Word: comicalities
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...sense of humor as sharp as Rushdie’s, but always muted by wry restraint. By now this restraint has entirely choked away the humor in Naipaul’s fiction, as well as much of the dark gravity that made Naipaul’s post-comic fiction so attractive. The final section, with its political uncertainty and sense of alienation, faintly resembles a low-key A Bend in the River. And even the very frank sexuality, which has been absent in some of Naipaul’s other work, manages not to smoulder in the slightest. This dampening...
...sense of humor beyond that of a middle school locker room. In her fat suit, Paltrow is briefly captivating as her mistreated character begins to cry. In the context of the rest of the movie, however, it’s not clear whether her tears are intended as comic fodder. The moment proved a confusing one for the audience at one advance screening, with some laughing and others unsure how to respond. And though identifying Shallow Hal’s biggest flaw would require some intense debate, the lack of clarity in tone is undoubtedly a strong candidate. Black...
...self-described "aggressive" comic--a dynamic ball of anger whose act is loaded with four-and 12-letter epithets--also used to joke that the networks would be scared to give him a sitcom like his more cuddly Kings co-star Steve Harvey. Well, that joke's over. With The Bernie Mac Show (Fox, Wednesdays starting Nov. 14, 9p.m. E.T.), Mac is about to become America's most provocative and (trust us) strangely likeable...
...brags about his grown daughter's graduate studies in psychology and her upcoming wedding, unironically uses "doggone" as an expletive and still lives in his hometown, Chicago. But after decades in stand-up (he did monologues at church banquets as a kid), he found success when raunchy comic turned sitcom star Redd Foxx encouraged him to make his act more dangerous. "He said, 'Young man, you're funny,'" Mac recalls. "'But your problem is, you don't want to be funny. You want to be liked...
...move by repeatedly wetting himself. The story line could have just been a set-up for easy potty jokes; instead, it underscores the real emotional stakes for the uprooted kids. It also brings out a fatherly side in Bernie that Mac--who has more range than many a comic who has taken on sitcom parenthood--makes believable without getting sappy...