Last night I watched Jerry Seinfeld and Jimmy
Fallon on the "Tonight Show". Turns out Jerry has kept track of every Standup
Routine he's ever written. I guess they have them in the computer-- and are
included in a Netflix Special on Jerry-- which I will check out.
The weird
thing... they played a game where the computer brought up a random Jerry Routine
from the thousands. As soon as Jerry saw the name, like "Pizza Hut"
he recalled the routine in pretty good detail. He would do it, using a
teleprompter, and hit his marks almost perfectly.
Jimmy Fallon would do
Seinfeld routines, imitating Jerry, using the Teleprompter also. Fallon did a
very good job recreating Seinfeld. I saw some similarities in the two men. They
truly enjoy entertaining. They are not comfortable with insult humor, profanity
or going political. Coincidentally I heard Fallon interviewed by Terry Gross on
NPR radio. He came across as a compassionate person, but basically easygoing. I
tend to like sharper comics-- like David Letterman.
...
I always liked comedians. I remember when a comedian came on TV back in the
Sixties, I would feel my heart relax, like I respected the effort the funny man
was putting forth and the comedian's mere existence made me feel safer, like
the world was a better place. Sometimes I would find myself laughing out loud
watching the show, and I was a very careful, self-protective kid. I would think
to myself "Wow, John, not like you to laugh harder than other family
members in this public setting. You must really like this stuff." So,
there you have it-- my admiration for comedians goes way back. I like the way
they violate norms and discuss the awkward issues that society hasn't figured
out yet.
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