Friday, April 29, 2005

Mobile Thought Number One

OK, I was going to post a stub of this via mobile phone and edit it later, but since it didn't go through as planned, you'll never know that's how it was originally supposed to work. Whew.

One of my favorite local radio stations, The Peak, has been giving away tickets to see Jerry Seinfeld when he blows into town in May. While the winner was being excited, I was trying to figure out what it is that everyone really loves about Jerry Seinfeld. I've seen bits of his stand-up routines through the beginning of episodes of Seinfeld, and find that his material falls apart given two seconds' thought. An excellent example that comes to mind is why bookstores don't let you take a book into the bathroom. It's because they don't want you stuffing it under your shirt while you're in there, dumbass. These short thoughts get drawn out into 22-minute long segments of three people whining about why something is a certain way, and Kramer being his wacky self. It's the same damn thing every time, with the same one-dimensional characters and plot moved along by people who are a perfect example of "There are no stupid questions; only stupid people asking the smartest questions they possibly can."

Thinking about how I'd love to see Seinfeld blasted clean off the airwaves got me thinking about other stand-up comedians that really should have had a sitcom before Jerry did. Then it hit me... Eddie Izzard. Brilliantly funny comedian, and the main concept for the show practically writes itself: British transvestite adapts to life in a small American town. Or maybe a large one. Much better than "Three schmucks whine about daily life while a friend does pratfalls in the background", if you ask me.