No Comedy, No Confidence

This week Ithaca College president, Tom Rochon, called an all campus meeting to discuss the racial climate on campus. On his part it failed spectacularly, on the part of the students involved in POC at IC it was a energizing success. A few days before this meeting the comedy clubs on campus released a statement that read:

"Comedy is at its best when it is honest, contains complex ideas, and expresses diverse experiences. This cannot happen on a campus where the college administration does not support people of color and invalidates their experiences. The comedy community at Ithaca College representing IC Comedy Club, IC Stand Up, The Acahti Players, and IC Sketch would like to formally voice our support for POC at IC and express a vote of no confidence in President Tom Rochon and the Board of Trustees."

As president of IC Sketch I partly released and stand by this statement. Good comedy cannot exist in spaces where authority dictates which experiences get brought to light and in which light they are brought. This lack of confidence is mirrored in the greater entertainment community, although the problem of authority tends to be more insular. The reason we end up with racially insensitive (to say the least) comedies such as "Get Hard" and Adam Sandler's latest movie "Ridiculous Six" isn't because of an outsider force, it's because Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell are the authorities on how experiences are dictated. Adam Sandler has decided they would be dictated with jokes, that caused Native American actors to walk off set, such as these:

1) Sandler’s character, Tommy, aka Three Knives, a white man raised by Native Americans since childhood is married to a woman named Smoking Fox. A recurring joke refers to her "sweet zum-zum."

2) A female character named Beaver’s Breath, is propositioned by a male character, asking, "Hey Beaver’s Breath." To which she responds, "How did you know my name?"

3) A "sexy" female character named No Bra (originally named Sits-on-Face in the 2012 script), is depicted crudely squatting to urinate behind a teepee while stereotypically lighting up a peace pipe.

4) Will Patch (Will Forte) propositions Sits-on-Face by asking her, "How about after this, we go someplace and I put my peepee in your teepee?"

5) Cicero (Danny Trejo) interacts with Sits-on-Face by calling her "Strawberry Tits," to which she indignantly corrects him, saying "I am Sits-on-Face." Cicero responds, "Well, then I’m Stiff-in-Pants!"

6) There are numerous instances of crudely-punned pseudo Native American names like Five Hairy Moles, One Eyebrow, and Four Pickles.

Adam Sandler has declared himself the authority on how to portray the Native American identity leading Native American actors to unsurprisingly cast a vote of no confidence in Sandler and the industry he represents. We must recognize that this problem exists outside of IC and that the comedy battleground does not get more leveled upon graduation. We need to continue to evaluate our confidence in the institutions we have previously lauded, especially if those institutions starred in Jack and Jill.

Saturday Night Live: Comedy Daycare

I like to think of Saturday Night Live as a daycare for comedians with Lorne Michaels as the overruling nanny for all the little kids who don't know any better. After 40 years on air, it's a proven staple on our television line up. It's popularity has only risen in recent years because of Internet video sharing, and sites like YouTube, in which 4-6 minute videos are all anyone's attention can handle. Not only that, but we've seen the success of past SNL comedians and the all the brilliant work they've done after leaving the show. With people like Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy and countless more, the potential for success after leaving the show is very high. So like I said, it's a daycare. Young, talented comedians come in and play around with their funny and creative ideas. They grow and step into their comedic talent, mastering impressions and nailing their punchline timing. It's very obvious which cast members are brand new and which are the veterans. All the while, Lorne Michaels watches over with an insightful eye and approves or disapproves of whatever skit is being pitched. He turns these no name youngsters into show runners and head writers. It's a given that some skits will work and others will completely miss the mark, but that's part of the growing process for all these comedians.
 After leaving daycare, many of these talented jokesters have gone on to write and/or star in our favorite television shows. Most recently, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have finished their long running shows, 30 Rock and Parks and Rec. In addition, many of SNL's recent departures are now putting their footprint on the industry. Fred Armisen, who was on SNL for 13 years, is now in his 6th season of Portlandia, which he created. Last Man on Earth, Fox's new hit comedy, stars Will Forte who spent 10 years at SNL. Andy Samberg, digital short genius and 8 year cast member, is now the star of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and recently hosted the Emmys. Kristen Wiig gifted the world with Bridesmaids, and Seth Meyers is the host of Late Night. These recent SNL grads are only at the beginning of their post-SNL career and have a lot of room to grow. 

