I saw Tracy do stand up once, and at one point he was making fun of handicapped people. Little did he know there was a guy in the audience in a wheelchair who didn't take too kindly to the comments. The wheelchair guy screamed "Fuck you!" and left the room. Tracy was totally caught off guard.
After that, Tracy got so serious...started talking about how he had a brother (I think) who was handicapped, and how making jokes was his way of dealing with it and the other stuff he went through. It was really sad the way he explained it. Luckily this happened toward the end of his set, because it was downright uncomfortable...but it made me think of him in a whole new light. #tracymorgan
Folks, I was there. I bought a book and he signed it. It wasn’t a laugh fest but it wasn’t a 100% downer. I mean, the book might be a tad ghostwritten but it’s the story of his truly hard life. I mean, how can you make an upper out of sharing the fact you’re dad died of AIDS after being a heroin addict which started because his dad was a helicopter gunner in Vietnam?
And also where do you folks get the idea that comedians live happy lives and their bios will just be filled with wackiness? Most comedians have had horrible lives and are really miserable.
That said, Tracy Morgan is great because he was STILL funny. He was talking about comedy being a job to him and if that didn’t work out he’d get a soda delivery route or work for UPS. And when people laughed at that, you know what he talked about how you might think that’s funny, but that’s the truth and the truth is what comedy is about and that’s why he’s so funny.
And your reporter failed to mention how he hilariously ripped into the first questioner who grilled him on Rachel Dratch being replaced by Jane Krakowski on "30 Rock." First, ripped into the guy for falling for Internet rumors. Second, he grilled him on why he cared at all. If he liked comedy why didn’t this guy become a comedian? Went further to say the guy was limp enough to not even get to the level of observational comedy. So his career advice: Stop spreading Internet rumors and start telling poop jokes. A poop joke is more valid than what this guy is doing because at least everyone poops so there’s a good chance someone will laugh...
Blah, blah...
Tracy Morgan is/was great. And as far as pride goes, watching him tear up talking about his life was awesome. You know how rare it is to see that? The guy’s had a fucked up life but the fact he can be honest about it and him is pretty awesome. By that fact he’s already better adjusted than most of the miserable asshats in comedy nowadays. #tracymorgan
@SpyMagician: Thank you for your take on it. I've been wondering why people have this false expectation that all comedians are always funny, all the time. I'd be seriously concerned if he was laughing and making fart jokes about his dad dying of aids. #tracymorgan
@Pope John Peeps II: You’re a dink. Who said truth intself is funny? "Hey you have cancer!!! HAHHAHAH!" That’s not funny.
But having the skill to objectively look at something and even look at the ugliest things in the world and transform it into a joke: THAT is the essence of comedy. #tracymorgan
@SpyMagician: I've always have been of the mind set that behind every joke is a little bit of tragedy. Comedians develop their talent as a defense to deal with issues/life.
eatsshootsleaves promoted this comment
Edited by Christopher Chambers at 10/23/09 1:00 PM
Christopher Chambers was starred
Christopher Chambers was unstarred
@ericacartman: I've never much liked Terri Gross, for just that sort of thing. She's incredibly condescending to anyone she doesn't consider an intellectual. #tracymorgan
@MissNormaDesmond: I don't like her because half of her questions are irritating as shit. She really pissed me off last night when she was commenting on Tracy Jordan's reactions and tone of voice. "Wow, you sound really upset." And when he replied he was just "passionate" she returned with words that sounded like she was saying, "OK, whatever you say. Just calm down." It was so incredibly inappropriate. Here is an authentic, interesting person telling some pretty crazy stories about his intense life, and she's got to pull the "whoa, calm down there buddy" lever? Fuck you Terri. Rude. Unprofessional. And again, irritating as fuck.
I know people have complained about some of his cringe-worthy bits in his act, but fuck, who's perfect? I thought he was one of the most interesting people I've heard on NPR in a long time. Next to Maurice Sendak, who has killed every time he's interviewed. But back to Tracy ... raw, real, and obviously still processing his stuff. TMI or fantastic insight into a fellow human - either way, I felt alive listening to that. #tracymorgan
Someone should tell him to watch 30 Rock. They've got this great character named Tracy Jordan who is a laugh riot. Ought to cheer him right up. #tracymorgan
I was having a conversation with a hairdresser friend of mine about the Far East formulation of Brylcreem, which gives a higher shine and has a much better smell to it, and out of nowhere he said, "They put Michael Jackson down like a dog when they couldn't earn any more money off him!" So, you know, it's on a lot of people's minds, I guess.
