I read something yesterday that kind of surprised me. Charlie Sheen (moment of the wacko) has people walking out of his touring shows because he’s not being strange, or funny enough. People are yelling, "Say something funny!"
First I thought that maybe ole Chuck shot himself it the foot with that "Funny or Die" video. Did the audience really expect him to be astoundingly funny? Not sure why…..the reason you watch Charlie Sheen is because he’s a train wreck. Plain and simple. Catch-phrasy? Yes. But a train wreck.
For true stand-up entertainment, I’ll stick with Louis CK, or Ricky Gervais, or Bill Cosby, etc,etc.
Then I realized that it’s not his fault.
People think Charlie Sheen is funny because they’ve watched him all these years on his (hit?!?) TV show. As a total aside, I’m not quite sure how it became a "hit". I like Jon Cryer and all, but the show didn’t really strike me as something I ever would watch on a regular basis.
Anyway, it was the writers that made him funny. "Ahh, that scamp Charlie Sheen. Why, I bet he’s a real ball in person. I’d like to be his neighbor." The illusion of TV (and movies, and internets) is still very powerful. I’m waiting for some actor to do something REALLY atrocious so that acting is again looked on like some sort of disease. Imagine the headline, "TV’s Gus Grissom Serial Killer in Real Life!". Dang. That’s just glamorizing it. Anyway, back to Charlie, I think all the people who were keeping an eye on him either gave up or got fired.
Does anyone remember when Tom Cruise went nuts? Here’s the secret – he didn’t go nuts. He’s ALWAYS been nuts. He just fired all his handlers and unleashed himself on the world. I think the same thing happened to old Charlie. I haven’t bothered to look, is Charlie a Scientologist?
My other realization is that we have been so spoiled for comedy (as a human race) that there’s no patience. Take Charlie’s tour for example. People who see him live expect the same snappy, well cut, well edited mess that is all over the internet. Sure, it’s crazy, but a fast paced crazy.
Bam! Tiger Blood. Bam! Assassin! Bam! Sheenism after Sheenism.
How could you NOT be let down seeing him in person?
"Geez, I was around him for ten minutes, and he only said ONE crazy thing!"
Some of the TV shows that I watch are the same way. It’s a race to the next gag.
Pretty soon they’ll just have people standing on screen while flashing subliminal jokes across the screen like a stock ticker.
