Word: stand-up
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...Nothing is a joke to me. That's why I do stand-up comedy and you don't," Steven tells Lilah. And this paradoxical statement is the crux of the movie. Steven coaches Lilah in the subtleties of being funny--convincing her that if she's late getting home, it's funny...because the babysitter's name is Charley Manson...
...film isn't merely a showcase for Hanks and Field. The minor characters are vital to the plot and theme; the lineup of stand-up comics at the Gas Station is odd and intriguing. One man dresses as a nun every night; another, an overweight high school history teacher, endures hissing disdain from the audience--all for the sake of his family, his students and comedy. Romeo (Mark Rydell), the self-concerned club manager, tries to prod and cajole his comics to the top. These characters are left behind as Steven and Lilah rise closer to success, and we feel...
None of the films that followed Splash -- Bachelor Party, Volunteers, The Money Pit, Nothing in Common and Dragnet -- attracted quite the attention that his first hit had. Big will almost certainly bring the spotlight back, and his next two pictures, Punchline, the story of a stand-up comic, and The 'Burbs, a dark comedy about a suburbanite's fixation on his weird neighbors, may even raise Hanks' asking price, which is now something more than $1 million a picture...
Babbitt's "stand-up campaign" dramatized the fact that while none of us want reduced services or higher taxes, neither do we want high deficits bequeathed to our children. Our desire for a gain-no pain cure has left us looking like a whiny child, unwilling to swallow the bitter, restorative fiscal medicine. We have entrusted the economic health of the nation to Dr. Feelgood and have demonstrated a willingness to forgive deception and punish forthrightness...
...comedian also gave the Boston-area students a free sampling of his stand-up humor...