Introduction to Stand Up Comedy Part IV – Wild and Crazy Comedy for a 10-Year Old

Content: Steve Martin’s stand up comedy, particularly the “Excuse Me” track from Let’s Get Small, “King Tut” from A Wild and Crazy Guy, and his “Great Fly-tini” bit from one of Johnny Carson’s last episodes.

Introduction: Steve Martin was a frenetic force pf surreal nature in the late 1970s. His albums missed the visual cues of his stand up, but the Johnny Carson appearance – which featured him doing cool tricks from the fly of his pants – makes up for some of that. He was so bizarrely clever. Kids, who have such weird little minds, should love it.

Dream’s Age at Introduction: 10…

Reason for That Age: … but I reserve the same right of review that I set aside for Bill Cosby’s material. I remember Martin’s material as oddball and harmless. His stand up autobiography, Born Standing Up, reinforces this, waxing nostalgic about his time developing goofy and intentionally flawed magic tricks at Disney Land and Knott’s Berry Farm. And his routines are silly, but only to an adult audience. A ten-year old hearing the “Let’s Get Small” track might actually think there are drugs that turn you small, and maybe he or she should drop some acid to get small. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but I recall a movie explaining that “Kids know dick.” Anyway, some material is probably not great for ten- year olds. But King Tut will slay them, particularly when I find a Hulu clip of Martin’s Saturday Night Live rendition (or whatever internetish video implement is available in 10+ years). And “Excuse Me” will leave 10-year old Dream saying “Excuse me!” ad nauseum and laughing for days, while Alicia rolls her eyes and glares at me. This is going to be beautiful.

What I Want Dream to Get Out of It: Three things. First, the adoption of “Excuse me!” as a personal catch phrase for at least a week, and the inevitable looks of exasperation from my beloved wife. Second, singing along with “King Tut.” Fantastic. And third, a nascent appreciation for the absurd. Steve Martin’s stand up should be the first in a long line of absurdist content – including Waiting for Godot, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Andy Warhol, and Kafka – that Dream will come to love.

Be content,
John

Introduction to Stand Up Comedy Part III – Cosby Is Funny… Right

Content: Bill Cosby’s Stand Up, particularly Himself and Bill Cosby is a Very Funny Fellow… Right!

Introduction: Bill Cosby’s Himself album was one of the first stand up recordings that I owned. It’s not brilliant satire or biting social critique, but it’s very funny. I still use elements of “Chocolate Cake for Breakfast” and “Natural Childbirth” in daily riffing.

Dream’s Age at Introduction: 8…

Reason for That Age: …although after reviewing some of the material in the two albums above, I might have to rethink age 8, or at least select particular tracks to give to Dream. Some of the material an 8-year old would love. “Chocolate Cake for Breakfast” is great for kids of all ages. What child wouldn’t laugh at kids eating cake for breakfast and their dad getting in trouble for it? I don’t know how Dreamworks hasn’t turned that concept into an hour and a half 3-D animated movie yet. Additionally, the Noah bits from Bill Cosby is a Very Funny Fellow… Right! are iconic and great for any kid with a passing familiarity with that biblical story. However, “Natural Childbirth” is almost certainly too mature. As I wrote above – some selective editing is in order. But much of the material is perfect for an 8-year old.

What I Want Dream to Get Out of It: I want Dream to be balled up in giggling fits listening to Cosby exclaim “My children TURNED on me!” I want him or her to repeat “Right…” over and over again trying to imitate Cosby’s intonation. I want Dream to repeat some of this material to his or her friends. Most importantly, I want Dream to be convinced that he or she is funny too, thinking “Cosby is funny just by talking and telling stories. I can talk and tell stories…”

Be content,
John

Introduction to Stand Up Comedy Part II - “Who’s on First” as Baby’s First Stand Up

Content: Abbot and Costello’s “Who’s on First?” Routine

Introduction: This is not stand up comedy as we experience it today, i.e, one individual on stage, telling stories and making observations. However, Abbot and Costello’s classic vaudeville routine is a great introduction of spoken word comedic performances to kids.

Dream’s Age at Introduction: 7

Reason for That Age: The subject matter – baseball – is appropriate for almost every age. Plus, knowing my wife, Dream is going to be fully indoctrinated into the Red Sox LONG before the age of 7. The simple word play that is at the heart of the routine is easily understandable to kids, and all of the old recordings include crowds roaring with laughter, nudging little listeners in the right direction: “Laugh here. It’s funny now.”

What I Want Dream to Get Out of It: Ideally, Dream should want to listen to this multiple times. That’s how I was with my favorite stand up routines. I listened to Emo dozens of times in middle school. But even if that doesn’t happen, I want Dream to be prepped for further lessons in stand up. And to be aware that whether s/he wants them or not, more stand up sessions are coming from Dad.

Be content,
John

Introduction to Stand Up Comedy, Part I

The New York Times today had a review of Sarah Silverman’s new memoir, The Bedwetter. In the book, Silverman relates her experience growing up (in New Hampshire!) as a bedwetter and how her embarrassment contributed to her work as a comedian. Dave Itzkoff, the author of the Times piece, does a nice job of drawing out the connection between personal scars and effective stand up comedy. In describing Silverman, Itzkoff summarizes the formative experiences of some of the best comedians of the last fifty years: by taking ownership of their emotional baggage they become unafraid on stage. Among the comedians that fit this description are Jerry Lewis, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Sam Kinnison, Bill Hicks d/b/a Dennis Leary, and Mitch Hedburg.

I love stand up comedy. My hero growing up was Emo Philips, who I continue to quote shamelessly (which, for my purposes, means without citation). At its best, stand up comedy makes us uncomfortable while making us laugh. It’s an art form, no less than oil painting, ballet, or jazz. However, because of its low-end practitioners – knock-knock joking hucksters sweating through bad suits in front of fake brick walls – stand up comedy frequently has a reputation somewhere between local television meteorologists and Kiwanis club guest speakers.

And to be fair, bad stand up comedians warrant that reputation. But good stand up comedians are clever, witty, and socially relevant. Emo Philips was able to merge word play with sly racial commentary: “We had a black out in my old neighborhood the other night. But the police made him get back into his car and go home.” Similarly, Mitch Hedburg – in a prescient and sad irony - combined clever one-liners with references to his drug use: “I love the FedEx guy because he’s my drug dealer and he doesn’t even know it.” And if pressed, I could come up with a hundred other examples: Steve Martin and King Tut, George Carlin and the Seven Words You Can’t Say on TV, Dennis Leary a/k/a Bill Hicks’ re-animated corpse and smoking, etc.

But when to introduce all this to Dream Weaver? It’s not like I can sit down 5-year old Dream with a DVD of Richard Pryor and say “This might be over your head now, but you’ll appreciate it when you’re thirty.”

However, this is important to me. I want our kid to appreciate the kind of laughter that comes from the biting observations and social discomfort of good stand up. My solution is to introduce Dream gradually to stand up, starting with clever, historically relevant stand up that – by today’s standards – is benign. It’s sort of like a sliding scale of age appropriate stand up comedy. Below is the list I’ve been working on:

Age Comedian

7 Abbott and Costello
8 Bill Cosby
10 Steve Martin
12 Rowan Atkinson
13 Emo Philips
14 Dennis Leary and Chris Rock

In upcoming posts, I’ll go through a quick analysis of each comedian. This excites me to a ridiculous extent. I’m actually a little embarrassed by it. If there’s a group of stand-up geeks, I would like to enlist. Call me.

Be content,
John