Re the child-molester thing, Jackson may have been so crazy that he actually wanted to have pajama parties with eight- to twelve-year-olds without anything sexual ever coming into his mind. I think he achieved such an extreme level of weirdness that the usual patterns of deviant behavior just aren't applicable.
@DaveCrabtree: @Senor_Macho_Solo: @nozer: I keep thinking things along those lines. I always worry that I'm being voluntarily naive because I thought he was a fantastic performer and I want to believe the best, so it's nice to see that a few other people have similar thoughts.
@DahlELama: Well, I don't like to think that I'm naive, and I have no problem thinking awful things about fantastic performers in every sphere of human endeavor. I just think that this guy was at a whole 'nuther level of crazy, that this was the result of an awful childhood and family environment, and that he lived in constant psychological and emotional (and apparently physical) pain surrounded by keepers and minders and other hangers-on who didn't care a damn about him, and my heart goes out to MJ because of it. I know it's uncool to say something like "At least now he's in a better place," but I think that's a true statement even if there isn't an afterlife.
Blacks in Harlem aren't the only ones asking questions. They're all over the papers, but with a different bent. Back in May, the London Times asked if Jackson could survive the London shows.
10/23/09
10/23/09
After that, Tracy got so serious...started talking about how he had a brother (I think) who was handicapped, and how making jokes was his way of dealing with it and the other stuff he went through. It was really sad the way he explained it. Luckily this happened toward the end of his set, because it was downright uncomfortable...but it made me think of him in a whole new light. #tracymorgan
10/23/09
10/23/09
10/23/09
And also where do you folks get the idea that comedians live happy lives and their bios will just be filled with wackiness? Most comedians have had horrible lives and are really miserable.
That said, Tracy Morgan is great because he was STILL funny. He was talking about comedy being a job to him and if that didn’t work out he’d get a soda delivery route or work for UPS. And when people laughed at that, you know what he talked about how you might think that’s funny, but that’s the truth and the truth is what comedy is about and that’s why he’s so funny.
And your reporter failed to mention how he hilariously ripped into the first questioner who grilled him on Rachel Dratch being replaced by Jane Krakowski on "30 Rock." First, ripped into the guy for falling for Internet rumors. Second, he grilled him on why he cared at all. If he liked comedy why didn’t this guy become a comedian? Went further to say the guy was limp enough to not even get to the level of observational comedy. So his career advice: Stop spreading Internet rumors and start telling poop jokes. A poop joke is more valid than what this guy is doing because at least everyone poops so there’s a good chance someone will laugh...
Blah, blah...
Tracy Morgan is/was great. And as far as pride goes, watching him tear up talking about his life was awesome. You know how rare it is to see that? The guy’s had a fucked up life but the fact he can be honest about it and him is pretty awesome. By that fact he’s already better adjusted than most of the miserable asshats in comedy nowadays. #tracymorgan
10/23/09
10/23/09
This is what people say, but comedy's not really about the truth. Anyone can say the truth. Not everyone is funny. #tracymorgan
10/23/09
But having the skill to objectively look at something and even look at the ugliest things in the world and transform it into a joke: THAT is the essence of comedy. #tracymorgan
10/23/09
10/23/09
10/23/09
Hmm... not the best choice of words.
10/23/09
10/23/09
10/23/09
10/24/09
I know people have complained about some of his cringe-worthy bits in his act, but fuck, who's perfect? I thought he was one of the most interesting people I've heard on NPR in a long time. Next to Maurice Sendak, who has killed every time he's interviewed. But back to Tracy ... raw, real, and obviously still processing his stuff. TMI or fantastic insight into a fellow human - either way, I felt alive listening to that. #tracymorgan
10/23/09
10/23/09
10/24/09
10/23/09
10/23/09
10/23/09
06/29/09
06/29/09
06/29/09
06/29/09
06/29/09
06/29/09
06/29/09
06/29/09
06/29/09
06/29/09
06/29/09
Blacks in Harlem aren't the only ones asking questions. They're all over the papers, but with a different bent. Back in May, the London Times asked if Jackson could survive the London shows.
[gawker.com]