Have you ever punched a three year old?
Comedian Joel McHale comes to Muhlenberg
Ben Levine
Issue date: 1/29/09 Section: Life!
| |
|
The show consists of McHale in front of a green screen (on which the clips are played) with an audience of a few interns and their friends. The beauty of the show is that anybody can jump in at any time with limited to no knowledge of whom or what he is talking about and be able to laugh.
Unlike most comedians, Joel McHale's jokes are funny because of his delivery. This gives him the ability to say pretty much anything and still leave his audience rolling on the ground, holding their sides.
Ever since the announcement of his arrival on campus, there has been a palpable buzz. Many have voiced skepticism that his humor would not be able to translate into a classic stand-up show. However, when McHale took the stage, he took off exactly where he left off on "The Soup."
He got up on stage attired plainly in a hoodie and jeans. The only flashy part of his appearance was his silver shoes. After being introduced by two Muhlenberg students, Kristin Kettig '11 and Andrew Horrow '10, as "the former head of NAMBLA," he jumped onto the stage energetically. He was able to maintain the energy throughout the show, electrifying the crowd. Those who watch "The Soup" were not disappointed. The only downside to his show was that his jokes followed too closely the jokes on "The Soup."
Monday night, he started by pointing out the lack of racial diversity at the College, calling it the "whitest college in Pennsylvania" and pointing out that "everyone is from [New] Jersey." He then began to ridicule the choice of a mule as a mascot, calling it "the unholy union between a horse and a donkey which renders the poor animal sterile." He went on to say "basically the Muhlenberg mascot is a genetically sterile freak."
One of his favorite topics was himself and his family.
According to McHale, his grandfather, who he sarcastically referred to as "smart," migrated from Finland to Alaska and opened the first meth lab in Juneau.
He then compared his mother-in-law, who sounds like a "pre-op transvestite" or "Buffalo Bill from 'Silence of the Lambs'," to his mother, who sounds like a "gay man on 'Project Runway'."
Like a good comedian, he was able to tap into something that everyone feels, but doesn't always bring it up. His mother-in-law would fish for compliments by belittling her food, while his mother would say her food was good while trying to get others to agree with her. Everyone has experienced one or the other, which allows for a funnier delivery. His son Eddie was another favorite topic. He spoke about the roller coaster of hope and despair a parent experiences when it comes to his kids.
He said he watches his son put a puzzle together in two minutes and believes he'll be the President, and then he watches him put a vacuum in his mouth and worries that he is mentally retarded. On Halloween, he dressed his son, Eddie, as a light switch, because that's what he wanted to be, of course. However, the strap was too long so the switch was inappropriately low.
He also brought up how hard it is to deal with a demanding child and questioned how dumb he really is. For instance, Eddie got his father to buy him a big box of blueberry waffles even though McHale knew his son hated blueberries. McHale then asked the crowd facetiously, "Have you ever punched a three-year-old?"
He also spoke about sibling interaction. One night he walked in on Eddie in his brother's crib opening up his newborn brother's eyes, saying, "I want to see his new eyes!"
Even his wife was a part of his jokes. He contrasted the body of a pregnant woman as an F-14 to the body of a man as toy fire truck with one button for the lights.
McHale also pointed out the absurdity of Las Vegas. Despite the many things that could happen, his hotel (THE Hotel) did not allow coffee makers because they might cause a fire that would burn down the entire hotel. Later, he journeyed into the "booby pool," which he paid fifty dollars to get into. When he got there, there were only 4 women (who were greatly enhanced) and 30 men with tattoos which he ridiculed with hilarity on stage.
Ryan Seacrest was the butt of many jokes as well, particularly pertaining to his height and voice.
He did give Seacrest credit for his ability to juggle an extremely busy schedule, stating that "[Seacrest] couldn't make it because he was performing a bris in Philadelphia." He also talked about the hate mail he receives from celebrities for doing segments on them on "The Soup."
His favorite was Tyra Banks, "the narcissist who talks about herself for an hour every day," who was the only person who ever tried to stop him from covering her show.
McHale clearly proved himself to be a student of the art of stand-up and not just a talking head at a network. He was able to push the limits of what is taboo in our society, while not being distasteful, and went into familiar subjects in comedy without sounding like a health-class video beating you over the head.
He was able to use jokes which insisted upon the listener to check within their own morals and the morals of our society (through television), without sounding overly preachy, and then caused them to laugh at the absurdity of the things Americans watch.
He pointed out that "The Hills" stars were on the cover of Rolling Stone a few months before Barack Obama. However, like a true comedian, he left the audience thinking "that was funny, but is that funny because it's true or tragic." Beneath McHale's jokes, there seemed to be an anxiety about the people Americans choose as their celebrities. Is this a reflection on society or a few people the rest of us can laugh at while patting ourselves on the back for not being like them?