JAN 22 2018
I've been watching Jerry Seinfeld's new series---well, it's new to me anyway---and have found it what I call a GOOD watch. Some of the guests are a little lackluster, but seeing folks like Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, cast members of the old Seinfeld show, etc., has been entertaining and, in some cases, enlightening. Alec Baldwin is funny, for instance. And he appears to have a pleasant personality. Who knew?
With Mr. Seinfeld you never know what to take seriously but I have found it interesting to see how many comedians have been Jewish. Yes, if any single group has been given a reason to develop a heightened sense of humor, that would be one. But I did find a couple of bones of contention that I could chew, if not for their flavor then just to have something between my teeth when he said something to make me grit my teeth. Mr. Seinfeld doesn't appear to understand or care for visual art, poetry, or in one episode, the Arts in general. If you can't do it solo in front of a live audience to test your meddle then it isn't worth doing. Yet he does believe that comedians are great observers of human nature who find much of modern life the meat with which to cook/create comedic 'bits.' A bit is a joke with at least two parts, the prep and then the send up. He thinks much of modern life is absurd. In that he is very much correct. And there is a point wherein absurdity crosses over into the realm of insanity. Look at the work of the Dadaists, Modernists, and Surrealists that come just after WWI. They were the result of the greatest absurdity of all, war on a global scale. And what they endured was a kind of hell Mr. Seinfeld personally has not. Luckily, I haven't either but I think I understand/appreciate it a little better. Or maybe he just doesn't want to dwell upon it.
One of the early guests was Jim Carrey who also does visual art. I didn't know that. At one point we go to his studio but we never touch upon any of his pieces. I did note that Mr. Carrey appears to be simpatico with modern day street artists, at least to some extent. It's difficult to get an overall opinion which what little I saw but i did note the illustrative feel with overlapping verbal phrases. I'll have to research a bit more, now I think on it. Oh, and if it is truly HIS studio, then not only did it cost several times what my little house did, he appears to have a staff of worker bees. Oy Vey.
So what will Mr. Seinfeld do when he has run the gamut of acceptable comedians and classic/iconic cars? Will he tire of the repetitive nature of his own show by then, I wonder? I like the show, as I said, but the very structured nature of it, even within what is proclaimed a very non-structured venue, does not escape me either. And, Mr. Seinfeld, can you please explain a little more fully what you mean when you say 'hipster.?' It seems to be a derogatory.
I hope I don't sound negative here. I have enjoyed many of his guests and loved the Mel Brooks one. And I understand why he interviewed Carl Reiner first before Mr. Brooks came over to his house. Mel takes over any space he's in and poor Mr. Reiner could do little but eat. Though as a friend of Mel's, I'm sure he is used to that. :)