The End of the World

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/end This flash animation first appeared on the internet a few years ago, but I can’t find where it was originally published, or who the author was. This version is posted on the website Albino Blacksheep (based in Toronto, Canada), which relies on members to submit content.
This classic flash animation attempts to explain how the world will end and it mostly pokes fun at two things: the political position that the world and its most powerful nations are in and cultural stereotypes. The eagerness of President Bush to wildly fire off America’s nuclear arsenal and create a nuclear holocaust is obviously an attack on his cowboy attitude, while the cigarette smoking, lazy, and effeminate Frenchmen play directly into their stereotype. Although making fun of stereotypes is not exactly the highest form of comedy, I think the nonsensical and silly attitude that the animation takes on allows for this somewhat distasteful humor to be pretty funny. On the whole, I think the flash is simply laughing in the face of death, while poking fun at the human race and all of its absurd qualities.

Wonder Showzen

John Lee and Vernon Chatman. Wonder Showzen Season 1 Episode 4: Diversity. Originally aired on MTV2 on April 1, 2005. Clip URL: http://www.clipser.com/watch_video/1753. Posted 2007. Accessed 3.29.09.

Wonder Showzen was a satire that took the form of a children’s show. It takes an absurdist view of our world, and tries to explain what is wrong with it in terms that kids might be able to understand. However, as the disclaimer at the beginning of the show states: “WARNING WONDER SHOWZEN CONTAINS OFFENSIVE, DESPICABLE CONTENT THAT IS TOO CONTROVERSIAL AND TOO AWESOME FOR ACTUAL CHILDREN. THE STARK, UGLY, PROFOUND TRUTHS WONDER SHOWZEN EXPOSES MAY BE SOUL CRUSHING TO THE WEAK OF SPIRIT. IF YOU ALLOW A CHILD TO WATCH THIS SHOW, YOU ARE A BAD PARENT OR GUARDIAN.” That essentially sums it up. The themes dealt with by this show range from God, religion, human nature, human conflict, and especially popular culture (aka: how stupid we can be). The show is extremely dark and cynical, but still manages to be funny through its highly ironic and sarcastic tone.

Bill Burr - Why Do I Do This?

Bill Burr is a stand-up comedian who often uses bawdy and black comedy.  This bit is from one of only two CD’s he’s ever released, “Why Do I Do This?”  In it, he discusses the effects of anonymity on the internet, political correctness on the internet, and sexuality and its relation to politics.  With this piece, he exposes the hypocrisy of many of the people on the internet.  However, he also uses his examples to show how similar we all are despite when we say we are different.  The audience for this piece is anyone who has ever had an argument over the internet and considers themselves intelligent.

 

Why Do I Do This?.  Dir. Michelle Caputo.  Perfs. Bill Burr.  Image Entertainment, 2008.  DVD.  2008.

Bill Maher. Religulous. 2008

Religulous is a comedic documentary written by and starring political comedian Bill Maher. According to Bill Maher, the title is a combination of the words religion and ridiculous. This statement adequately explains the documentary. The documentary examines and satirizes organized religion and religious beliefs. In the documentary, Bill Maher travels to different religious destinations such as Jerusalem, the Vatican, and Salt Lake City, interviewing believers from a wide range of backgrounds and groups. Some of these groups include, “Jews for Jesus”, Christians, Muslims, Hassidic Jews, and Mormons. Bill Maher also travels to Speaker’s Corner (an area where public speaking is allowed) in Hyde Park, London where he satirically preaches Scientology beliefs. In addition to his documentary, Bill also performs stand-up and is hot of Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO. He performs to a multiracial, multi-ethnic
audience.

Religulous. Dir. Larry Charles. Perf. Bill Maher. Film. Lions Gate Entertainment, 2008.

Crossballs

Crossballs, or The Debate Show, is a short-lived tv show that aired on Comedy Central. The show was meant to parody political debate shows, specifically CNN's Crossfire and MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews. Each episode involves comedians posing as experts on a specific topic. In the case of this clip, the comedians are the host, the "stoner" sitting all the way on the left, and the anti-marijuana hippy. These comedians then debate two real commentators on the topic, such as the legalization of marijuana. These real commentators have no idea that the show is fake. The comedy not only comes from the comedians poking fun at their stance on the topic, but also from the real commentators who get frustrated with the actors. If the real commentator has a weird or nonsensical point of view, it is made to look even more ridiculous by the comedian who is trying to back him up. Although the main point of the show is comedy, there is still some real debating involved.

"Drugs." Crossballs. Host Chris Tallman. Comedy Central. 8 July 2004.

Weekend Update: Celebrity

These are two Saturday Night Live Weekend Update skits, both featuring Seth Meyers as the host. The first also stars Kenan Thompson as Charles Barkley. SNL, a sketch comedy show started in the mid-seventies which now airs every Saturday night at 11:30 pm, is well-known as a parody show, taking current events and trends and turning them on their heads. This first sketch, originally aired on 1/10/09, starts off with the political news of the week, followed by an in-depth interview with Sir Barkley on his recent traffic violation. The second clip, aired 2/7/09, is Seth's analysis of Michael Phelps marijuana scandal.

Barkley and Phelps are the latest in a line of celebrities to be skewered by the SNL crew for immature behavior. These sketches bring up the debate on how celebrities and potential role models ought to be punished for behavior that would probably go unnoticed if they were not famous. Any other young adult male, for example, could have used a bong profusely and not suffered the consequences, but Phels only did so once (to our knowledge) and is loosing millions of dollars because of it. While the Barkley sketch doesn't have much of a complete argument, Seth and the writers clearly see Phelps' treatment as too harsh. Meyers points out how ridiculous the standards are for Phelps, and how the 12-time-gold-medal-winner ought to be given a few breaks every now and then. As the show is aimed at Phelps' age group, the audience will probably tend to agree with them.

South Park: The Snuke

The creators of this show South Park are Matt Stone and Trey Parker. They are most well-known for this show, but they have also written and directed a couple of movies, such as Baseketball and Orgasmo. The video in this posting is an episode from the show, called The Snuke. It seems to some watchers that I have spoken to that the creators of South Park put a lot of time and thought into each episode, so that each one has a certain message for the audience, often with moral values and ideas. The main theme of this episode is intolerance of other people's cultures, although it also contains politics and (as always) bathroom humor. The episode seems to suggest how ludicrous it is to judge someone just based on their ethnic background. The audience for this show is pretty broad, although it is mainly for adolescents and young adults. Here is a link to the video.
Tu.tv. 29 Oct. 2007. Tu.TV: HISPAVITA. 8 Feb. 2009

Gabriel Iglesias: Drunk Driving & Presidential Elections