I love to laugh, and I've watched a lot of comedy in my time. Here is a list of my ten favorite comedy specials, and some clips from them.
10. Redd Foxx "Video In A Plain Brown Wrapper" - 1983
Redd Foxx was more than Fred Sandford on TV's "Sandford and Son," much much more. Before his hit TV series in the 70's, and after it, he was a raunchy stand-up comedian. Foxx and other comedians like Moms Mabley set the groundwork for a host of epic comedians who followed - Richard Pryor, George Carlin, and Eddie Murphy. At one point in this clip, Foxx confronts a heckler who expresses disapproval in a joke by saying something to the extent of, "You don't like this show? Bend over. I'll drive you to Dallas." Classic.
09. Dave Chappelle "Killing Them Softly" - 2003
This special, and this clip in particular, are some great fucking comedy.
08. Lewis Black "Red, White, and Screwed" - 2006
I love Lewis Black. This was probably my favorite special. This clip is absolute genius.
07. Chris Rock "Bigger And Blacker" - 2000
I love everything he says in this comedy special because it's all true. This is probably my favorite clip from it. "The big piece of chicken." Makes me cackle every time.
06. Robin Williams "Live at the Roxy" - 1978
When I was 16 my dad moved to Joplin and got cable TV there. For the first time in my life I got to watch Comedy Central. Back then it was still a small time cable network. They showed old episodes of Soap and old comedy specials from the 1970's and 1980's. It was pretty awful for the most part. One special they showed over and over again was this one, featuring a Robin Williams who was at the time rising in popularity from his show Mork and Mindy. When I was 16 I couldn't believe how much energy he had and how quick things came to him on stage. He was utterly brilliant. Now I know why...every tissue in his body was saturated with cocaine...and looking back on this special I can see it. This old promo clip is the only one I could find on YouTube of this show, but it shows a pretty good variety of the craziness that was this special.
05. Rowan Atkinson "Rowan Atkinson Live" -1988
Yes, Rowan Atkinson did more than Black Adder and Mr. Bean. He was actually a pretty decent sketch style comedian too. This was another old Comedy Central special that ran a lot. I love every single sketch, but this one is my favorite!
04. Eddie Murphy "Raw" - 1987
This is Eddie Murphy on lots of cocaine. In this clip he is talking about his father. Makes me piss myself every time.
03. Dana Carvey "Critic's Choice" - 1995
Oh man....this comedy special still makes me laugh years and years later. My friend Paul and I still quote this special all the time. In this clip he impersonates Jimmy Stewart getting a blow job...what isn't to like?
02. Bill Cosby "Himself" - 1983
"Dad is great! He give us the chocolate cake!" Fucking funny.
01. Bill Connolly - "Pale Blue Scottish Person" - 1991
My sister had a friend named Devin who used to come over a lot with her friends. We didn't have cable TV because my dad was cheap, so we didn't get to see a lot of comedy except what was on Carson or Letterman. Devin had a VHS tape of all kinds of different comedy he would tape off VH1 and HBO. This special by Bill Connolly was one of those specials, and is the one that I remember the most. My sisters and I still quote about 90% of the lines from this special. It is so fucking messed up, but so fucking funny too. You ever get a chance watch it. In this clip Billy is talking about "having a wank."
Some of you know, and some of you may not know, that three weeks ago the city I live in, Joplin, MO, was hit by an F5 tornado which is the most powerful tornado there is. It formed west of the city, was 3/4 of a mile wide, and carved a path of destruction 14 miles long. I was huddled in the bathroom of the house I live in with 4 cats - 3 Poindexter cats (Sif, Orion, and Thor) and my cat Echo - and my roommates - Sean and Amanda Poindexter. We listened to the radio as they said the tornado had been spotted in our vicinity. We heard it roar past. It sounded like every account I'd ever heard, a bunch of freight trains. In that moment I contemplated my life and came to grips with the fact that I might die in this bathroom with these people, and in that moment a gentle sense of acceptance and calm washed over me. Luckily, I didn't have to face death that day. My house was not in the path of the storm. If the storm had been been a little wider or if it had decided to turn 1/4 of a mile to the north it would have been. I didn't lose anything in the storm. All my loved ones and close friends were not hurt (though some lost homes and jobs). At the end of the day many weren't so lucky. As of today 153 people have died as a result of the storm, over 9000 families are homeless, and thousands more have no job. Some people have called me blessed. Others have called me lucky. I would call myself both of those things.
In the weeks after the tornado I wanted to badly to get out there, roll up my sleeves, and help. There was however a problem. I am a childhood cancer survivor and my life has been nothing but having to deal with physical limitations. For the most part I can overcome these limitations. I've gotten pretty damn good at figuring out ways to adapt to life so I can a relatively normal existence. However, when it comes to things like being out in the hot sun for hours on end, lifting debris, hauling stuff away in a truck, or doing all the other things people needed help with, adaptation is of little help. There aren't many ways to get around lifting a heavy board. You just have to lift it. So for the weeks after I felt like a slave to my own limitations, and I have always hated that. So, I decided to adapt, and find another way to help.
I tried to figure out what I was good at. I can draw. So I thought maybe I could do a special ROBOTS DOING PEOPLE THINGS that was for Joplin. I did. I offered prints. I offered t-shirts, and I got some interest, but nothing sold. I offered to donate proceeds from my songwriting to Joplin relief efforts. Again, I got some interest, but very little sold. During this time I had this little tune stuck in my head, a song that I thought could be written about Joplin, but I didn't really want to write it. I had told myself that I wasn't going to write a song about Joplin. I didn't want to be "That Guy," and besides, there were going to be so many musicians trying to write songs about Joplin, and I guarantee many of them wouldn't be doing it for the right reasons. I didn't want to be lumped into that group. I didn't want people saying, "Well the only reason Ross wrote that song was to make money and get publicity." I kept fighting it. I didn't want to do it. Thing is, sometimes a song won't leave you alone...and this one most certainly kept bugging me. So I finally wrote it.
It's called "Wounded Town." I posted the lyrics some weeks ago. I wanted to do two things with the song. I wanted it first, to be a narrative. That is, I wanted it to be told from a point of view. I didn't want it to be my reflections of my destroyed town. I wanted it to be the experience told from the view of people who lived through it. That's exactly what I did. In fact, I there are three different points of view of the song. The first verse is from the perspective of an elderly person who has died. The second verse is either a relief worker or someone who has lost a home. And the third verse is someone in the future looking at the new buildings and thinking back to the events of 5-22-11. The second thing I wanted to do is make it ambiguous. I didn't want to specifically reference the tornado or Joplin because I wanted people to feel like this could be their town. I find with songs the more accessible it is, the more people can share in the experience, the more impact it has. When the song was done I called up my buddy Aaron Moore and asked him to produce it. We recorded it on a Saturday. He provided the acoustic guitar part and the harmonies. I did the lead vocals and the ukulele. When we finished there was still a part in the middle that needed something. So I decided to call my friend Jason Stamper who added an excellent and soulful harmonica solo a week later. We finished it up Saturday.
Today I uploaded the song to iTunes. Later this week it will be available on Amazon, Napster, and Zune. It is only $.99 to download, and everything I make off downloads is going back into the community of Joplin, MO.
I invite you to download it for yourself. If you want to hear the song you can do so on this blog. Just look to your right and you'll see my Reverbnation widget. "Wounded Town" is the top song. If you like it, and want to purchase it then go here.
Above all, please please please please spread the word. The more people know about it, the more people will download, and the more Joplin will benefit. It's as simple as that.
