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Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Is Albert Brooks Actually Funny?

I'm just asking because the emotion he elicits for me is best described as irritation. He annoys me. Deeply. Like a burr under my saddle.

Yeah, he's on The Daily Show right now and I'm finding myself annoyed again. Since he has conditioned me to be annoyed by him just hearing his voice is annoying.

And don't tell me that he's a smart person's funny because he strikes me more as someone who thinks they're smart instead of actually being brilliant.

1 comment:

  1. Comments moved from HaloScan:

    I liked Lost In America...
    nevsky42 | 01.12.06 - 3:12 pm | #

    Gravatar Oh, come on, that's it? That's your defense? I expected something I could sink my teeth into and debate. The only alternative you've left me with is to decide whether or not I want to watch Lost in America to see how it ranks on my own personal scale of suckage.
    CmdrSue | Homepage | 01.12.06 - 3:45 pm

    I don't remember liking Lost in America so much that I would passionately defend it...

    How's that for debate? :p
    nevsky42 | 01.13.06 - 10:41 am

    I think Albert Brooks is not so much funny as he is amusing/witty. I like his cynical viewpoint. But I think of him more as an actor than as a comedian. I suspect he must be very helpful to up and coming comedians, because so many comedians I admire think very highly of him.

    And he was brilliant in Broadcast News.
    maurinsky | Homepage | 01.13.06 - 12:19 pm

    Albert Brooks' movies are funny. You may see Brooks much like I see Woody Allen - I really find his in-person performances, when interviewed in the past, as bring irritating, although I could appreciate his products - the movies, and some of his earliest movies I really enjoyed.

    I do really like Brooks' movies, though, particularly Defending Your Life.
    PSoTD | Homepage | 01.13.06 - 1:02 pm

    I thought Mother was pretty funny, but I find him grating as well.

    And...um...Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World? Is it just me, or does that look like the world's most painfully unfunny 'comedy' ever?

    (In fact, I see it as kind of mirror-image of Jerry Lewis' lost holocaust clown movie, a painfully funny 'tragedy'.)
    Tom Hilton | Homepage | 01.13.06 - 1:31 pm

    Hey maurinsky, PSoTD and Tom! Thanks for coming by to put in your thoughts.

    I like witty. But when I think of witty I think of Oscar Wilde. (To Brooks: And you, sir, are no Oscar Wilde!) I like cynical, too. So perhaps I haven't been exposed to a wide enough assortment of his work. The decision to try to watch more of his movies before making my final assessment is probably the best reason to join NetFlix that I've come up with yet.

    And, yes, the whole Muslim World thing seems very unfunny. His stop by The Daily Show to promote it is what made me go, "Whaaaaa?" and start this thread.
    CmdrSue | Homepage | 01.13.06 - 3:21 pm

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