I think it’s clear by now that Adrian doesn’t enjoy Pee Wee. Who knew that when I posted this rather interesting article from the Times Magazine that we were going to unearth all this. Adrian seems to have a very clear idea of what and who is funny and what and who isn’t.
But I think it’s worth noting that what and who is funny morphs thru the years. In 1948, audiences thought that Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were madly funny - and Paramount rejoiced as they kept stashing all that cash. Later the French almost enshrined Lewis as not only funny, but a serious auteur. Have you watched HOLLYWOOD OR BUST recently? I adore Monty Python, but you might get a yawn from more than a few post-millenials, who might not get what the big fuss was. And the Goon Show? Now that really is an antique. But nevertheless I appreciate them, and I adore Peter Sellers. But do you think that people would howl at A SHOT IN THE DARK today as they did at the Inwood Theater in Dallas when I first saw it. I doubt it. I think that Pee Wee (Paul Rubens) was not so much funny himself as he brought something entirely new to comedy. He saw people like George Lucas mining pop-culture gold and turning it into adventurous faux sci/fi. I think that he realized that all that pop-culture stuff could be sent up comically just as well. And he, and the ensemble he worked with, did just that extremely well, re-filtering childhood in America in the fifties in a way that mixed nostalgia and the absurd brilliantly. And I think that Netflix and Judd Apatow have a well placed bet that the American public will pay to watch him on Netflix go at it again. But I will say that the last thing I find Pee Wee is “creepy.” Kirby > On Feb 17, 2016, at 5:26 PM, Posteropolis <posteropo...@bell.net> wrote: > > Can I just chip in here and say I’ve never cared for Benny Hill? *ducks* > > But I loved The Goons. (US MoPoers start desperately googling “goons.”) > > J > > Dave > > From: MoPo List [mailto:mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU > <mailto:mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>] On Behalf Of Simon Oram > Sent: February-17-16 5:54 PM > To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU> > Subject: Re: [MOPO] PEE WEE'S BIG COMEBACK > > There's no accounting for taste! > > Nomis > > Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone. > From: Michael Greenwood > Sent: Wednesday, 17 February 2016 22:49 > To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU> > Reply To: Michael Greenwood > Subject: Re: [MOPO] PEE WEE'S BIG COMEBACK > > > Stop me if you've heard this one before but Adrian doesn't like Pee Wee > Herman!!! He's certainly no Steve Martin or Richard Pryor but he's better > than Chevy Chase. C'mon!! > > Plus, there were,like, six times as many people in the Pythons...hardly fair. > > M > From: MoPo List <mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU > <mailto:mopo-l@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>> on behalf of Adrian Cowdry > <00000029edc23ec7-dmarc-requ...@listserv.american.edu > <mailto:00000029edc23ec7-dmarc-requ...@listserv.american.edu>> > Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2016 4:10 PM > To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU> > Subject: Re: [MOPO] PEE WEE'S BIG COMEBACK > > I saw Billy Connolly live four weeks ago - this is about the eighth time for > me - Connolly is a comic god - his genius is that he is all about observation. > > Connolly has Parkinsons disease and also has had prostate cancer - both > diagnosis on the same day - and yet he made us laugh about it. > > Paul Ruebens is unfunny he cannot compare to the likes of the Pythons, Ronnie > Barker, Billy Connolly, Lee Evans all Brits or Chevy Chase, Dan Ackroyd, John > Belushi, Steve Martin and the like all of the same era as Pee Wee. Pee Wee's > great adventure was an embarresment...I saw it first time around in the US > and all I saw was a creepy little guy taking cinema goers money. And now he > is making some sort of come back - > > - it all comes down to a matter of taste - I predict his new film will do no > business in Europe. > > Steve Carrel has to be one of the latest great talents on cinema screens and > transcends international humour - he is a comic who deeserves his plaudits. > We can all pick out favourites...Pee Wee is way down on the scale and is so > unfunny... > > Believe me we have some who are just as bad in the UK - Frank Skinner for > example - another one who thinks he is funny and possibly the worst is > Russell Brand - he's about as funny as a fart in a space suit! > > > This Never Happened to the Other Fella.... > > Adrian Cowdry > jboh...@aol.com <mailto:jboh...@aol.com> > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Alan Adler <m...@charter.net <mailto:m...@charter.net>> > To: MoPo-L <MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU > <mailto:MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>> > Sent: Wed, 17 Feb 2016 19:39 > Subject: Re: [MOPO] PEE WEE'S BIG COMEBACK > > > Back in the late 1970’s I apprenticed the troupe and was a manager for the > Groundlings Theater in LA on Friday nights. > > Paul Reubens initiated a new character - a naive kid who just got off the bus > - who in the storyline eventually evolved into a comic. > All of LA was mythic and eye-opening to this character and he had a way of > making you see the fairy tale of it all through his eyes. > > This was the first appearance of Pee-Wee and on successive Friday nights he > would appear and hone the character - change things here or there - draw in > the audience more and more - Until he finally put together Pee-Wee’s > Playhouse - the stage production - with other members of the Groundlings > group - truly brilliant comic talents. > > The movies were fun, I thought - > But, all I can say is that in person in those early days and through the > development of Pee-Wee’s stage show - > I have seen few things funnier or laughed at fewer things harder that I did > that show. > > Rubens would come out tossing candy to everyone, dancing on his tip toes, > engaging the audience. > I don’t know what it was - but he definitely tapped something both mythic and > absurd - a wonderful and unusual combination. > > Paul was always a very kind and gentle person, even quiet, and it was a shame > he hit the Hollywood Babylon skids as he did. > We all have our feet of clay - > But in the old days - when it was fresh and never seen before - his act was > nothing short of scream out loud riotous - you literally couldn’t get the air > out of your lungs fast enough. > > Jeez, I’d love to see something that funny once again! > > Alan > > > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> > > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> > > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> > > > > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> > To unsubscribe from the MoPo-L list, click the following link: > https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1 > <https://listserv.american.edu/scripts/wa-american.exe?SUBED1=MoPo-L&A=1> Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
