comic genealogy

I recently realized the links on my blog are quite similar to Stephen Colbert's "The Word" in terms of humor. It is important (or massively narcissistic (or both)) to know one's comic roots. I like to think I find myself on a comic family tree with Woody Allen, circa Annie Hall, circa the opening monologue, which I believe is one of his best written pieces. This places me in the same family as Larry David Jason Alexander and to a lesser extent Jerry Seinfeld. This sense blends in with my definite comedic father, Bill Murray (ignore his striking resemblance to my pediatrician's husband). A professor(no not that one) I had once described my sense of humor as recognizing the same "screaming madness" as Bill Murray, although for a period of time last winter I probably was taking things too far. Honorable mention on my comic family tree goes to Jeff Goldblum, Bradley Whitford, Ira Glass and John Cusack. The biggest philosophical drive behind my comedy definitely goes to the Bush Administration, in particular the DOJ and AGs, for teaching me there is no such thing as too destructive or too crazy, and lastly nothing, nothing is sacred. A friend of mine once likened my comic sense to Sherman's March to the Sea, and simply refers to it as, "scorch the earth".

Completely unrelated but somehow similar, in performances I tend to make references to movies or songs or anything that have found their way deep into my subconscious. It is not always overt or intentional, but I will lilt a sentence a certain way, or move a prop in a way that harkens to some piece of art I love. The most common thing which recurs is a reference to Christian Slater in the 80s teen movie, The Heathers. Heathers isnt the best movie ever made, but I think because I watched it so many times while falling asleep when I tell jokes on stage I find the same caustic dryness that Slater had at that time. The most similar resemblance is from a song, Alice's Restaurant, by Arlo Guthrie. In practically every play, I find I steal some turn of phrase from the song, normally during a long stretch of text, most frequently I return to the "you may find yourself in a similar situation" line, or the near hysterical (seinfeld esque honestly) pitch Guthrie's voice reaches when talking about files in folders in Washington DC. The man who has fused himself most closely to my cerebral cortex though is Garrison Keillor. The man who made me scream as a child because of his hypnotizing fluency, still appears every time I go on stage. Thanks WUSF.