Dem
47
GOP
53
The original Martin Scorsese movie, released in 1982, is about a stand-up comedian (Rupert Pupkin, played by Robert DeNiro) who takes aim at entrenched power, as embodied by an established talk show host (Jerry Langford, played by Jerry Lewis). This being the case, if you happen to be witness to a bunch of stand-up comedians AND established talk show hosts taking aim at entrenched power, does that not make them the kings of comedy? A 21st-century answer to the 1982 film, as it were?
And now, what seems to be a non sequitur, but is not: Whenever we have to cancel a posting at the last minute, it's invariably because (Z) was somehow left unavailable. If (V) falls ill, or whatever else might happen, there's time to compensate by virtue of the time difference between the United States and the Netherlands. With (Z) there is not. This is the price, we suppose, of the site (usually) being up-to-date, to the last hour or even the last minute, when we go live around 3:00 a.m. PT.
In these circumstances, it is usually (V) who posts the message that we're down for the day, or the weekend, or whatever. And (V) is, of course, going to show discretion in sharing details that aren't his details. So, yesterday's message was a bit on the general side. That said, what happened is not a secret, and is not particularly bad. As we have noted, (Z) had to have a biopsy about 6 weeks ago. During that biopsy, during the "sedation" portion of the proceedings, someone did something to (Z)'s left arm that tore something in his left elbow—tendon, ligament... can never remember. Whatever it is that tears when you have tennis elbow.
By chance, Thursday happened to be the day that (Z) saw the hepatologist, for confirmation that the biopsy was clean as a whistle, and that the original, preliminary scan showed liver scarring that is not actually present. However, that is not what led to the missing posting. No, what led to the missing posting was that Thursday night, (Z) banged his left elbow really hard, while being jostled by a crowd. When this happens, in this way, it causes a sensation in which the entire lower-left arm feels, for lack of a better description, asleep. (Z) spent 15 minutes on Thursday night trying to type with one hand, and it... just doesn't work. And trying to dictate doesn't work either. The effect only lasts 3-6 hours, but 3-6 hours is enough. We pondered posting at noon PT, but decided against it.
So, how is this NOT a non sequitur? Well, the event where (Z) banged his arm was a show at the Hollywood Bowl entitled: "Netflix is a Joke Presents: Night of Too Many Stars." This is an event, usually staged every 2-3 years, where a truly unbelievable roster of comics (and friends) put together what used to be called a "revue," in order to raise money for charity. In this case, the charity is NEXT for AUTISM.
(Z) thinks and assumes that the involvement of Netflix means the show will eventually be streamed on that service. If it is, it's certainly worthy of your time. The basic setup of the live show (and this might not be replicated in this exact way for any sort of streaming broadcast) was that they alternated between stand-up sets, comic bits that were tied to live fundraising auctions, and live/video messages about various autism-related efforts that NEXT for AUTISM supports. This was the kind of crowd that—for example—included someone sitting probably 50 feet from (Z), who raised his hand and donated $100,000. Just like that. Another two people, sitting only a little farther away, donated something like $60,000 each for the honor of being animated into an episode of The Simpsons. There was actually only supposed to be one Simpsons prize, but as good fortune would have it, showrunner Matt Selman was sitting maybe 50 feet from (Z), and as the bidding caught fire, he stood up and said the show would be pleased to accommodate two winners. If it helps to paint a picture, here is the view from (Z)'s seat:
That's Ali Wong on stage, and the distance there (from Z's seat to Wong) is probably something like 100 feet. You can see a woman in a black-and-white-striped shirt; Selman is the man in the black jacket sitting in front of her. The $100,000 donation guy is not in the frame, but was to (Z)'s right and slightly behind.
Oh, and in case you are wondering, this is not exactly (Z)'s crowd. Well, beyond the fact that he lives in L.A., and an event like this often draws an audience like this. Anyhow, (Z) got his rather primo seat not because the rather primo ticket price is in his price range, but because he has a friend who works at the Hollywood Bowl, and she pulled some strings. (Z) did make a donation to NEXT for AUTISM, however. But not for $100,000.
