David Frum, Bush Apologist and NeoCon freak, on Colbert

[ComerPerro]

from his diary on National Review Online

http://frum.nationalreview.com/

Apr. 30, 2006: Why Wasn't Colbert Funny?


I expected the president's speech to be only mildly amusing: presidents make people laugh by depreciating themselves, and this president (rightly in my view) does not go in for the funny but institutionally damaging self-mockery of eg Bill Clinton's hilarious but eyebrow-raising 2000 "final days" video at the WHCA dinner.

But Colbert I was sure would be excellent value.

Wrong on two counts.

The president's double-Bush act was terrific. It played off something everyone senses: that Bush's outward persona is very much a deliberate construction, and that under a thin shell the old mocking, biting, sarcastic Bush Id still lurks. Bush impersonator Steve Bright put the Id on show in hilarious counterpoint to the real Bush's theatrically pious remarks.

Good punchline too, when Bush explained that Bright had played him during the debates against Senator Kerry - and then turned to Bright to say sorrowfully that he thought Bright could have done a better job.


If this is what passes for comedy to Frum, no wonder he didn't get Colbert's speech

he continues:


Colbert does not really do comedy. He does irony.

Last night ... ...he did sarcasm.

And despite the contrary opinion of ill-behaved 14-year-olds, sarcasm is not funny. It's just unpleasant.

Which is why Colbert's monologue fell flat even upon the assembled journalists and Hollywood figures who might have been expected to applaud it.

Humor turns things upside down to yield an unexpected point of view. Unsuccessful humor goes to a lot of effort to arrive at ... just exactly what you would expect the person making the joke to say in straight conversation.

<<snip>>

As the old saying goes, comedy is hard. (Which itself is a double-edged ironic observation.) Last night, Colbert went easy on himself - and so barbs that he intended to cut the president ended up slicing his own palms.

**

Here's a link to a round-up of Colbert reviews. Consensus: Colbert did indeed bomb. The dissenters are those hard-left bloggers who cannot tell the difference between a sneer and a laugh. But then they would have been just as entertained by a 45-minute PowerPoint presentation on global warming by Al Gore.


END


Pathetic. Frum sounds even more like a pathetic sycophant than usual.

"Bush was hilarious, he did the same lame jokes we see him always do. But Colbert was mean, and mean isn't funny"...

[shenmue]

1. He must really be living...

in B***-worship world if he doesn't understand that most people don't like him. And he shouldn't have anything to do with politics if he can't take a little satire.

[ComerPerro]

13. I've long felt that neocons don't really "get" satire

[spanone]

2. Frum=Asshole in english.

[Brotherjohn]

3. Yes, David. Sarcasm IS unpleasant, isn't it?

(when you're the target of it)

[Chimichurri]

4. truthiness hurts. this shows how much of a poor sport he is.

[Lisa]

5. so now Frum is proud that Bush reveals himself to be a phony!

The thing is, Colbert's on-screen character is also constructed, yet seems more likeable and decent than the "real" Bush with his snarky sarcastic remarks.

I think that Bush is the one who "sliced his own palms", since from now on, whenever we see him simpering and mouthing platitudes, we can imagine Bush's double hovering alongside, saying what he really thinks ... and wonder why Bush, for all his supposed bravery and honesty trumpeted by Frum's ilk, is putting on such a hollow charade.

[ComerPerro]

14. I noticed that too, about Bush's impression of himself

his persona is just a creation for the media. He acts stupid for our benifit, because otherwise we would be too dumb to understand what he is talking about.

Yet, we should love him because he is genuine and sincere.



And Frum wants to talk about irony???

[Nostradammit]

6. "Bush was hilarious, he did the same lame jokes we see him always do."

This man is confused. First he states that:

"Unsuccessful humor goes to a lot of effort to arrive at ... just exactly what you would expect the person making the joke to say in straight conversation."

Then goes on to say:

"Bush was hilarious, he did the same lame jokes we see him always do."


