Philosophy
My Fellow Comedists,
Today is the 17th anniversary of the passing of Frank Zappa. He had the talent, the brains, and the wit to be a massive commercial success, but his loathing of the corporate capitalist culture led him to make sure he sabotaged any attempt to mainstream him. And thank goodness for it. His work was not only prolific, intelligent, and intricate, it was just darn funny. Part of it was the shock stuff, but there was always a part of Zappa that was always clever or surreal and another part where you could never tell what he was making fun of and what he was authentically doing.
Funniest Zappa tune? My suggestion is the version of Sofa #1 on the first volume of "You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore."
Others?
Live, love, and laugh,
Irreverend Steve
- Do We Pass The Funny Down To Our Kids?
My Fellow Comedists, Some speculative comedist sociology this weekend. Are you more likely to be funny if you come from a funny family? Is the funny something biological that some folks have and others don't? Is it something we get from our environment?...
- Funny Songs: The Elements And I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major-general
My Fellow Comedists, This week I begin work on a new theological tract. Yes, the annual meeting of the Lighthearted Philosophers' Society is almost upon us and my paper needs writing. I am looking at particular mechanisms for non-joke-based humorous...
- Funniest Play
My Fellow Comedists, We took the short people to Williamsburg for a couple days and while there saw a production of a 17th century farce, Polly Honeycombe. They rolled. I mean full out belly-laughs. So, this weekend, let's ask, what is the funniest...
- The Feast Day Of Saint Demento
My Fellow Comedists, Today is the 70th birthday of Barry Hansen, better known as Dr. Demento. Long before we had YouTube and e-mail to help comedy go viral, Dr. Demento and his syndicated radio program were our primary vector for infectious laughter....
- Cosmic Debris Or Not: Frank Zappa Edition
There's an old sketch film called Amazon Women on the Moon and one of the bits is a parody of the old Leonard Nimoy show, "In Search Of..." called, "Bullshit or Not?" with the tagline "Bullshit or not? You decide." It's a line I like so much that...
Philosophy
Remembering Frank Zappa
My Fellow Comedists,
Today is the 17th anniversary of the passing of Frank Zappa. He had the talent, the brains, and the wit to be a massive commercial success, but his loathing of the corporate capitalist culture led him to make sure he sabotaged any attempt to mainstream him. And thank goodness for it. His work was not only prolific, intelligent, and intricate, it was just darn funny. Part of it was the shock stuff, but there was always a part of Zappa that was always clever or surreal and another part where you could never tell what he was making fun of and what he was authentically doing.
Funniest Zappa tune? My suggestion is the version of Sofa #1 on the first volume of "You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore."
Others?
Live, love, and laugh,
Irreverend Steve
- Do We Pass The Funny Down To Our Kids?
My Fellow Comedists, Some speculative comedist sociology this weekend. Are you more likely to be funny if you come from a funny family? Is the funny something biological that some folks have and others don't? Is it something we get from our environment?...
- Funny Songs: The Elements And I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major-general
My Fellow Comedists, This week I begin work on a new theological tract. Yes, the annual meeting of the Lighthearted Philosophers' Society is almost upon us and my paper needs writing. I am looking at particular mechanisms for non-joke-based humorous...
- Funniest Play
My Fellow Comedists, We took the short people to Williamsburg for a couple days and while there saw a production of a 17th century farce, Polly Honeycombe. They rolled. I mean full out belly-laughs. So, this weekend, let's ask, what is the funniest...
- The Feast Day Of Saint Demento
My Fellow Comedists, Today is the 70th birthday of Barry Hansen, better known as Dr. Demento. Long before we had YouTube and e-mail to help comedy go viral, Dr. Demento and his syndicated radio program were our primary vector for infectious laughter....
- Cosmic Debris Or Not: Frank Zappa Edition
There's an old sketch film called Amazon Women on the Moon and one of the bits is a parody of the old Leonard Nimoy show, "In Search Of..." called, "Bullshit or Not?" with the tagline "Bullshit or not? You decide." It's a line I like so much that...