So tonight, I sat down to watch Saturday Night Live. Now, here's the thing. I'm a big fan of old school SNL. In fact, up until the later half of this decade, Saturday Night Live has been really strong. SNL even got a bit of a lift last year with the help of Tina Fey's Sarah Palin. But now? Oh boy. Saturday Night Live has reached a new low.
I love comedy and I like to keep up with what's going on in modern comedy. I'm a big fan of Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert and I love "30 Rock," (a show produced by an SNL alum, no less.) I had high hopes for tonight's episode. The last episode I watched from start to finish was Taylor Swifts episode. Taylor Swift was, surprisingly enough, very good. I may not like her music, but she had excellent comic timing and was charmingly self-deprecating. I didn't watch the supposedly disastrous January Jones episode, but I don't follow Mad Men, so I didn't really feel like I missed out. But Joseph Gordon Levitt was hosting this week, so I thought it would be good. Joseph Gordon Levitt is a terrific actor, with excellent comic timing and an intelligence and charm about him. But this episode was a complete and utter disaster from start to finish.
The show opened with a sketch about Barack Obama in China. SNL has, rather unfairly I think, been ganging up on Obama. Now I'm all for making fun of our Presidents. We did it to Bush, Bush, and Clinton, Obama deserves his fair share. But the thing is, there was no satire going on, it was basically just abuse. Personally, I think Obama is doing really well under an extremely difficult set of circumstances. That, and the sketch was abusing Obama for things George W. Bush left for him to deal with, like our 800 billion dollars in debt to China. So SNL's solution was to throw in some disgusting sodomy jokes and really bad Chinese accents on top of it.
Then Joseph Gordon Levitt got my hopes up with an energetic opening monologue tribute to "Singing in the Rain." I was thinking, yes, this is fun, let's go in this direction. But no, it was just all downhill from there. It was just disaster after disaster after disaster. The only bright points for me were:
1. Al Gore: He was hysterical. In everything. So not only should Al Gore have been the President for the past eight years, maybe he should be an SNL castmember?
2. Seth Myers: Weekend Update is the only consistently funny segment on SNL. Which is what's curious to me. Seth Myers is the head writer at SNL. So what's going on? Why isn't all of the writing at the same standard?
And here's the big surprise:
3. Dave Matthews: Not even his music. His hillariously incoherent Ozzy Osbourne impression in what was otherwise a lame sketch.
So explain to me how the entire SNL cast and Joseph Gordon Levitt were completely overshadowed by a politician and a singer? Honestly, I blame the writers, because there are some excellent performers on SNL right now whose considerable talents are being wasted. Under the writing team from the 80's or the 70's Joseph Gordon Levitt could have shone. Kristen Wiig could be on fire right now. Instead she's just doing slapstick.
My advice? Bring in better writers and bring in better hosts. I think it's time to bring in someone like Judd Apatow or even Christopher Guest to shake things up. Because the writing right now is complacent and stupid.
Now the hosts. SNL keeps lining up thin, stupid 20-something starlets to host. People like Megan Fox have no business being on the SNL stage. There are plenty of popular, funny actors and actresses out there who could rock SNL. Bring in Susan Lynch for goodness' sake. Glee is a smash success and Jane Lynch is one of the funniest women alive. Bring in Catherine O'Hara or Monique. Bring in Seth Galifianakis!!!! Why is this so hard for the SNL writers and producers to figure out?
I used to watch SNL for inspiration. Gilda Radner and Tina Fey are personal heroines of mine and I love watching episodes where Christopher Walken or Steve Martin host. There is absolutely nothing inspiring about what's being produced on SNL right now and I mourn for the future generations of comedians who will never have this institution to look to. So either SNL needs to get their act together, or stop and let a new institution take its place.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Sweet leaves shade folly
The weather in New York today is getting me down. It's wet and cold. The past two nights have been pretty rough and I haven't been getting enough sleep. I'm really missing home these days. The last time I was home was September and I'm ready for a bit of time back in Baltimore. I could use some peace and quiet. But tonight is 30 Rock and The Office so I'll get my dose of laughter tonight. All I've got is a week and one whopping Philosophy paper between me and Thanksgiving break.
Right now I'm so tired I'm getting a little punchy. My brother posted some ridiculous pictures on my facebook and now I'm looking for adequate payback. So far, I've found some bizarrely semi-erotic Disney princesses as babies and some weird looking animals. The search continues...
So now for a word about Love's Labour's Lost.
A lot of people have been asking me: "Why Love's Labour's Lost? It's such a dense play." I honestly don't know why people don't do Love's Labour's more often. Of all of Shakespeare's plays, Love's Labour's Lost is the most accurate depiction of what it is to be young and in love, of what it's like to grow up. Being in love can kinda suck sometimes. And, in my experience, things usually don't work out.
