capacity to enjoy and take pleasure in a well-dispensed joke … they have to be clobbered over the head.