Category: people

“I think I got the idea that the high-serious and the funny were not separate. The idea that something could be gross and heartfelt at the same time. Some of the funniest things in South Chicago were also the most deeply true – these sort of over-the-line, rude utterances that were right on the money and undeniable. Their truth had rendered them inappropriate; … they responded to the urgency of the moment.”

“There is one famous animator who rebukes modern technology in favor of hand-drawn, 2-D conventions. His grumpiness knows no bounds … From his hard-line environmentalism and anti-Fabian leanings to comparing, in July of 2010, the act of using an iPad to public masturbation, he has painted himself as a Luddite with rigorous creative standards that have resulted, ironically, in his becoming an entertainment icon.”

“With Mr. Rossi as the good-looking one who sang and [Marty] Allen as the zany, childlike one who got the laughs, Allen and Rossi were reminiscent of the hottest comedy team of the early 1950s, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. But whereas Martin and Lewis specialized in broad physical comedy, Allen and Rossi’s humor was mostly verbal.”

“Taylor quickly squished herself between her mother and Disney. ‘The sweetest thing of all is at one point he said, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” I said, “I want to work for you.”‘”

Among the hit songs the pair wrote together in the late 1960s were “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, “Take Good Care of My Baby”, “Up on the Roof”, and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?”

Yes, the Great White North is such an incubator of comic talent that it exports funnymen even to the People’s Republic. Dashan (né Mark Henry Rowswell) has been making the Chinese laugh – yes, in fluent Mandarin – in bars, in theatres and on national television for 25 years. (audio interview plus video clips)

Jon Gnarr ran on a platform promising free trips to Disneyland and more polar bears at the zoo; he even promised to break all his promises if elected. Then he was. (audio interview plus video clip)

“After a high-profile apprenticeship with some of the biggest names in jazz, Mr. Silver began leading his own group in the mid-1950s and quickly became a big name himself, celebrated for his clever compositions and his infectious, bluesy playing.”

The sometime standup comedian and retired host of NBC’s Tonight Show said in a statement “What an honor! I’m a big fan of Mark Twain’s. In fact, A Tale of Two Cities is one of my favorite books!”

“Through classic compositions such as ‘Song for My Father,’ ‘Nica’s Dream’ and ‘Señor Blues’,” [the pianist and founder of the Jazz Messengers “influenced generations of musicians with a style that encompassed all his musical loves: gospel, blues, Latin rhythm. It was music that, in Silver’s words, ‘cooked’ and ‘burned’.”