:wtf:

[ComerPerro]

17. I said that, added it in

[Nostradammit]

26. Ah ha!

So I'm the one who's confused. Thanks for the clarification.

[Lisa]

7. oh, and it's not "Steve Bright", David -- it's Steve Bridges

Take better notes Mr. Frum, or do some research to check the impersonator's real name!


www.stevebridges.com

[Spazito]

8. LOL, David Frum is so yesteryears news

so what he says merits nothing.

[Neecy]

10. I was thinking that, too

Frum and his ilk have been so thoroughly discredited and are held in such contempt by a majority of Americans that, like Bush, whatever he has to say is completely irrelevent.

Nobody is listening, lil' Davie...you can crawl back under your rock now.

[TexasLawyer]

9. I had to laugh at this part:

"The dissenters are those hard-left bloggers who cannot tell the difference between a sneer and a laugh. But then they would have been just as entertained by a 45-minute PowerPoint presentation on global warming by Al Gore."

David Frum is the sycophant's sycophant. Boy, talk about sarcasm backfiring! Look in the mirror, Frumster!

[ComerPerro]

18. RW "humor" always involves some sort of last minute cheap shot

thrown in for no apparent reason.

Try to stay on topic, Frum... Where the hell did the Gore reference come from?

[librechik]

11. poor David, need to call him a WAAAAAAAAmbulance

I spit on his specious assertions: He made the rounds of "Colbert reviews" and found that he "did indeed bomb" Excuse me, can you direct me to said reviews? Are any of them from anyone who wasn't a target of Colbert's slap in the face of "liberal reality?"

I don't think so.

[liam_laddie]

12. Frum is not only WRONG...

he's gotta be the ugliest yacking head on the tube. Matches his politics.
:nuke:

[Junkdrawer]

15. Translation: Ouch, that hurt...

:evilgrin:

[Shakespeare]

16. People being publicly eviscerated tend not to laugh much.

I don't think Colbert really gives a shit that they weren't laughing. They got exactly what he was doing, and that's obvious when you see the uncomfortable expressions in the crowd shots. He wasn't entertaining them, he was kicking the shit out of them. And they knew it.

So Mr. Frum, as usual, completely misses the point. All hail Stephen.

[ComerPerro]

19. They weren't laughing, but I was laughing my ass off

that's what Colbert was going for, that's what he wanted. I don't think he cares what the press and crowd and especially the Bushes thought...

[rocktivity]

20. A coincidence, I'm sure

From Jeff "Skunk" Baxter: ...Thank You, Stephen Colbert, for demonstrating so plainly that, even in this time of low approval ratings and massive administration meltdowns, liberals are so desperate for anything resembling a victory that they’ll make Republicans look like winners even when they’re imploding.

Sounds like the talking points have been parceled out: what Steve did doesn't "count" because he's not a newsman, it's "sarcasm" rather than legit criticism, it shows how desparate the liberals are, blah blah blah.

:headbang:
rocknation

[ComerPerro]

21. pretty sad, isn't it?

Oh, well, he just did that because hes an angry, bitter liberal...


The Republicans have turned being a "sore winner" into an art form

[Rex_Goodheart]

22. Well...

I didn't think Colbert was particularly funny... I LOVED IT THAT WAY.

If those had been ha-ha jokes nobody would have taken the criticisms implied within seriously. The sarcastic irony was KILLER ENTERTAINMENT, with important subtexts, at which I kept ooooo'ing, but not laughing.

[AX10]

23. Frum was discredited after his 16 words in the 2003 SOTU.

[Gabi Hayes]

25. pretty sure he was gone by then...what he DID say, and got fired for

bragging about, was....

Axis of Evil

he bragged about it, and his GF/fiance, or whatever she was at the time (wife now), spread it all over the place, and he got canned because he couldn't keep his yap shut

[leesa]

24. Strange. I saw the impersonation act and didn't find ANY of it to be even

slightly amusing. I heard the audience guffawing but didn't understand why...it was just stupid 6th grade humor.