Hardy Fuckin' Har...

The PBS series, Make 'Em Laugh, currently running, is the usual public television take on an American institution, which in this case is the history of humor in our culture. It's an overview of what America thinks is funny, told (so far) in a pretty entertaining way.

Honestly though, with such a deep subject it's no surprise that there is much that is going to be overlooked in their series. I won't say what I thought was overlooked so far, I will only say that what they do cover, they cover well, and the interviews are both informative as well as often very funny.

The line Billy Crystal quotes at the beginning of the series, from Mel Brooks, is not only golden, it's a great way to represent the way I see the best of humor in America: smart, sharp, sarcastic, and full of attitude.

Mel Brooks: "Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die."

I had the incredible honor of being able to meet one of my very few heroes in this life, Bill Hicks. Ramon Medina, while working the local show over at Rice University's radio station, KTRU, came up with the brilliant idea to have us "interview" Bill Hicks for KTRU. That Ramon thought of it at all was brilliant enough, but when Hicks' publicist gave us the thumbs-up I was stunned. Now we had to think of something to say.

My introduction to Bill Hicks was through one of the many stand-up comedy show that used to run late at night on the weekends back in the early 90s. I am a fairly big fan of stand-up, big enough in fact that I would sit through the endless parade of unfunny hacks on these shows, hoping against hope that just one of them might actually be funny.

The impossible happened the night that Bill Hicks was on one of those shows. He did a few short minutes, not his best stuff at all, and by the end of it I was in tears. Not long after I was driving past the Laff Stop and noticed Hicks' name up on the marquee.

I watched him twice in one night and in the process laughed so hard I thought I was going to have to leave the building just so I could breathe. I distinctly remember that only a few people in the crowd actually got much of his material. Comedy clubs, in case you don't know, are centered around selling drinks and not around promoting funny people. Enough wife-uses-too-much-toilet-paper material and you might be able to get a gig at one of these places. This low level of expectation is reflected in the two-drink-minimum crowd that goes to these shows. The place, on any given night, is packed with jocks, business people, and all manner of drunken morons not wanting to actually think about anything but merely to chuckle about nothing in particular.

Hicks was provocative, confrontational, biting, brilliant, relentless, and absolutely hilarious. Without a frame of reference (i.e. a brain), you might have a hard time sitting through one of his sets.

Hicks never quite got the audience he deserved in this country, too close to the bone maybe, and while he carved a niche for himself here in the states, it was in England where he really was able to enjoy success.

Now you can find a whole breed of comic weaned on Hicks' brand of vulgar and intelligent material. Unfortunately, almost none have even come close to his level of ability, if you ask me.

There's David Cross, Patton Oswalt, and the whole group of comics associated with them (Brian Posehn, Fred Armisen, Zach Galafianakis, and others), there's Mitch Hedberg (dead), Louis CK, Dave Chappelle, and then for me it starts to get pretty thin.

And then there's Dane Cook. Dane Cook is a comedy phenomenon. Detested by the more clever and more edgy comics like David Cross and the like, Cook has nonetheless become a megastar in the world of stand-up comedy. His albums are among the top selling comedy albums of all time. Personally I think that Cook has a clever way with the language, and is able to take the most meaningless subject and make it somewhat funny, sometimes. I also think that when he isn't funny, and that is often the case, that is he very, very not funny. Still, I believe there is more to why he is so despised by so many, and I would venture to guess that not being funny has almost nothing to do with it and has more to do with who he appeals to and what he represents as an individual.

Ultimately, to me, the promise of a challenging and intelligent future for stand-up practically died with Bill Hicks. I think David Cross has the potential to mine something as close as anyone, and after him that's about it. I know that level of quality is out there, I just have no idea where or when it will come out.

Sketch comedy thrives here as does TV sitcoms, but as for stand-up it's still a tough road.

For a broad overview of the history of comedy in America, mainly through the window of television, Make 'Em Laugh is great entertainment.

In a country that seems so humorless, so self-important, it's hard to imagine we would be able to not only laugh but be funny as well.