BARK LIKE A COMIC
Naturally, the more cleverly a comic castrates himself, using his license to tell the truth on only the safest topics, the more successful he’ll be. Which is why David Letterman earns millions masturbating the medium, acting goofy and obsessing about whatever trivial item is in the news that day–Bill Clinton’s hair, Joey Buttafuoco’s name, Lorena Bobbitt’s scary but effective cure for spousal abuse. And why a man like Jimmy Tingle gets banned from The Tonight Show for telling a few mildly barbed jokes about the Reagan administration.
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Yet the show is entertaining. I laughed more often watching it than I did the last four times I went to the Improv combined. It helps that Lentini, Gorgo, and Rhoades steer clear of the easy dick, television, and McDonald’s jokes that make up 90 percent of contemporary stand-up routines.
