Sort of waiting for the GF to decide whether she’s melting or not and if we’re going to do something about it. It’s not that it’s horribly hot out there, but it is something like 110 percent humidity, I just saw a sturgeon swim by my attic window.
So I killed a little time (forensically they’ll call it blunt force trauma, I used the handle) watching stuff on Netflix. I down to the shit they recommend, it’s like they’re trying to lose 7.99 a month. I watched this stand-up hour by this pregnant Asian chick, Ali Wong.
It took me about a half an hour to figure out why I was disturbed that it was sort of funny to me. I have a hierarchy of opinions on stand-up, the top three are; 1) God I wish I wrote that. 2) I probably could have written that. 3) Shit. I wrote that. And the bottom three are; 1) That joke would work if there was something funny in it. 2) That might be good if they paid someone to deliver it. 3) That’s not funny and it’s not offensive enough or clumsy enough to be peripherally funny.
She didn’t hit any of that. It was during the blue part of her set that I figured it out. Um, I was ignoring the blue part, mostly because it sounded like one of those Tupperware stye sex toy demonstrations, keeping it light and funny while being instructional — if she was going for that she’s a genius. I reflected on the first part. I figured out why it was disturbing. I was sort of her demographic. She’s over twenty years younger, not being a white male is part of her schtick, she used topical jokes (well, sort of, she referred to modern celebrity here and there) and yet the patter, the style, inflection and innuendo, the style and feel of it was sort of aimed at me, not the content, but Christ I can’t think of a single living comedian who can get by on content.
I guess she writes for that TV show Fresh off the Boat. I watched the pilot up to the first commercial break. Either the stand up is old or it’s still on the air. To me that first few minutes was like a Saturday night live routine; thirty seconds of premises stretched into a fifteen minute routine. For at least a decade SNL didn’t even have funny premises and stretched them to a half hour. 36 years ago it would have been good and god damned edgy to have a show about Vietnamese immigrants. Today it plays like someone bought the rights to the jeffersons at a garage sale redacted all the black and penciled in yellow with a Crayola. And yet, if she’s a writer the show is tailored to the tail end of the baby boomers.
Pardon my bitchiness. A shark just ate my window sturgeon. And I’m not just phrasing things to be bitchy about. I can’t really remember when the last time a stand up hit trying to pander to me, I thought that window of opportunity had been sealed shut and bricked over. And if I had wished to be pandered to one more time I wouldn’t have even thought of a 35 year old prep schooled pregnant Asian woman who writes for TV as being the vessel. And the going blue stuff? She’s from the sex kills generation. I mean there’s a credulity gap. I’m sure she went overboard because she writes for a family show and wants some stand up cred, but yikes.
She had one funny line during the over the top blue, this guy broke up with her because she asked him to do anal. She was like “Are you fucking kidding me? If I went to Craig’s list and posted petit Asian chick seeking anal the internet would shut down.” In a novices hands that joke would have had a much longer set up. The camera panned the audience. You could tell the people who were laughing because it’s true from the ones laughing because other people were laughing.
I should probably quit bitching, Nothing worse than someone almost ashamed of laughing at comedy. I just don’t usually laugh much at stand up. I’m not ashamed and I didn’t laugh that much. Just kind of surprised. If she were a friend and looking for criticism, I think the whole thing was a little too slick, self aware in a technical way, which is hard to pull off at 7 and half months pregnant.
Yeah, ok, going back to waiting. There was a thunderstorm last night, GF lost power from midnight to five. Way too swampy for that. I might be waiting until the sun goes down.
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