Comedy As The New Rock and Roll: A Panel Discussion; An Eerie Coincidence
Much is being made of my assertion in this month's issue of Spin magazine that "comedy is the new rock and roll" (at least, much is being made among a very loyal if not slightly obsessed and self selecting subculture of comedy fans and comics).
And, to this end, the first installment of my new monthly talk show, New York Stories, will examine the current state of comedy. The panel, entitled "A Laughing Matter: The Comedic State of the Union," will look at comedy as an industry and an art form with a trio of all-star panelists: Andy Borowitz, Lisa Leingang (the VP of programming and development at CBS) and Eugene Mirman.
Among other subjects, we will discuss whether comedy is the new rock and roll (or whether, as others seem to suggest, it's this year's brown).
In related news, Adam Sternbergh of Fametracker fame said the following in a recent Gothamist interview:
"I expect a big national comedy renaissance to blossom out of New York. A friend of mine described the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater as being to comedy right now what CBGB was to music in the 70s, and I think that's true."
Compare his statement, made on January 3, 2006, to a sentence from the above-mentioned piece in the January issue of Spin (which hit news stands before Chirstmas 2005 and was written in the fall of '05):
"This DIY movement has since blossomed into the alternative-comedy scene--the constellation of smaller, experimental shows that have dotted the Lower East Side of Manhattan and West Hollywood (and many points in between) since the early 1990s. Venues such as Rififi in Manhattan and the M Bar in Los Angeles are to comedy today what CBGB was to punk rock in the 1970s."
Hmmm. Probably just a coincidence. At any rate, here are the details for tomorrow night's show:
New York States of Mind
Weds. January 11 at 7 p.m.
Makor Center
35 West 67th Street (btw Central Park West and Columbus Ave.)
Tickets are $12 in advance
To order tickets go here or call (212) 601-1000
Comments
If comedy is the new rock and roll comedy will be dead about 23 years after it is bornm but comedy is not dead and comedy was born more than 23 years ago. If comedy was rock and roll, than it would already have mined itself completely and be nothing but new ways to arrange old things, a set of cliche attitudes and poses and phrases and a bunch of dead-brain marketers trying to beat it up into a frise of hormone-stimulants. But comedy is not that. I don't know what comedy is, which is why it is not the new rock and roll, because I know what rock and roll is, one small version of youth, a pose, a fun pose, yes, but just one fun pose that is now boring because the arms and nose and even the genitals have fallen off and it's dust, dust, dust. I'd rather the unknoweable every time.
Posted by: Allen Salkin | January 21, 2006 12:39 AM