peep the latest
Friday, February 24, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
They Might Be Giants
Congratulations to my NY Giants for winning another Superbowl. It was a most ripping victory. The Giants are football royalty. Being a Giants fan means you get to see your team go all the way every few years. Being a Jets fan means you get to route for the Giants every few years.
The most compelling thing about the Giants is that their fearless leader doesn’t look fearless or like a leader. Yet the quiet Giant has two Superbowl rings and all of New York City is feeling the noise. Now, the Knicks have an Asian point guard, who graduated from Harvard, driving the whole country bananas.
That’s what’s great about sports. The results trump the preconceived notions. Eli still looks dopey but it’s a fact that he captured a most elusive spoil twice over. What happens in other arenas where there’s no one keeping score? We allow our selves to be tricked is what happens. Truth is clouded by marketing tactics. We judge books by the cover. Some of the toughest people look the nerdiest. Some of the nerdiest looking are the most dull. Obviously sight is usually the first sense activated in most situations so to pre-judge is unavoidable. However at some point we must do the math and tally reality into our assessment.
I love that people I grew up with can attest that I’m from the hoods that rappers rap about. Some of those rappers are not from the hoods they rap about. Millionaire Rick Brown won the senator race in Massachusetts and said “I'm Scott Brown, I'm from Wrentham, I drive a truck...” I guess to say, “I’m one of you.” Yeah, and serial killers recycle but that doesn’t make them green. Clearly perceptions and norms come from somewhere. Those perceptions are there for a reason. They do exist. I don’t think we should look for exceptions or to confirm what we already think. Just allow the truth of every situation to present itself. Eli is elite, Jeremy Lin can ball and I should be in Paris getting effed up. :-)
Thursday, February 09, 2012
Is Brooklyn in The House (without a doubt...)
I had a groovy time last night at my show in San Francisco at the Punchline. It’s one of these clubs where the crowd is smart enough to get heady concepts yet down to earth enough to laugh at fart jokes. I try to make my comedy a marriage between smart and silly so the Punchline is right up my alley.
The most notable audience member was a girl I went to elementary school with in Brooklyn. Veronica was in my same class from grades 1-6. She was the smartest person in my class. (I’m keeping myself out of contention, for all my readers whose jaws just dropped. :-) We also lived in the same building. She’s from a concrete Brooklyn jungle raised during the crack years and she went to Stanford and is now a civil engineer. I’m as proud of her making it out of the hood by way of education and she is of me making it out by way of jokes. She was clearly on a trajectory for greatness even as a child. Veronica was always well behaved and studious. I was always studious but no one ever accused me of being well behaved.
I see there’s a Chinese dad in New York making his toddler run in the snow with his underwear on. The father calls himself the Eagle dad. It’s a part of the father’s “toughen up” regimen. Huh?? The boy is 4 years old. For every child hazed by their parents I can show you a child raised with leniency that will accomplish just as much. I really don’t feel all that bad for the boy. It’s just snow and he’ll be fine and maybe it will toughen him up. I just question the effectiveness of it all. Nothing trumps love. I’m sure my childhood friend was held to a high standard growing up but I’m also sure that she was loved. I never even had a curfew growing up but again, I was loved.
My father took my pacifier away from me at a very young age. Tough Love. Making a four year old run half naked through snow? Bananas! I don’t believe in coddling but I also don’t believe in treating a child like he’s a Navy Seal. The video doesn’t show the parents, but unless the father was out there in the cold with his undies on I call BS.
If you want your kids to be productive members of society try cutting off the TV, limiting video games, cutting out processed foods. When levying out discipline ask yourself child development or Russian secret service training. I don’t think Veronica was ever forced to run in the show. Dodging bullets was challenging enough.
Boy walking in the snow:
http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c3#/video/world/2012/02/09/yoon-boy-snow-china.cnn
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Oldie But Goodie
I did a show in Hollywood last Saturday night and the comic before me was 92 years old. He started comedy when he was a wily 91. He actually did very well and was quite astute at joke telling.
Right now you might be feeling bad about yourself. You should, but you should also be emboldened that the adage that it’s never too late to be what you could’ve been is a real thing. I don’t see Max selling out the Staples Center or starring in a buddy cop action comedy* any time soon but to have your health and wits about you enough to tell jokes at 92 is amazing.
A 92 year old gets the same crowd support that an 8 year old would get. The audience wants them to do well and is already impressed that they’re even on the stage. It’s adorable. The fact that Max hit every joke dead on was a very welcomed bonus.
What have we learned? For 1 comedy obviously keeps the mind sharp and secondly it’s never too late. So pick up the phone and get the old band back together.
*QSN(Quick Side Note): If Max did star in an action buddy cop movie what would it be called?
- Old But Not Yeller
- Geriatric Tactics
- I’m Actually Too Old For This S@$t!
- The Early Bird Special
- Stop! or I’ll Poop
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
