But... Seriously

"But Seriously!" has been one of the precious items in my video collection for many years, since I recorded it from TV here in the UK. I know that I'll never tire of watching it, and will never fail to laugh out loud at the comedy genius on display.

This is American history from the 1950's to the 1990's - from the Kennedy presidency to the Bush presidency, via Presidents Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Regan - told through stand-up comedy. All the important issues of those forty years are illuminated with intelligence and wit: Race & Segregation, the Kennedy Assassination, Vietnam, Watergate, Drug Culture, the Moon Landing, AIDS, Lebanon Hostages, Glasnost, the Iran Contra Affair, Homelessness, Pornaography... ending with the LA Riots.

There are many substantial clips of my stand-up heroes - Bill Hicks, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce... and the best video material of Mort Sahl I've been able to get my hands on. Somebody has done a great job, and I suspect Rob Reiner as Executive Producer had much to do with it, the director Jeff Leiberman not having much comedy in his other projects. (UPDATE! I now know that the great job was done by Jeff Leiberman, and let's hope he does more work in the future with comedy in its core.)

For me, this has also been my only chance to enjoy the work of other US comedians whose work is not so well known over here: Dick Gregory, Robert Klein, Godfrey Cambridge, Dennis Miller, and Jack Paar are all shown at the top of their art.

I saw this about ten years ago when I was 19 and it ignited a spark within me about the way I view America. I was already a fan of certain social commentators and comedians and this introduced me to a few more. Seeing which "comedians" came out of times of political unrest was interesting. From civil rights to Vietnam to the war on drugs, the times spawned many intelligent social commentators. Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Bill Hicks... It really is a good watch. If not for anything else other than seeing Richard Pryor when he's about 20(?) singing the best version of Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out that I've ever heard. I had to use Audio Hijack to create my own mp3 version of it.

This is basically a travel through American history from the fifties till 1992. It tells of the events that happened then and short clips of the comedians who made fun of these events. It should be rated R for language and some adult subject material.

A stark and brutally funny exposition of life as seen, lived and joked about by Americans. Starting in the midst of a post world-war boom, race, politics, poverty and hypocrisy are given the black & white then full-colour treatment. The use of gentle rebuke and scathing polemics by what must rate as a roll call of Americas finest comic talent is never less than gob-smacking. From Bruce's put downs of segregation and the role of a celebrity wife to Tringle's lampooning the furore over gays in the armed forces. From Eisenhower through to Bush senior, it runs true and righteous as cock- and stitch- and cover- all take on meaningful suffixes.

If you like your humour to be provocative and insightful then this is a must: If you like your humour the far side of "The Simpsons" then this is for you. If you are still in a state of shock over the demise of 'Friends' then- But...Seriously