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Comedy: The Good, the Bad, and the Funny |
| Section: LIFE / LEISURE |
| Author: Robin Parker |
| Publication:
The World & I Online |
| Issue Date: 12/1/1989 |
| Size: 1,678 Words, 9,860 Characters |
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From the rear of a dimly lit comedy club, tonight's comedians assess the crowd. The overflow audience is already caught up in the emcee's loud, aggressive, radically oriented, and sexually suggestive lines. "I-i-i-i-t's party night! How you all feel tonight? That's good because I hate it when a bunch of white people look at me all angry. … Everyone here looks happy. Everybody must be single."
Meanwhile, the least experienced performer is revising his script, adding bawdy lines to satisfy the laugh-hungry crowd. But the headliner makes no last-minute fixes: the place is packed with his followers. The crowd craves the sarcastic social commentary of his loony, cavorting persona; no changes are needed.
The packed house is indicative of what has happened to comedy during the eighties: It has exploded; it is big business. More than two thousand stand-up comics work the four hundred clubs that have sprung up in the past half decade. Some of the highest grossing tele...
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...re, "honesty to one's own self and character."
Shore, Rindels, and others of comedy's movers and shakers say they look forward to a purer comedy in the nineties. Audiences are growing to appreciate the art of comedy, and they will learn to distinguish among comedic styles. The cream will rise to the top and be lapped up, while the rest will settle for cracking jokes on their day jobs. vbcrlf
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Publication Details
(The World & I Online) |
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The World & I Online is a
comprehensive academic resource that encompasses a broad range of
articles by scholars and experts in the areas of Global Studies,
Liberal Arts, Fine & Applied Arts, General Science, and Spanish.
Originally published monthly in print as The World & I, our site
includes the complete contents since 1986 and continues to publish
a new issue online each month. |
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