All in all, we should thank Lorne Michaels for creating such a program to help these comedians grow. Who knows if Tina Fey would have ever written Mean Girls or if Will Ferrell would have starred in dozens of hilarious comedies. Maybe? Probably not. So for all those new cast members who are awkward and mess up their lines, you may have your own show in 5-10 years. Hell, you may even host The Tonight Show.

The Never Ending Commitment of Will Ferrell

Who is your favorite actor? Tough question I know. And with a never ending range of options it's a pretty difficult thing to answer. But back in my youth, there was a simple and easy response: Will Ferrell. 

It's not easy to sell Will Ferrell as the best actor around, and today I'd give a different answer, but back in my younger days he was my top choice. The reason was pretty simple, everything he did made me laugh. I can't tell you how many hours my brother and I spent locked in our TV room watching "Anchorman" or "Old School" or his SNL best of DVD. When it came to Will Ferrell we just couldn't get enough. As I've gotten older my taste has matured somewhat and I've somewhat moved on from the brand of comedy that filled my youth. It's part of growing up and everyone leaves parts of their childhood behind. However, with Farrell there's an element of nostalgia, that keeps me invested in his career.  

Most recently Farrell stared in a 50 minute HBO Baseball mockumentary entitled, "Farrell Takes The Field." The special had Farrell playing 10 different positions for 10 different Major League Baseball teams, a record first achieved by Bert Campaneris in 1965. As a big fan of baseball and Will Farrell, I was immediately intrigued by the idea. Last March, Farrell filmed the special in Arizona playing briefly in 5 different games. Because he filmed it during spring training I was actually able to follow each game online with exclusive footage provided by MLB. The glimpse I got was hilarious and I had high expectations going into Saturday's premiere. 

While it was a pleasant 50 minutes of content, I was overall disappointed with it. They shortened some of my favorite moments from the day and it felt like they cut some great content in order to carry on jokes, that didn't quite hit. While I wasn't completely satisfied with the special as a whole, I still admired Farrell's performance overall. 

One of the things that has made Farrell great throughout his career is his unwavering commitment to a role. Even when the premise of his piece is ridiculous he is completely committed to taking it seriously. In the HBO special, Farrell goes through the games as though he is trying to secure a spot on each team and although it is obvious to everyone involved that it is a joke, Farrell never drops from character. His interactions with the players and the coaches read like a utility infielder trying to fit into a new situation after every trade. And regardless of how the mockumentary came out, all the proceeds raised during the special went to a cancer foundation that Farrell started and that's something everyone can get behind.

While Farrell's movies haven't exactly hit it big the last few years, he has always done a great job of staying relevant through all the different medias that are available to us. Whether he's appearing in random Milwaukee Beer commercials, or creating and posting Funny or Die videos,  he has found a way to stay current. And in each ridiculous video, his complete devotion to the comedy can be seen. Regardless of of your thoughts on Will Ferrell, it's hard not to appreciate his dedication to his craft. His unwavering commitment to each role is something every actor can learn from.

Innovative Directing

As I was scrolling through Buzzfeed today I stumbled upon a post about the "18 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Elf". Even though it's only the start of November, I indulged myself in some Christmas spirit by reading this article. The article was very interesting because there really were 18 things that I didn't know about the movie. One of my favorites was that the scene where Will Ferrell is testing jack-in-the-boxes.

The reaction that he has at this moment is completely genuine. The director of this movie, Jon Favreau, used a remote control to manually make the jack-in-the-boxes pop up. This excellent directing caused Will Ferrell to have the perfect reaction. There is total anticipation and then surprise during this scene. It is one of the more memorable scenes in this movie for me because, no matter how many times I've seen Elf, I am still startled just like Buddy the Elf.

After I watched this I looked up other creative ways to direct actors so that the acting they do does not come off as phony. In the movie Saving Private Ryan, Stephen Spielberg made every single actor (including Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, and Vin Diesel) go through bootcamp for 10 days. He literally put them through hell so that the actors would get a glimpse as to what war was actually like. He even went as far to feed them all old canned rations and he hired a marine give everyone orders like they were any other soldier.

This just goes to show that direction of the actors is key in making a spot-on performance by the actors and a truly authentic movie.