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comedy........
I like both [drama and comedy]. I think that you do one a lot and then you want to do the other demon [laughs]... For me comedy is more interesting because it uses more of you. It looks like it uses less but there is so much rhythm stuff, there is so much control you have to have. You have to know your character, be in the moment... all of the same things, same rules basically but you have to throw style in. I like it more; it’s more of a workout for me.
Marisa Tomei .. [cinecon.com interview about "Alfie" by Ashley Smith]
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But what would Parker really like to do next? "Something really dramatic," Posey said. "Real tragedy. I can do comedy, so people want me to do that, but the other side of comedy is depression. "Deep, deep depression is the flip side of comedy. Casting agents don't realize it but in order to be funny you have to have that other side."
Parker Posey.....[worldfilm.about.com interview about her film "Personal Velocity"]
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"My greatest dream is to be a female Groucho, this smart pervert," says Jessi Klein. Shortly after graduating from Vassar, where she majored in art history, Klein landed a job in the talent department at Comedy Central (she's now a development executive with the network). She then decided to try stand-up, eventually developing an onstage persona, "this oversexed girl with glasses, which is something I feel compelled to do, even though it's not me."
> from profile by Lewis Beale, Interview Nov 2004
> photo from her site kleintastic.com
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Comics are the bungee jumpers of the entertainment world. We risk our lives every night. We also risk our egos, our integrity and our art. But it's the risk, the challenge and the thrill that keeps us coming back. We are the true thrill seekers. Every comic wants to kill, not be killed. The only thing worse than dying on stage is dying offstage.
Karen Loftus - from her article "Is This Thing On?" - from her site karenloftus.net
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 .. .. But I think there are different things that make men and women laugh, so when there are more women at the producing end of the show, it's just going to come out fairer. I don't think anyone was purposely ever trying to keep anybody down [in the past], but if you have all guys in a room, their tastes are more likely to be the same. They're going to naturally gravitate to the Chris Farley piece over the Julia Sweeney piece... |
 .. .. You get in there, and you have women in the room like Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph and Rachel Dratch performing their pieces, and the boys really have to step up to keep up with them. Tina Fey ... [Bust magazine, Spring 2004] photo at right [detail] by Ramona Rosales ramonarosales.com |
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 **The
Pythons -
by Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones et al The group's history, from the creative fun times in the beginning to the eventual drawn-out breakup, is detailed in a lavish, coffee table-size autobiography... Groaning with arcane details, it was compiled by British film critic Bob McCabe who interviewed the five surviving Pythons: Michael Palin, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle and Terry Jones. The late Graham Chapman's words were augmented with recollections from his long-time partner David Sherlock and his brother and sister-in-law John and Pam Chapman. It contains more than 1,000 photos, including many personal shots of the group relaxing, as well as Gilliam's drawings and various script drafts in longhand. The book opens with each describing how he met the others, including their often unflattering first impressions. Most attended either Oxford or Cambridge, England's most elite universities, and Palin notes that none of them were from London. "We were all provincials, and it gave us a bit of edge." (Gilliam is American.) The true Python fiend probably will most enjoy the section about their childhoods, complete with photos. Although some had terrible childhoods, Palin describes his in Sheffield as quite happy. In contrast, Idle was sent from age 7 to a draconian boarding school that drew heavily from the sons of dead English soldiers. |
 .. .. He admits, however, that it fostered his sense of humor and his practice of writing. "Perfect training for Python," he notes. .... One figure is mentioned repeatedly: Beatle George Harrison, who became friendly with the group. He saved the financing for Life of Brian after backers pulled out because some found the film blasphemous. Notes Gilliam, "George Harrison was always convinced that Python was the spirit of the Beatles, kept alive after they broke up ... George was convinced that there was this transference of spiritual essence." from
book review article: "In big, glossy color, |
...related books:..............Graham Chapman. The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus : All the Words
.............John Cleese. A Pocketful of Python
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Laughter is the effervescent form of holiness. Anne Lamott
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 .. .. Oxygen's "Girls Behaving Badly" Kira Soltanovich [above] said: "There are really more women who can pull off comedy in this kind of show than men. Men go for the obvious choice, where women take a more sly approach, a more delicate, feminine touch... although we can be crude and rude as well." In fact, it's hardly news that women can be successful being rude, crude or silly. Roseanne Barr led her own hit series in 1988-97. Brett Butler and Cybill Shepherd carried on with their sitcoms through 1998. Of course, before that there was Gilda Radner, Lily Tomlin, Carol Burnett, Phyllis Diller and Lucille Ball, "but," ["GBB" producer John Stevens] says, "there never were any bad girls en masse." |
"Women
are allowed to have fun now, that's the difference," said Joan Rivers,
dubious queen of the barbed one-liners. "In the old days you did it,
but
you did it behind closed doors."
