I’ve recently decided that God has a unique affinity for dark comedies. His sense of humor seems sadistic at times. Perhaps you find that an unscrupulous statement bred in the waters of sacrilege. But I assure you, God is smiling in the storm. At least, that’s how I’ve looked up and seen him lately. You […]
Hollywood Teaches Us How to Be Good Friends: A Much-Belated Review of The Intern
I inwardly sighed last week when my wife suggested that we watch the 2015 Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway comedy The Intern on HBO Now. One has to admit there are problems with the film’s setup. Robert De Niro plays Ben Whitaker, who is a retired, widowed, 70-year-old who spent 40 years climbing the corporate ladder […]
Bill Burr, the Boss of Comedians in Cars
Jerry Seinfeld’s web series, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, is now in its fifth season. After four hit-or-miss seasons, the show really is getting better, and Seinfeld had one his most interesting guests recently: Bill Burr. One thing I love about the episode is the chemistry between Burr and Seinfeld. By the end of the episode they […]
Another Week Ends: GiP, Skinny Law, Depressed Clowns, Motivational Luther, Hipster Businesses, Nickelback Hate, Father John Misty, and Penelope Fitzgerald
1. First, there’s Steve Hall’s remarkable podcast about one of our favorite books, Paul Zahl’s Grace in Practice: A Theology of Everyday Life. Thoughtful, heartfelt, and ingeniously brief, he manages to do the book justice–and capture something genuinely important–in a mere five and a half minutes: Those living in the tri-state area take note: Dr. Zahl will […]
The Courage to Be “Weird”
The internet got a little bit stranger this week with the release of “Weird Al” Yankovic’s newest album, Mandatory Fun. For close to 40 years now, Weird Al has embraced everything counterculture, playfully mocking the earnestness of 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, 00’s, and 10’s versions of “cool.” From Michael Jackson to Celine Dion, from Star Wars […]
Mining Netflix: Giving Up on Being Right in My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend
Mark Twain once said, “Humor is tragedy plus time”. But, how much time? In the fall of 2012, researchers at the University of Colorado examined “how humorous responses to a tragedy change over time by measuring reactions to jokes about Hurricane Sandy”. By studying humorous responses to a tragic situation, they found that, contrary to […]
Andy Bernard to Give Graduation Speech at Cornell University … Ever Heard of It?
It has been a Mockingbird tradition to highlight worthy graduation speeches amidst the vast sea of snoozers. As the spring commencement season approaches, I want to point out that Ed Helms, the actor who played Andy Bernard on The Office, will be giving a speech at Cornell University’s graduation on May 24. This is noteworthy […]
Telling Truth from the Underside
Despite a few recent Mbird nods, as of three weeks ago I had no idea who Nadia Bolz-Weber was. But she has come up in conversation, in text messages, and in my Facebook feed about a dozen times since then. So I decided to pay attention and buy her new book, Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith […]
A Glory of Our Failure: Stephen Fry on the Anthropology of British Humor
A winning perspective on the great continental divide between the American Comic and his British predecessor. Stephen Fry describes that what makes British humor great is its starting point at, quite literally, original sin. British humor, unlike the American one-liner, involves the capacity to accept one’s own unchanging failures, which actually makes for true character development. While it could be argued that, while the American hides behind the glory-story, the Brit hides behind his or her self-abasement (or even his or her nihilism), it certainly seems to make realer on-screen personalities. The first two minutes are golden, ht CE:
Busted Up Michael Richards Learning to Work Selflessly
I recently highlighted Jerry Seinfeld’s relatively new online show, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, and I promised to follow-up with a post dedicated to the episode featuring Michael Richards, who played Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld. This episode stands out above the rest for me so far because of a poignant moment toward the end in […]
“I Too Am Irritated”: Some Insights from Jerry Seinfeld and His New Show
In the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, Jerry Seinfeld wrote an insightful piece on his new award-winning online talk show—Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. If you’re not familiar with the show, I’m not too surprised. As Seinfeld says in EW, “Our initial philosophy was to counter-promote [the show] when it came out. We didn’t even tell anybody […]
It’s Funny ‘Cause It’s True: Tig Notaro Has Breast Cancer
I’ve been thinking a lot about what we can learn from stand-up comedians. I recently came across an amazing, tragic, deeply personal, and therefore hilarious stand-up set by Tig Notaro, which aired on This American Life last October (you really should listen to it here). I am approaching this from my perspective as a preacher and […]
