Thursday, November 30, 2006
Kramer, Your Friendly Seinfeld Neighborhood Bigot
By now Michael Richards' racial outburst has been debated and discussed ad nauseum. But when I think about the topic my thoughts generally shift to Richard Belzer.
Keep with me here.
Richard Belzer, of NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit fame, started out as a stand-up comic. (They don't like to be called comedians anymore - Why? I have no idea) Experienced stand-up comics know how to deal with hecklers. A novice like Michael Richards did not, and he is paying the price. This is how a pro handles a heckler:
One night I was watching a crappy VH1 show that did a piss-poor job of trying to rank the Top100 comics. Then there was this bright shining moment, one of the hosts shared a story about Richard Belzer. When heckled with, "Nice jacket. Where'd you get it?" Belzer immediately responded, "In your mother's vagina. I get all my clothes there. It's like a clothing super-warehouse."
Keep with me here.
Richard Belzer, of NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit fame, started out as a stand-up comic. (They don't like to be called comedians anymore - Why? I have no idea) Experienced stand-up comics know how to deal with hecklers. A novice like Michael Richards did not, and he is paying the price. This is how a pro handles a heckler:
One night I was watching a crappy VH1 show that did a piss-poor job of trying to rank the Top100 comics. Then there was this bright shining moment, one of the hosts shared a story about Richard Belzer. When heckled with, "Nice jacket. Where'd you get it?" Belzer immediately responded, "In your mother's vagina. I get all my clothes there. It's like a clothing super-warehouse."