Now that it's out in the open. Amanda Lotz, assistant professor of communications at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, believes shows like these could help to expand gender norms even further. "Shows that help push the roles, the occupations, the ways that women are allowed to be seen in the culture... are considered good things," Lotz said. "We're not saying these women are role models, but it's interesting how difficult it is to be a woman in the [entertainment] business because of expectations that women can or can't be funny." from
article: Cable comedies are showcasing today's funny ladies.
Kira Soltanovich site // photo from The Comedy Circle |
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Academy Award-winning actor and screenwriter Emma Thompson commented in an interview that "A lot of the criticism about my comedy work by men has been "I think you're marvelous, but you just can't do that.' "They think I should be attractive, do serious drama; they're threatened by a moderately good-looking woman who tries to be funny as well. We are taught to take women only on a very few levels."
from article Entitled to Be Exceptional
I've been told Hollywood doesn't know what to do with me and I can understand that because there are days I don't know what to do with myself. I know I'd like to do a real comedy because when I can make people laugh, it makes me feel beautiful. That probably sounds weird, but it's true. I've never taken my looks for granted, but I feel more beautiful when people around me are laughing.
Angie Harmon..... [Calgary Sun, March 9, 2003]
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Any comedian knows what it's like not to laugh. I think a lot of people in comedy would say that they know the dark places as well as the light. ... A lot of comedians will say that they find the humor in sadness. The characters that I write on the show are not totally together people. I've got a girl who is 14 and lovelorn and will never have the boy that she's obsessed with. To me that's very real and very honest. I understand the sadness but it's so pathetic that you just have to laugh.
Maya Rudolph******[Interview mag., Oct 2002]
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Somebody who can make people laugh is a very important person -- a great mind. Donatella Versace - in an interview article with Maya Rudolph, who impersonates Versace on "Saturday Night Live"***[Interview mag., Oct 2002]
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| Humour
has certainly been a defense. Absolutely, but maybe less so than some
of
my other traits that I have that I use defensively.
But humour was a great way for me to deflect criticism; it was a great way for me to feel better about myself when things were not going my way, or a way to comfort myself. Also, I could deal with a situation, which could be horrible, and then I could actually turn it around for myself and story tell it later, edit it, and hang on a happy ending for whoever might be listening. So it was always a way for me to rewrite history, and retell the story from a better perspective, a more flattering angle. ****Margaret Cho ****[darkhorizons.com June 21 2002] |
 .. .. Margaret Cho****[Utne May/June 2003] / photo from margaretcho.com **her book: Margaret Cho. I'm the One That I Want****/ cd: Notorious C.H.O. |
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In my experience, I have found that the smartest people are often comedians. To understand character and the subtle nuances of what makes things funny, you have to be incredibly emotionally intelligent about people. You have to be highly perceptive and attuned to what makes people tick. Reese Witherspoon [Biography mag., June 2002]
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Steve Martin
"If I feel any pressure to be funny, I just clam up." [Comedy Channel interview]~ ~
"Because topics are in such short supply, I have provided a few
for writers who may be suffering in the darker climes. File some
of these away, and look through them during the suicidal winter months:
"Naked Belligerent Panties": This is a good sexy title with a lot of promise."
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comment from Steve Martin on the cover of the book: "At last a book about me!
I loved this book and fell deeply in love with the central character."
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"My main life is writing. These writings get turned into concerts... HBO shows and CDs.
It's a direct line from the typewriter to these products, so I think of it all as writing.
The moments onstage are very joyful. That's the little boy in me showing off.
The writing is the little boy staying home and doing good homework."George Carlin [Hollywood Reporter, April 20-22, 2001]
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"There was a trend for a while to be the 'Angry Man,'
and I've never particularly enjoyed that... I don't consider that
a pleasant evening's entertainment...Or else, there were a few guys doing supposed characters
that were very racist or very sexist or whatever, and their excuse
in interviews was 'Well, it's just a character.'Well, the crowd is responding to it on a particular level.
We all have demons and dark sides, and I don't know that,
as a group, it's a good idea to coax them out. ...My brand of humor is mostly about just existing, I suppose.
My stuff is mostly from [my] kids and some from my cats.
I have nine cats now and they're really obnoxious..."Paula Poundstone [Sonoma County Independent, 1999]
***videos:**Paula Poundstone: One Night Stand Paula Poundstone Show
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Silly is important, but it's hard to do. Silly is a state of grace, my dad would say. Mike Myers [Bravo/"Inside the Actors Studio" interview]
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Joan Cusack
"Television) is so hard to do and to get it right.