Anyhow, here's a rundown of the lineup:
Emcee: Jon Stewart
Stand-Up Sets/Other Comedy: Bill Burr, Conan O'Brien, Ron Funches, Nikki Glaser, Leanne Morgan, John Mulaney, Matt Rife, Adam Sandler, Wong
Bits/Auctions/Presentations on Autism Charities: Steve Carell, Tiffany Haddish, Jimmy Kimmel, Johnny Knoxville, Kevin Nealon, Bob Odenkirk, CM Punk, Sarah Silverman, Robert Smigel, Noah Wyle
What "other comedy" refers to is that a few of the performers did a little bit of stand-up and then performed a comic song or two or three. Such was the case with O'Brien and Sandler, in particular. Kimmel and Stewart also joined in on O'Brien's performance. Oh, and this list isn't 100% comprehensive—(Z) is working from memory, and there were a number of other people who popped up for a moment or two as part of a bit, or who were in the audience and stood up for a moment (like Tommy Hilfiger). It should also be noted that all of the stand-up sets were introduced by people with autism, who are clients of the various autism-related charities. That these folks were able to get up in front of 18,000 people, with all those lights and all those noises, and to address the crowd like pros... is really something.
By virtue of, you know, the blog he writes, (Z) could not help but watch the show and think that if FCC Chair Brendan Carr ever decides to do his own version of the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, probably half of the people who would be on it were on that stage on Thursday night. Kimmel has been on the radar more than once, first for his comments after Charlie Kirk's death, and then for his joke about Melania Trump. Mulaney was "investigated" at the end of Trump v1.0 for jokes he made during a Saturday Night Live monologue. Trump has raged at Stewart on multiple occasions. Knoxville has sued Trump (albeit for messaging purposes, not to try to win). Silverman has accused Trump of sexual-predator-type behavior targeting her.
Truth be told, despite the above allusion to The King of Comedy, the politics were fairly well muted during the 3-hour show. One could not miss that it was a largely left-leaning roster of talent, and a largely left-leaning crowd. And there were certainly a few brief barbs tossed in the general direction of Trump and/or his administration. However, the only extended political bits came from Mulaney, who spent about 2 minutes of his 8-minute set making fun of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Burr, who spent about 2 minutes of HIS 8-minute set making fun of Trump. And in case it holds your interest, (Z) could see the teleprompter that was used to tell the comedians roughly how much time they had left. And the only person who had no time limit imposed was... Sandler (who, to be fair, was the last act of the evening).
Anyhow, the main theme of the night was definitely not politics, it was autism awareness and fundraising. And they surely brought in a boatload of money. The auctions generated a total in the high six figures, and the ticket sales, concessions and sponsorships undoubtedly multiplied that by many times. If it came out that the night, on the whole, generated $10 million, (Z) would not be in the least bit surprised. Depending on how much Netflix kicked in, that total might even approach $20 million.
And while (Z) could not help but think of the political angle, the thought that occurred even more frequently is that these are all fundamentally very decent people. They all gave their time and their talent to try to make the world a little better place. The emotional climax of the evening came, naturally enough, near the end. The main driver of this whole effort is Smigel, whose twenty-something son Daniel is "profoundly autistic" (to quote Smigel himself). Smigel's wife Michelle does not like to make public appearances, and his son would not be capable of handling so much stimulation, so instead they played a video telling Daniel's story, narrated by Michelle. When the video was over and the lights came back up, the tears in Stewart's eyes were very visible.
Stewart, incidentally, has served as emcee for most of the "Night of Too Many Stars" events, dating back to 2003. Others who have made appearances at more than one of the shows include Burr, Carell, Mulaney, Sandler, Silverman and Wyle. Again, these are very decent people, despite those who assert... well, otherwise.
Have a good (rest of your) weekend, all! (Z)