Colbert funny or not funny? A little of both.

[Guaranteed]

Look- some of Colbert's zingers were hilarious. Especially right at the beginning- he needed someone to shoot him in the face, which I was ROLLING over- and then with Scalia, and his press secretary audition tape was funny as hell, too.

But, when he was talking TO Bush- for the most part, no, he wasn't funny. "Backwash" was funny. 68% approving of the job Bush ISN'T doing was funny. But the rest was simply brutal- and necessary.

Yes, Colbert was most definitely funny, at times. But he also mixed in a lot of really nasty, sarcastic barbs that weren't funny at all. That's what he does every day on his show. And, yes, sometimes his show isn't so much funny as it is insightful, or even angry. His job is to expose the truth, USING humor, when he can.

If I had been him, I wouldn't have done it any differently.

If you're looking to judge his performance on how funny he was- well, he was funny. Yes, he was.

But, I judge his performance much more on how well he showed the people in the room what they are doing to our country. And that NO ONE can take from him.

[REP]

1. Most of All, It Was Brave

Yes, the "Stephen Colbert" character talks about his balls, but the real guy had to get up there and tell the emperor he was naked. That was brave. And of course, he was very funny.

[Guaranteed]

2. Absolutely. And he DIDN'T look nervous to me.

I was scared as hell, FOR him.

Others have mentioned that he seemed nervous. But I didn't see him or hear his voice shake, at all. His poise under pressure was magnificent.

[bigscott]

4. it was needed

and the jabs at * were great BUT more importantly were the jabs at the lap-dog press. God Bless Him

[Crankie Avalon]

12. Agreed. He knew going in EXACTLY...

...what sort of reaction that sort of room was going to have, and he didn't care. He came from outside the world of the beltway insider to stick it to them and it was brilliant. Not only did he not seem nervous, he actually seemed to be getting more and more energized as he went along. He knew what he was doing, and it was beautiful.

[Bellamia]

14. That WAS brave..

I don't know what Colbert's middle name is, but "Captain Courageous" will do for me.

[BlueEyedSon]

17. Most of all, it was TRUTH

[bowens43]

3. the pretense of humor/comedy is what allowed him to get away

with telling the truth about the inadequacies and incompetencies of the president and the press.

[moondust]

16. Yep. Comedy was only the vehicle

carrying the message.

[cpousnret]

5. i like that necessary point

[wake.up.america]

7. I don't think he was nervous, he was pumped up to the MAX. .

[sam sarrha]

8. he knew he was born and lived all his life for that very monent..

[ShortnFiery]

18. It was a beautiful sight to see!

I think that I've viewed it at least 4-5 times and sent copies to all my buds - even the RW Koolaid drinkers. :blush: ;)

[sam sarrha]

6. there was a cartoon in our paper, a couple watching TV, the husband says

i cant find any decent news on the television.. the wife says.. you have to go to the comedy channel.

[KyndCulture]

9. If you have the sarcasm and irony gene..

he's flippin hilarious.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

22. It's satire.

Satire: "Irony, sarcasm, or caustic wit used to attack or expose folly, vice, or stupidity."

Laughs are only a bonus--not required.

But, like you, I found him hilarious anyway. In fact, I don't understand how people can say he wasn't hilarious.

[NastyDiaper]

10. The question is, why was it not funny?

It was brilliant, deadpan irony. Hardly a word wasted. So how is it that we, myself included, are caught gaping and not laughing?

[KyndCulture]

11. EXACTLY!!!!

It was a piece of art!

[AndyA]

13. The truth hurts - presenting it in a humorous way only takes a little

of the sting out of it. What Colbert said was the truth, and everyone in the room knew it. Yet it sounded as ridiculous as it really is when spoken. I think The Bush Crime Family™ and their cronies know it's best to not talk of such things in public.

The reality is just too much for most people to bear.

[Crankie Avalon]

15. If someone needs "funny" to be something lowbrow...

...then I guess such a person wouldn't find it funny.

Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" is generally regarded as the greatest satire in the English language, but there isn't one "LOL" poop joke in the whole book, either.

Colbert's was great satire--and I mean "great" in the real sense of the word, not the cheapened one it has come to have in our language through overuse.

