When Was The Last Time You Watched That Comedy Show That You Loved In College?
Does it still hold up?
Almost all comedy expires. It’s a truth about the medium that hurts to admit. Sure, there are some universal, evergreen bits and segments that stand the test of time, but like yogurt and last week’s take out, most of the comedy specials and videos you watched as a young’n will hold up to a rewatch in a way that is much different than they did when you were just discovering this world of people who write jokes for a living.
Does that mean that it’s not worth the 60 minutes of your time, or that it’s no good anymore, or that you should throw that DVD away? (Remember those?) No, not at all.
In fact, maybe they are more valuable now than they ever were before.
The next time you rewatch this beloved comedy brilliance of yesteryear, you’ll have the benefit of being able to watch it with fresh, new eyes. You will pick up things that you didn’t notice all those years ago, you’ll take it in critically, and with years of experiences, references and knowledge that will help open it up to you in a way it wasn’t able to before.
You may think you remember it perfectly, but it will be like the first time you ever saw it.
I recently rewatched The Ali G Show and I was surprised at the findings I came away from it with now vs. when I first saw it in the early 2000s.
Curious—who was the comedian you loved in college whose show is due for a rewatch?
Today’s comedy inspo:
Pandemic or no, there are still many, many virtual open mics running | EventBrite
This review of Jo Koy’s monologue at the Golden Globes is ROUGH | Cracked
Speaking of, Gaffigan, of all people, told a (funny!) pedo joke at the GG’s | TMZ
Later, skater. Love you.