{"id":5359,"date":"2011-01-18T09:45:05","date_gmt":"2011-01-18T13:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/?p=5359"},"modified":"2011-01-19T23:21:23","modified_gmt":"2011-01-20T03:21:23","slug":"six-pack-or-shotgun-russell-brand-and-more-specifically-the-notion-of-the-%e2%80%9crock-%e2%80%98n-roll-comedian%e2%80%9d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/six-pack-or-shotgun-russell-brand-and-more-specifically-the-notion-of-the-%e2%80%9crock-%e2%80%98n-roll-comedian%e2%80%9d\/","title":{"rendered":"Six-Pack or Shotgun: Russell Brand and, More Specifically, the Notion of the \u201cRock \u2018n Roll Comedian\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A picture of Russell Brand<\/a><\/strong>, with his self-conscious gaze, sculpted eyebrows, and 5 o’clock shadow jumped out from the pages of Entertainment Weekly<\/em> yesterday, and I quickly checked to make sure my shotgun was in reach. Although after seeing him a few times on talk shows I’ve come to realize that Brand can be a slightly amusing storyteller, in a poor man’s Peter O’Toole way, that guy really annoys me. Believe me, I know nothing about him (he may be a fantastic human being and all that), but every time I look at him he strikes me as a world-class wannabe! Specifically, he’s a wannabe of a sort that immediately turns me off: the Rock ‘n Roll Comedian<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I can’t put my finger on when, exactly, the notion of the Rock ‘n Roll Comedian was hatched. In the ’70s there were plenty of comedians who were tuned into rock ‘n roll culture: the hippified George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Cheech and Chong… Although they often appeared on the same stage with rock ‘n rollers, partied just as hard, and pushed the envelope of “rock ‘n roll values,” they never seemed to think of themselves as rock ‘n rollers. They ran paralell\u00a0the Beat\/hippie strain of rock ‘n roll, but they didn’t strike me as trying to ride on the coattails of a rudimentary understanding of rock ‘n roll.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Someone probably beat this guy to the punch, but Sam Kinison<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0is the first Rock ‘n Roll Comedian who comes to mind for me, the first comedian who directly promoted himself as a\u00a0rock ‘n roller. He was occasionally funny, but if rock ‘n roll was about nothing more than outrageous behavior, wild partying, and elaborate headwraps to keep a few dozen strands of long hair in place, then count me out! Along with Kinison the ’80s gave us another hair-farmer comic of moderate talent and poor taste in music, Howard Stern<\/strong><\/a>. Whatever…<\/p>