![]() ![]() The extras include an equally absurd look at filming the show, which involved a bizarre mix of live animals, actors and puppets. There’s also Wonder Man, whose chief crime-fighting goal is to score chicks for his alter-ego. Plus, there are “educational” clips delivered with the faux-vintage earnestness of the 16mm films older generations suffered through during health class. But then we see them heading to cock fights, patronizing brothels and performing lewd acts on ice cubes. ![]() Host Doug and his “Anipals” seem like a wholesome bunch. So when Comedy Central gave Smigel his own series, “TV Funhouse,” in 2000, he took the opportunity to turn “Howdy Doody” and “Sesame Street” into one of the most twisted series ever to feature a hand puppet. His “Saturday TV Funhouse” clips on “SNL” launched cult favorites such as “The Ambiguously Gay Duo,” “The X Presidents” and “Fun with Real Audio,” and his notorious Triumph the Insult Comic Dog spun off his own career from “Conan O’ Brien.” The only difference between Morgan and Smigel is the packaging.ROBERT SMIGEL has created an entire career lampooning the TV shows of his youth. For these are the laughable stereotypes he has tried to avoid his entire life, whether they come from the guy in the Giants jersey at the sports bar doing a limp wrist and a lisp or in a clever cartoon in which the word "probing" becomes overused code for gay sex. ![]() But these representations of gay men not only made me cringe, they made me angry, as I realized I was not just watching the "Dark, Clenched Hole of Evil," but the reason for my friend's shame. After all, we had grown up together with my sexual identity on the table, and we did live in the 21st century in New York City.Īnd being a good-natured, likeable pacifist, my friend appeasably laughed at Ace and Gary's calisthenics in Ambiguously Gay sexual positions, and the Ambiguously Gay penis-shaped car ramming into a brick-wall opening and even during the Ambiguously Gay "can-can dancing" punch-outs of the bad guys. My friend, who is 37, has struggled with his internalized homophobia for years and kept his orientation so well under wraps that when he finally told me, I actually said, "You're kidding." Walking from his apartment that day, I couldn't believe he had lived in such secrecy. Because you're a nerd if you say 'that's offensive' but the damage is just the same." ![]() out and out bashing humor and how we are almost paralyzed by that. and I think the reckless stand up who is working on energy, has more possibility of not being tidy about it," said Faith Soloway, a lesbian comedian in Boston who parodies gay stereotypes in her own work, including the web comedy "Secrets." "But there is the more insidious torture of 'acceptable gay humor' vs. "Nothings meant to be harmless, it's meant to get a laugh. Then I watched the most recent episode of the Ambiguously Gay Duo on Saturday Night Live with a close friend of mine who just came out of the closet. Smigel, best known for Triumph the Insult Comedy Dog on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, as well as TV Funhouse, a regular cartoon segment parodying public figures and pop culture, is also responsible for the much-touted, highly laughable segment "The Ambiguously Gay Duo." It used to be funny to me - a gay woman in her mid-30s who has been out for 15 years and who appreciates a good lampooning as much as, well, Al Franken and Lorne Michaels, two of Smigel's regulars on TV Funhouse. On the other hand, Robert Smigel, it's your turn at the mike. Tracey Morgan's rant was a blip on my mental radar - in and out like the Eminem lyrics that caused a media maelstrom ten years ago. What this Tracy Morgan debate completely missed, however, was the more duplicitous stylings of comedy aimed at LGBT people these days. But Tina Fey gave Morgan a verbal smack down, Morgan apologized and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) gave the controversial comedian the coveted gay pass by granting him a spot on its upcoming "Amplify Your Voice" anti-bullying public service campaign.Īll's well that end's well in Tracy Morgan land. Same with the joke about stabbing his kid to death if he came home and announced "I'm gay" in a fey voice. In fact, I thought his reported line saying, "bullied kids should just bust some ass and beat those other little f*ckers that bully them, not whine about it," utterly ridiculous. Or - and I am not going to pull punches here - funny. Because I am about to defend Tracy Morgan, the most LGBT-hated man in comedy this week, and speak out against another harmful form of humor: the gay parody.īelieve me when I say I don't find Morgan's alleged bashing of gays at a Tennessee nightclub last week harmless. Okay gays, pull out the rotten tomatoes, aim straight at your computer screen, and fire. ![]()
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