People say that your late teens/twenties are the best years of your life. I'm not a twentysomething just yet, but I'm finding these years to be really tough. These are the years when you're figuring out who you are and what you stand for. You live hard, love hard, lose hard. I've faced plenty of challenges most nineteen year olds never have to deal with, but I still think these years are tough on everybody. That's the story I want to tell right now. That's what's driving me. And considering this production with be entirely student driven, I think its an appropriate choice.
A lot of people take issue with the ending of Love's Labour's, but I love it. And I'm definitely of the opinion that if you don't love a play, don't direct it if you have a choice in the matter. Just as the four sets of lovers are finally beginning to admit their love for each other, a messenger from France arrives with news that the King of France is dead. The Princess and her court must return home immediately. It's one of the most gut-wrenchingly heart breaking scenes in Shakespeare's cannon. Unlike Romeo and Juliet, we see a tragic ending to a love story that is achingly real. There is a moment in every young person's life, when you realize that just because you love someone and they love you back, that things can work out the way you want them to. If you have heart, this scene will break it. But there is still hope at the end of the goodbyes. Shakespeare seems to gently encourage the viewer/reader. This hurts now, but don't worry, it'll be okay. If you love each other, the love will last. If it doesn't, you will love again.
Next time: COMEDY. And the pictures I posted on Joe's wall.
Right now I'm so tired I'm getting a little punchy. My brother posted some ridiculous pictures on my facebook and now I'm looking for adequate payback. So far, I've found some bizarrely semi-erotic Disney princesses as babies and some weird looking animals. The search continues...
So now for a word about Love's Labour's Lost.
A lot of people have been asking me: "Why Love's Labour's Lost? It's such a dense play." I honestly don't know why people don't do Love's Labour's more often. Of all of Shakespeare's plays, Love's Labour's Lost is the most accurate depiction of what it is to be young and in love, of what it's like to grow up. Being in love can kinda suck sometimes. And, in my experience, things usually don't work out.
People say that your late teens/twenties are the best years of your life. I'm not a twentysomething just yet, but I'm finding these years to be really tough. These are the years when you're figuring out who you are and what you stand for. You live hard, love hard, lose hard. I've faced plenty of challenges most nineteen year olds never have to deal with, but I still think these years are tough on everybody. That's the story I want to tell right now. That's what's driving me. And considering this production with be entirely student driven, I think its an appropriate choice.
A lot of people take issue with the ending of Love's Labour's, but I love it. And I'm definitely of the opinion that if you don't love a play, don't direct it if you have a choice in the matter. Just as the four sets of lovers are finally beginning to admit their love for each other, a messenger from France arrives with news that the King of France is dead. The Princess and her court must return home immediately. It's one of the most gut-wrenchingly heart breaking scenes in Shakespeare's cannon. Unlike Romeo and Juliet, we see a tragic ending to a love story that is achingly real. There is a moment in every young person's life, when you realize that just because you love someone and they love you back, that things can work out the way you want them to. If you have heart, this scene will break it. But there is still hope at the end of the goodbyes. Shakespeare seems to gently encourage the viewer/reader. This hurts now, but don't worry, it'll be okay. If you love each other, the love will last. If it doesn't, you will love again.
Next time: COMEDY. And the pictures I posted on Joe's wall.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
I am a master procrastinator
Right now, I am supposed to be writing a paper on Chekhov's "Three Sisters," but instead, I'm writing a blog. I used to have a livejournal, which now stands unused, so I thought I'd give blogging another shot. I've got a lot on my mind grapes and I need somewhere to put everything that's rolling around in my brain.
So why the title, you might wonder? Well, for those who know me, there's no question. I'm currently in the midst of a seven year love affair with the works of William Shakespeare. And I don't see it ending any time soon. People make fun of my passion for this 445 year old playwright, and I've tried to explain, but I find its best just to keep on loving the Bard, be damned with the rest. Shakespeare gives me peace, and that's all that really matters frankly.
Shakespeare came into my life when I was thirteen years old. I played Puck in "A Midsummer Night's Dream." It was love at first performance. I wasn't mature enough then to fully understand everything I was saying. I liked the physical comedy and the mischief. So I thought to myself, "This is cool, maybe I should do some more of this Shakespeare." That summer I enrolled in a Shakespeare class at my old performing arts summer camp. Taught by the incredible Sarah Bacharach, I learned the mechanics of Shakespeare: iambic pentameter, similie, metaphor, and Elizabethan staging traditions. I was introduced to "Hamlet." I was falling in love. As fate would have it, that same summer was the summer my mother, brother, and I traveled to London for my cousin's Bar Mitzvah. My mother, following my interests, planned a trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon where we visited Shakespeare's birthplace and saw a terrific production of "The Taming of the Shrew" at the Royal Shakespeare Company. When we returned to London, we visited the Globe Theatre on the South Bank. And that's where I fell in love.
