Tuesday, August 2, 2005

Stand-Up Guy

Just watched Bill Maher's latest HBO Special, which is entitled "I'm Swiss," and which reruns often over the next few weeks. (It's on tomorrow night, to name one instance.) Mr. Maher has developed an annoying little giggle that punctuates many a line, as if to suggest he just thought of it and can't help cracking himself up. It's a bad habit that amateurs often apply to material of questionable mirth...a way of suggesting bogus spontaneity and implying, "Hey, even if you don't find this funny, I do." The special also has a couple of jarring edits in it. All taped stand-up specials are edited but it's usually not this obvious.

Those problems aside, I thought it was terrific. I remember Maher from his early days at the Improv. He took stage with smart material but if the audience didn't get with him by the fourth or fifth joke, he often turned on them. I think he's gotten better but he's also been discovered by a slightly brighter breed of audience.

The material is highly political and if Bush-bashing gives you gas, you might be happier watching something else. But I found myself laughing even at some stuff with which I didn't agree, and any political comic who can manage that has my respect.

• Posted at 10:23 PM · LINK

News Watch

Great news: All 309 folks aboard that jet that crashed at the airport in Toronto escaped with their lives. I sure didn't think that would be the case when I watched about a half-hour of news coverage this afternoon, dancing between CNN, MSNBC and Fox. The folks covering the accident obviously thought the opposite had occurred, and some were using a lot of phrases to indicate as much. I recall a reporter on one of the channels (I forget which one) saying, "In a crash of this magnitude, you have to figure on major casualties." That must have been comforting to those who had friends or family members aboard.

We get a lot of this in today's highly-competitive news market, especially when they put newsfolks on the air to fill an hour with maybe three minutes of actual facts. At some point, they weary of repeating the same known info over and over and they start speculating and implying things. I remember hearing a Journalism professor once say that the sad fact of the news business is that you get more credit for being first than for being accurate. One suspects the producers and on-air talent at the major news channels are ever-conscious of the fact that you can and will change channels if you think they've said all they have to say.

In fairness, some of what I heard showed restraint and caution. But, boy, I'd have hated to be watching the news desperately to find out if a loved one had perished. For quite some time there, they didn't have any information...and even when they didn't, that didn't stop some of them.

• Posted at 5:05 PM · LINK