Word: stand-up
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Comedy is the original no-respect art form. Primitive man knew that if he were to be hit over the head by his fiercest rival, then stumble around and yell "Aarrggh!," he would be acclaimed as a great tragedian. But if he were to do ten minutes of witty stand-up, then bash himself with a club, he would be accused of doing shtick. It is ever thus. At the movies, comedy may be king at the wickets, and most of Hollywood's nouveau novas -- Eddie Murphy, Chevy Chase, Tom Hanks, Dan Aykroyd, Robin Williams, Bill Murray, Pee-wee Herman...
...them. Phrases like "Well, excuuuuuse me!" and "Naaaah!" became schoolyard mantras, and his concerts were eliciting rock-idol squeals. "He was performing to audiences of up to 20,000," recalls David Letterman, the late-night commissar of '80s comedy. "I think that's a record for a stand-up comedian in peacetime." In 1978 Martin recorded a gag disco tune called King Tut; it sold more than a million copies. The next year he published a slim volume of short stories, Cruel Shoes; it topped the best-seller list. When he appeared as a Saturday Night Live guest host...
...Britain, Monty Python's Flying Circus tossed music-hall bawdry into a Dada format, and at home National Lampoon updated sick humor with a stinging Wasp edge. They were vicious; they were silly; they couldn't care less. And now someone had to shatter the lulling cadences of stand-up too. Who better than the child of Disneyland and Wittgenstein...
Leno, the lantern-jawed king of the stand-up circuit, had dropped by to try out some new material. Dressed in a silk shirt, faded jeans and Western boots, he barreled through 20 minutes of jokes, some of them written only that day and jotted down on note cards. On the Iran-contra hearings: "Senator Inouye . . . now there's a strict-looking guy. He's the principal of the United States of America." On Fawn Hall, Jessica Hahn and Donna Rice: "I love the way they describe these women as part-time models. I brush my teeth every morning -- does...
...inspiring, because Mr. Bill just seems to be such a decent lad, a regular fellow from a working-class London suburb, doing his best at raising the conciousness of his comrades-to-be. It doesn't hurt that he also mixes in the sarcasm of a practiced stand-up comedian and several stirring songs about sexual politics...