[REP]

24. No Scatology in Gulliver's Travels? What Version Did You Read?

Don't get me wrong - if you want to rank Colbert with Swift, I'm right beside you, but Gulliver's Travels is famous for its scatology. Surely you remember how he extinquishes the fire in Lilliput? As for poop jokes, how about when a scholar of the Academy of Lagado purports to detect a man's involvement in plots against the government by examining the physical properties of his excrement "because Men are never so serious, thoughtful, and intent, as when they are at Stool"?

[Crankie Avalon]

26. Yes, he urinates on the fire...

...but I guess I just didn't think those "dumbed down" the work the way poop jokes normally do others.

You're right. Sorry. I should have said that great works of satire often aren't "haha" funny and left it at that.

[fasttense]

19. Mark Twain would have loved it. n/t

[Guaranteed]

20. Yes, he would have. nt

[Dogmudgeon]

21. Not every joke works. And why Colbert is just warming up.

I was a stand-up comedian once. A very lousy one at that. I stank like a dead mouse in a perfume factory. It is extremely difficult to write jokes, even marginal ones. And most stand-ups are angry reactionaries, too. I think a lot of Jay Leno's right-wing material comes from "balancing" his stable with them. And then we have people like Jackie Mason. But there's no sense in dwelling on poison.

Colbert almost certainly works with other writers. Sure, he made the final decisions on the material. You can't know what will work ahead of time -- plus, there are so many opportunities for poor gags to slip by that it's inevitable. Even a master of the craft, like Bob Hope, makes any number of gaffes, even at the height of their career. And Bob was fairly politically conservative (old-school, not neo-con), but managed to not piss off liberals (at least no more frequently than he pissed off his "fellow conservatives").

Colbert's performance was by no means perfect, but he's only at the beginning of his stardom. He's young enough that he could be a political satirist for decades. He's just entered the circus tent as the Ringmaster, but it will still take him a few years to really master the ring. Today, he's "good enough". Soon, he will be "better than the rest".

The important thing about Colbert, though, is that he has "IT", that hard-to-define quality that separates the meteoric from the mediocre. And he probably has "IT" to a degree even greater than that of his mentor, Jon Stewart. (You could also work Robert Smigel in there as a mentor -- IIRC, Colbert is one of the voices of The Ambiguously Gay Duo. Smigel also seems to dislike liberals.) The skills will follow -- and quickly.

At the Press Corps shindig, he mastered the audience. In time, he will master the entertainment world, like all the greats do. His ascent will be worth watching.

And this failed comedian will cheer him on, every step of the way.

--p!

[KittyWampus]

23. Exactly so BGL, a lot of what he said was biting satire that mainly had

the effect of dropping jaws and eliciting "Oh no he didn't just say that" moments.

It was perfection.

[Atman]

25. It was like watching a sitcom without a laugh track

Those who "got it" and really understood how spot-on the satire was thought it was a riot, laugh-out-loud funny without needing aural cues from the canned applause machine. Of course the audience he was addressing wasn't going to laugh much...I don't think he expected them to. But this routine wasn't for them. It was for THE REST OF US. We got the joke...we were in on it. The press wasn't, and they still don't get it. Fuck 'em.

[havocmom]

27. Colbert seems to understand Heinlein line from Stranger in a Strange Land

The one about laughter... we do it when it hurts too much to cry.

He is the bravest jester in all the vast kingdom. He spoke truth to power. It was funny and it was sad. It was TRUTH

[wake.up.america]

28. This pretty much puts the cards on the table. Should be interesting....

I would bet the BA will refuse to cooperate with anyone who goes on his show and with anyone who allows him to guest.

The BA is certainly out to make life as miserable for Steve as possible.

Great, just another example of the BA's sinister behavior for everyone to see.

There are plenty of people willing to support Steve, so Steve does not need to worry.

Steve is a guy who was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. I am sure many on this board could have done the same. And that is not to belittle his performance. Steve Colbert is not the exception and we should make it clear that Steve is not some kind of aberration. Steve is merely a catylst to make other people stand up and say, "enough with this charade". This is not about Steve Colbert, but about the direction America is headed.