You realize [from the Bette Midler and Geena Davis
comedies] why it doesn't always work so well." ...[She insisted on the show being shot entirely in Chicago, where Cusack lives.]
"Those (Chicago elements) are so important to me. They're huge.
You know, they're the ability to have a life and work.
And that's hard in this business."Joan Cusack [The Detroit News detnews.com Jan.15.01]
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"As a recovering alcoholic, laughter is one of the few medicines
that I can still use without potentially going off the deep end.
I have always laughed my way out of pain, sadness, disappointments
and intimacy.Although the laughter doesn't come quickly, it always materializes
and magically puts things in its proper perspective. The only thing
that I can't laugh about is the Republican Party."Richard Lewis [Soma mag. Dec.2000]
related page:**addictions
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"I'm a writer of entertainments, and respect [as a writer] isn't what I'm out for, so I don't think about it. That's for essayists or poets. For me, as for most writers of fiction, the great challenge isn't to win respect, it's to keep the reader's attention. That's the hard. part. I don't crave respect so much as the ability to
sometimes make people chortle." - from A Prairie Home Companion site: phc.mpr.org"People who tell jokes tend not to last as long as people who tell stories. So that's why I tell stories. Hope of stringing it out a little longer." [europe.cnn.com]*****Garrison Keillor
book: Garrison Keillor. A Prairie Home Companion : Pretty Good Joke Book
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'[Doing live TV], the adrenaline flows through you; you have to make an impression.
There's just one shot to come up with the top performance. You get a rhythm going
and the audience going, and you can play with that. Comedy is not something you can
just recite. You have to feel it." Sid Caesar [Modern Maturity, Nov-Dec.00]video: The Sid Caesar Collection - Collector's Set
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I don't think it's ever easy to be funny. I find it easy to amuse myself with a cynical,
dark humor that tends toward the meaner side.Ben Stiller [Premiere, April, 2001]
to Self-Empowerment, Spiritual Supremacy, and Sexual Satisfaction
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"Every year it gets a little better, but not as quick as you want it to.
You still have to attain greatness to get the same thing white guys get
just for being mediocre." -- comedian Chris Rock, telling People magazine
black performers still face a double standard in the entertainment industry. [Reuters, 3.23.01]
dvd: Chris Rock: Bigger and Blacker
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"Well, the danger of describing [Barton Fink] as a comedy,"
says director/co-writer Joel, 36,"is in setting up an expectation
that it's going to be..." "It's a buddy movie," interjects producer/co-writer
Ethan, 33. Joel: "Yeah, Ethan likes to call it a buddy movie for the '90s.I'm not sure what you would call it. John Turturro (who plays the title character)
thinks it's a sort of coming-of-age story. It's like a sort of black comedy, I guess.
"Well, there is a certain sort of somber quality to it that you wouldn't associate
with a comedy. And people might be sort of put off by it if they think they're
going to see a straight comedy. Yeah, it's hard to describe, generically...."from interview with the Coen brothers on Jeeem's CinePad
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen. Barton Fink and Miller's Crossing
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
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"I don't see how it would be possible for any [comedian], including myself,
not to have brushed shoulders with The Stooges' work. Their career spanned
more than forty years, and that's an incredible life in comedy. It endured. It lasted.
It's their 'pyramid' is what it is. They're all 'pharaohs.' They've built an edifice
and they can happily lay down and be buried." from interview with Leslie Nielsen
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**CD:**An Hysteric Return: P.D.Q. Bach at Carnegie Hall
<< contents include:
SERENUDE for Devious Instruments (S. 36-24-36) D Major;
2 kazoos, 2 slide whistles, tromboon, windbreaker and slide windbreaker, shower hose in D, and strings.PERÆCKENSTÆCK (Hair Piece) from The Civilian Barber (S. 4F) C Major; Soprano, pumpflute,
double reed hookah in F, trombone, and stringsSUITE from The Civilian Barber (S. 4F) Various keys; 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets etc
Entrance of the Dragoons (tempo di Marsha)
Dance of St. Vitus ; His Majesty's minuet ; Fanfare for the royal shaft ;SCHLEPTET in Eflat Major (S. 0)
1.Oratorio: THE SEASONINGS 2."UNBEGUN SYMPHONY" (By Schickele)
3.Pervertimento for Bagpipe, Bicycle, and Balloons
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...sites:.
The Comedy Circle
"a place for comics of all levels of experience from first timers to established headliners to interact,
network, and find ways to create a better environment for comics."Gail A. Stocker Presents
"is a Los Angeles-based comedy consulting company designed to find comics and performers
for corporate events anywhere in the world."~ ~ ~
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