Tag Archives: comedian

Perception Deception

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Magician Ben Seidman with a great effect and one of the most consistently entertaining and funny acts on Fool Us. It doesn’t seem to fool Penn & Teller, but I had no idea what Penn’s clues were there. Seidman claims on his YouTube channel that there were no camera effects involved, and that it could be reproduced live, in which case I’m totally stumped.

More at Ben Seidman

Carl Reiner: The Bare Facts

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Carl Reiner, that classic comedy writer, creator of the Dick Van Dyke television show—and movie director, playwright, performer, impeccable straight man—died last week at age 98.

Here’s one of our favorite scenes from the Dick Van Dyke Show that featured Reiner and Mary Tyler Moore. The set up is that Laura, played by MTM, has blabbed on a television talk show to millions of viewers that Reiner’s vain character—who happens to be her husband’s boss—is bald, so MTM goes to apologize to him, with hilarious results.

RIP. As the man said, Comedy is hard.

Thanks to YouTuber GetKempt

People Are Boring: George Carlin

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One thing that you can say about George Carlin: he didn’t mellow with age. In fact, he got more angry, cynical, cranky, nasty, bitter, crude—and possibly funnier—as he got older.

Exhibit A above: definitely  not suitable for work.

Thanks to YouTuber andyp1986

“I Lost a Buttonhole…”: Steven Wright

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There are lots of good stand-up comedians out there, but I most enjoy those comedians who have changed the stand-up comedy paradigm. Carlin was one, Richard Pryor was one, so is Sarah Silverman. Even when the humor or jokes fail to land, I enjoy watching the performers bending the rules of comedy. “Unique in All the World,” as the Siegfried and Roy posters use to say, here’s one of my favorite comedians of that group, Steven Wright.

Thanks to YouTuber Genie Harrison