Entourage

The HBO comedy series Entourage, which premiered in 2004, takes a look at the life of celebrities in the cut-throat world of Hollywood. The show centers around movie star Vincent Chase and his best friends from his hometown of Queens, NY who have followed him out to Hollywood. While this side of the show typically looks at the glamour and "good life" associated with that of being a celebrity, there is another side of the show. This side follows Vincent Chase's agent, Ari Gold (played by multiple Emmy Award winner Jeremy Piven). Ari consistently does whatever it takes to get his client the roles he wants. Much of the humor in Entourage comes from the outrageous nature of Ari Gold, and his extremely vulgar mouth. In the clip below, Ari crashes a rival agent's party who has recently done him wrong. The show has also had numerous celebrity guest starts playing sometimes exageratted versions of themselves. More humor, and the real heart of the show, comes from Vince and his friends. While they rag on each other a lot, they are always there for one another when the tough climate of Hollywood gets them down. The true message Entourage is sending to the audience though is one of friendship, saying some things are more important than ambition and celebrity.

Wahlberg, Mark, prod. Entourage. HBO. Los Angeles, CA.

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.

The Soup: White Oprah

This E! Entertainment episode of The Soup, a weekly dose of edgy humorous commentary on pop culture and television, presents a preview of a fake new talk show hosted by Dina Lohan. “All of Lindsay’s friends call me ‘White Oprah’”, said Dina, a statement The Soup thought a riot in light of the many public problems in the Lohan family (anorexia, drug addiction, missing court dates, etc). The preview’s voice-over makes a joke out of the celebrity mom as qualified to counsel others by praising her marriage and how she raised her kids while images are juxtaposed of a scantily clad Lindsay partying and her husband in handcuffs.

This piece acts as a social corrective because of the harsh nature of the criticism about Dina’s job as a parent and role model. Some of the references seem like “low blows”—such as Dina’s expert status on “how to live vicariously through your child”. Because the studio audience laughed at Dina, the idea that celebrity lifestyle is based on corrupted morals is reinforced.

“White Oprah.” The Soup. Host Joel McHale. E! Entertainment. 15 Nov. 2006.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWMolBH1EUk&feature=channel>.

Richard Pryor. That Nigger’s Crazy.

Pryor, Richard. That Nigger’s Crazy. Richard Pryor, 1974.

This groundbreaking album is a recording of Richard Pryor’s stand-up performance at Don Cornelius’ Soul Train night club. In the early 1970s, comedy was milder but Richard Pryor revolutionized comedy with his extravagant jokes. His jokes are not merely comedy but his own real life experiences. He had a rough childhood growing up in his grandmother’s brothel, his mother having abandoned him when he was ten. The themes of this album include racial difference, racism, and gender roles. Pryor uses these subjects which he experienced in his early life in his neighborhood in Illinois. His intention is not only to make people laugh, but also to highlight racial differences through comedy, performing to multiracial audiences. In addition to being a stand-up comedian, he was also an actor in films and television shows which dealt with similar racial issues. He passed away three years ago but is still remembered as a pioneer of comedy with his natural wittiness.

David Cross "Jesus Talks"

David Cross "Shut Up, You Fucking Baby" Portland, Oregon and Atlanta, Georgia. Youtube 2.25.09

In David Cross' stand-up comedy he often talks about religion (Christianity, Judaism, Science in relation to religion, reason, etc). As an atheist jew who grew up in the south, he clearly has an opinion on religion and he shares it frequently: religion is ridiculous. Usually he flat-out mocks religion, referring to the bible as something similar to dungeons and dragons and citing and pointing out other ridiculous aspects of christianity and Judaism (like how it's not fair that in Judaism, no matter what you believe, whether you're an atheist or think that God is a unicorn and babies taste like lemonade, if your mother is Jewish, then so are you). In this youtube audio clip David Cross takes a less risky, less offensive stance on religion. He observes how in all depictions of Jesus, actors attribute him to having a somber, knowing voice of reason and wisdom, but in reality nobody really knows what Jesus sounded like. Jesus could have had any number of voices, and David Cross wonders what if Jesus spoke in a really effeminate southern voice. His humor here is potentially offensive, but for the most part it is innocuous. It makes no groundbreaking observations about religion or christianity, all Cross does is ponder a what if and runs with it. The absurdity and unfamiliarity of this "what if..." is what makes it so hysterical.

“Proper Condom Use.” South Park, Season 4. Comedy Central. Broadcasted on August 1, 2001.

This episode of Comedy Central’s series “South Park” was first broadcasted on ari on august 1, 2001. It is based on the stereotypes of how sexual education is conducted in elementary schools. Stan, one of the main characters, is found to be masturbating a dog while yelling “red rocket”. As a child, Stan is completely ignorant of what he is doing; however, this event triggers the community into demanding that all of Stan’s classmates and himself must receive sexual education from an unlikely duo, Mr. Mackey and Ms. Choksondik. Common themes refered in this episode are: childhood, sex, puberty, ignorance and sexual transmitted diseases. In particular the notion of inocense, which is reflected as the fear of girls in the classroom to get STD’s if the boys are not always wearing a condom. South Park has been an extremely sucesfull show for Comedy Central, having more than a dozen seasons and over 1,300 episodes, as well as a motion picture “South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut” (1999). Although the show is broadcasted, it appeals more to a white American audience.

Adam Hills Australian Accent

Adam Hills. Melbourne Comedy Festival Gala 2006. Melbourne, Australia. "Australian Accent." YouTube 1.01.08.

In this clip, Adam Hills poked fun of his fellow Aussies and their tendency to make every statement sound as if it were a question. Hills gets the audience laughing by giving them a few examples of how their inflections makes statements sound as if they need answering when in reality they do not.  This plays into the theme of communication where the Australian accent and inflection makes their way of speaking difficult to understand to others.  His point if humorous enough to laugh at on the surface but in reality Hills is pointing out something about Australians. He says that Aussies make their voices sound insecure because they are desperately seeking the approval of others. According to Hills, Australians make their statements sound like questions because they are too afraid to make a sincere statement. His humor is similar to many other comedians that we have watched in class in that his jokes poke fun of something he believes to be true. Like Sarah Silverman, Hills makes fun something he thinks could change and in this case it is his own peers.