If you can't say anything nice...

Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Miller time at The Keswick

"Miller time." How original.

Dennis Miller wasn’t as tall as I thought he would be. But he’s got a great smile and laugh, and he seemed genuinely flattered that people wanted to meet him and get a picture taken with him last week prior to his show at the Keswick Theater.

So by this logic... a short person is less likely to smile, laugh and be flattered? If Miller had been taller, the fact that he was cheerful and friendly wouldn't have been a surprise?

I was fortunate to be among a group of about 20 people who got the opportunity to shake Miller’s hand that evening. He introduced himself to each person individually with a “Hi, I’m Dennis,” almost like we didn’t know who he was.

Wow, shaking hands! The true hallmark of a gracious celebrity. And we already know he took the unheard-of step of posing for photographs.

There was some brief backstage banter before Miller suggested we all go out on stage and take the pictures, with the Keswick seats steadily filling about 15 minutes before show time serving as the backdrop.

That was a poorly-written sentence. Keep in mind, this man makes a living on his presumed skill with the English language.

Unfortunately, the pre-show stage lighting — a kind of a dark blue — played havoc with my photos and they all came out with a dark blue tint, making the images almost indistinguishable, even when using a flash. I wonder if any of the other folks with cameras had the same problem.

Well, that last paragraph might have been completely uninteresting and unnecessary, but at least it was jam-packed with madcap humor!

As for the show, I didn’t laugh as much as I would have liked, but not because Miller wasn’t funny. Between watching his last HBO special and the phone call interview I had with him to preview the appearance, much of it was repeat information.

Yeah, isn't it boring having to see the same material over and over again? The same jokes and puns? Imagine how your readers must feel, sir.

In fact, at the end of the interview, I had asked him what the Keswick crowd could expect at a Dennis Miller show. “This phone call for about an hour,” he said.
And that’s what it turned out to be. One can’t quibble that Dennis Miller didn’t deliver the kind of show that he had promised to deliver.

A good writer - or editor - would have replaced that clumsy second "deliver" with "he would" or something of that nature.

He is very hesitant to say good things about Miller. When he does, he adds a caveat. Miller was friendly - but short. He was funny - but not up to Borsch's high expectations. Borsch isn't coming right out and saying so, but Miller's conservative politics are the root cause.

One other observation: Political humor is a tough gig right now, given the polarization in our country.

I knew it! He couldn't resist.

I grew up with the humor of George Carlin, who I thought was both funny and brilliant. But in the latter part of his career, Carlin became more political and more anti-government, anti-religion and just about anti-everything. And it just wasn’t as funny as his other stuff.

Miller's humor has always had political elements - "Weekend Update," anyone? The only difference is a shift from left to right.

Miller strikes me as being on a similar path. His stories about taking his mother to meet Frank Sinatra, the shenanigans during his stint as a Monday Nigh Football commentator and the craziness that was the early days of Saturday Night Live were all enjoyable and funny bits. The political stuff, not so much.

Because you don't agree with it. It's okay - I find it hard to laugh at Carlin and his ilk. But just admit it. The disappointment Borsch felt over Miller's swing to the right is palpable in each column he's written, but he keeps trying to weasel out of it.

Maybe the comedians haven’t changed over the years. Maybe it’s the politics that just isn’t funny anymore.

So Carlin never made any Nixon jokes? Never did any bits on Reagan? Morsch doesn't crack wise about Trump and revel in the wit of Keith Olbermann? Please.

To summarize this story by paragraph:

Meeting Dennis (he was short) - 2 paragraphs
Taking pictures (poor lighting) - 2 paragraphs
Show wasn't very funny - 2 paragraphs
Political humor wasn't funny - 4 paragraphs

So what, in his mind, was the true thrust of this post? By the way, none of the paragraphs contained a joke.

Labels: Dennis Miller, Keswick Theater, Mike Morsch, Montgomery Newspapers, Outta Leftfield