Today I just went to see stand-up comedy and saw some of the funniest, killer stuff I've ever seen in stand-up. This guy, Will Franken, is truly talented in voices and characters that he uses in wacky personas in his absurd sketches. I was cracking up so hard laughing in parts, such as in response to his impersonation of Stephen Hawking singing "Anarchy in the U.K." Oh, I was in tears!
He closed his show with a hilarious send-up of the speeches of the Democratic National Convention, drawing particularly on very hackneyed metaphors....."Over the past four years, our freedom has become rolled up like an old tattered newspaper, tightly wound in fear and anguish. And the rubber band around the newspaper...is President George W. Bush. And what this country needs is hand that will remove the rubber band, and open up the newspaper for all to read. And that hand... is Senator John Kerry. And over the past four years, the Bush administration has run out of ideas, and become like a worn-out pair of blue jeans. Not, mind you, a worn-out pair of jeans that is cool and sold in designer shops, but one covered with beer stains and worn by rednecks from Texas. And what this country needs is a new pair of blue jeans, and that pair of blue jeans needs a new Tommy Hilfiger, and that Tommy Hilgifer.... is Senator John Kerry. He will make this country a new pair of blue jeans, to be worn with the red shirt of freedom and the white belt and shoes of justice." His last metaphor was too outrageous to really do it justice in the telling, but was soooo funny (think of John Kerry as a new "mastubatory fantasy" for the country). I have to say that half the humor in a comedy routine is in the delivery, and this guy was really good. He wasn't some guy telling jokes. He was more of an actor playing out very absurd situations and he is very good with voices and sounds and creating different characters.
Anyway, this guy has a webpage and he has some sound samples from his past shows that are really funny. Check them out.
http://www.willfranken.com/living.mp3 (This one spoofs voice mail hell)
http://www.willfranken.com/show.mp3 (This one parodies a daytime talk show....with generalities)
http://www.willfranken.com/quilts.mp3 (Comedy sketch on variations on AIDS quilts)
http://www.willfranken.com/antioch.mp3 (Antioch Christian Fellowship and ... Richard Pryor)
It was a great show. I'm still giggling from the Stephen Hawking impersonation and his sketch of the lecherous Shakespeare professor.