Comments on: Before Penn and Teller

Before Penn and Teller

freshwater — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 08:05:10 -0800

Comedy juggling by Michael Davis

By: DU

DU — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 08:24:54 -0800

Pretty good stuff. Reagan sure didn't like the tax cut/diminishment of assistance jokes, though.

By: schwa

schwa — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 08:29:14 -0800

Of course the bowling ball is more deadly than a cleaver. You can't tell where the edge is.

By: Optamystic

Optamystic — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 09:12:26 -0800

Penn Jillette taught Michael Davis to juggle.

By: jeffamaphone

jeffamaphone — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 09:18:49 -0800

The man has excellent timing.

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 09:58:45 -0800

Oh, YouTube, what's with all the nipples in the side bar?

By: sneebler

sneebler — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 10:12:24 -0800

Man, those Reagans really knew how to enjoy themselves! I guess it really was morning in America.

By: smidgen

smidgen — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 11:09:00 -0800

Ugh. Comedy yes. Juggling... No.

By: oneswellfoop

oneswellfoop — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 11:11:22 -0800

It's interesting to know that Senator Howard Baker, ranking member of the Watergate Committee at the time when most Republicans wanted to be thought of as honest, not ruthless, threw like a stereotypical girl. Also fascinating, that a performer was able to bring three potentially deadly weapons (okay, with the bowling ball, four) onto the stage of the Ford Theater, site of a past presidential assassination. I don't see the Secret Service allowing that ever again.

By: lampshade

lampshade — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 12:27:40 -0800

P&T and Davis were hitting their strides more or less at the same time, although I don't know who preceded who. I was working at a theatre in the 80s and P&T and Davis came in at separate times as separate acts. I was on the tech crew for the runs of both shows that ran for a few weeks each. P&T's "magic" act is much different than Davis's "magic" act. Both have heavy comedy elements, but P&T are, well, whatever you call it is what they do (which I love btw). Davis is more of a traditional comedian with the obvious magic part and a real vaudeville element running throughout. While Davis can get pretty campy, he is at the same time entertaining and fun to watch. The shows that I worked had all sorts of odd sections including a piece by some high school baton champion inserted as a filler. Kinda weird but it worked in the context of what he was doing. There are the inevitable "groan" moments, but it helps setting up other parts. Davis is fine for what he does and hits all the right notes. His show is fun, easy and if he was in town, I would go check the him out.

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 13:15:26 -0800

The "George Washington's axe joke" had my teenage self pealing with laughter after midnight when he performed it on SNL (back when SNL would still sometimes bring in vaudeville type performers). Watching it again, its still a great bit. I remember his performances on SNL as the stand-out moments of the show in the 80's.

By: smoke

smoke — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 15:01:06 -0800

His schtick was very good. I love how, whenever a celebrity is watching anything, they always cut to their reactions a truly ridiculous amount (as a tennis fan, this is especially obvious in tv coverage of tennis). I'm never sure whether the purpose is "See, they find stuff funny/sad/exciting/whatever, JUST LIKE YOU!", or "See, they are laughing/crying/excited, SO IT'S OKAY TO LAUGH. IT MUST BE FUNNY IF CELEBRITY PERSON IS LAUGHING." I think the expectation for celebrities to always be having a good time, or being the ur-reaction to any event they are at must be exhausting. Like, what if they have a headache, or just don't like the show or whatever? They must always be thinking, "Oh shit, I have to laugh, I don't want this poor person to be branded as "Person the president hated". I note an exception to this was many in the audience at Colbert's hilarious Washington Press thingy speech.

By: Mike D

Mike D — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:54:51 -0800

"Oh, YouTube, what's with all the nipples in the side bar?". It's a pretty short hop from juggling to jugs. Hope this helps.

By: warkmalsh

warkmalsh — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 06:39:57 -0800

great mindfulness practice!

By: IAmBroom

IAmBroom — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 03:00:48 -0800

Mike D: "Oh, YouTube, what's with all the nipples in the side bar?". It's a pretty short hop from juggling to jugs. Hope this helps.

Helps me! Off to learn...