And thank G-d I fell in love with Shakespeare then. Growing up is not easy. We all need something to get us through those years of struggle. Some kids turn to music, others to painting or drawing, some turn to sports. I turned to Shakespeare. Whenever I was struggling to understand something like the loss of my beloved grandfather or the pain of first love lost, I could always open my complete works and find some comfort or guidance. I know I'm not the first person to feel that way, but it feels unique to me. That's why Shakespeare's survived really.
Since that fateful summer, I've done three summers at the Young Company Theatre Camp at the American Shakespeare Center and participated in five Baltimore Shakespeare Festival Teen Performance programs. I've been in nearly twenty separate productions of Shakespeare plays. I was Lady Macbeth, both Dromio and Antipholus of Ephesus, Rosaline of Love's Labour's Lost, and most recently, King Lear. I get more satisfaction and joy through performing Shakespeare than almost anything else. Performing has always been my thing. Until recently. In recent years, I've begun to discover my voice as a director. A voice stronger than I ever imagined it would be. I've never had the opportunity to direct a Shakespeare play. This summer, I'll have my chance as I take the helm of a production of "Love's Labour's Lost." I'm currently in the middle of my dramaturgical research. Thus far the process has been simultaneously terrifying, exciting, and immensely re-assuring.
Full speed ahead.
"From women's eyes this doctrine I derive:
They sparkle still the right Promethean fire,
They are the books, the arts, the academes,
That show, contain, and nourish all the world,
Then fools you were these women to forswear,
Or, keeping what is sworn, you will prove fools.
Let's once lose our oaths to find ourselves,
Or else we lose ourselves, to keep our oaths."
Berowne; Act IV, Scene iii. "Love's Labour's Lost"
So why the title, you might wonder? Well, for those who know me, there's no question. I'm currently in the midst of a seven year love affair with the works of William Shakespeare. And I don't see it ending any time soon. People make fun of my passion for this 445 year old playwright, and I've tried to explain, but I find its best just to keep on loving the Bard, be damned with the rest. Shakespeare gives me peace, and that's all that really matters frankly.
Shakespeare came into my life when I was thirteen years old. I played Puck in "A Midsummer Night's Dream." It was love at first performance. I wasn't mature enough then to fully understand everything I was saying. I liked the physical comedy and the mischief. So I thought to myself, "This is cool, maybe I should do some more of this Shakespeare." That summer I enrolled in a Shakespeare class at my old performing arts summer camp. Taught by the incredible Sarah Bacharach, I learned the mechanics of Shakespeare: iambic pentameter, similie, metaphor, and Elizabethan staging traditions. I was introduced to "Hamlet." I was falling in love. As fate would have it, that same summer was the summer my mother, brother, and I traveled to London for my cousin's Bar Mitzvah. My mother, following my interests, planned a trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon where we visited Shakespeare's birthplace and saw a terrific production of "The Taming of the Shrew" at the Royal Shakespeare Company. When we returned to London, we visited the Globe Theatre on the South Bank. And that's where I fell in love.
And thank G-d I fell in love with Shakespeare then. Growing up is not easy. We all need something to get us through those years of struggle. Some kids turn to music, others to painting or drawing, some turn to sports. I turned to Shakespeare. Whenever I was struggling to understand something like the loss of my beloved grandfather or the pain of first love lost, I could always open my complete works and find some comfort or guidance. I know I'm not the first person to feel that way, but it feels unique to me. That's why Shakespeare's survived really.
Since that fateful summer, I've done three summers at the Young Company Theatre Camp at the American Shakespeare Center and participated in five Baltimore Shakespeare Festival Teen Performance programs. I've been in nearly twenty separate productions of Shakespeare plays. I was Lady Macbeth, both Dromio and Antipholus of Ephesus, Rosaline of Love's Labour's Lost, and most recently, King Lear. I get more satisfaction and joy through performing Shakespeare than almost anything else. Performing has always been my thing. Until recently. In recent years, I've begun to discover my voice as a director. A voice stronger than I ever imagined it would be. I've never had the opportunity to direct a Shakespeare play. This summer, I'll have my chance as I take the helm of a production of "Love's Labour's Lost." I'm currently in the middle of my dramaturgical research. Thus far the process has been simultaneously terrifying, exciting, and immensely re-assuring.
Full speed ahead.
"From women's eyes this doctrine I derive:
They sparkle still the right Promethean fire,
They are the books, the arts, the academes,
That show, contain, and nourish all the world,
Then fools you were these women to forswear,
Or, keeping what is sworn, you will prove fools.
Let's once lose our oaths to find ourselves,
Or else we lose ourselves, to keep our oaths."
Berowne; Act IV, Scene iii. "Love's Labour's Lost"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)