Word: sketch
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...dialogue might have been taken from a sketch titled "The Case of the Frustrated Carnivore." In a blunt exchange of views with officials of a Siberian research institute in late September, Mikhail Gorbachev scoffed at statistics claiming that a typical resident of the city of Krasnoyarsk eats 156 lbs. of meat a year. Chronic shortages, Gorbachev implied, make that figure wholly unbelievable. On the other hand, he went on, anyone who travels to China reports that meat is "always in the shops, unsold...
BOGOSIAN is a master at choosing a few physical quirks which quickly sketch a whole range of characteristics. His best moments explore the extent of male folly. His characters are often driven by lust, a drive that they often do not understand or which threatens to overwhelm them. A bombastic portrait of a Married to the Mob type who has just eaten a huge meal is particularly on target. As he advises his nephew Vincent to fall in love, he reminisces about his own youth, when he was a "human hard-on" and "a dick with clothes...
Washington so far has been trying to play it cool, avoiding the emotionalism that in the past has paralyzed U.S. foreign policy and led to the Iran arms- sale fiasco. Officials sketch a three-part approach. First, the U.S. will talk informally with anyone, anytime. "We keep in touch," says National Security Adviser Colin Powell; he will not say with whom. Second, Washington will officially negotiate only with an "authoritative" representative of the Tehran government, and that stage has not yet been reached. Says one State Department official: "We hear from people who say they know somebody who knows somebody...
...discussions generated by this year's presidential election--a theme close to his heart in recent weeks--he can point to his own record of sharp political commentary. Few other prominent critics of the campaign between Gov. Michael Dukakis and Vice President George Bush have offered a thumb-nail sketch of their own publicly held political convictions, let alone a four-panel cartoon...
Alas, these possibilities are rarely developed beyond their initial statement. The writers' attention span is short, no more than sketch length. This is not surprising, since they used to write for Murphy on Saturday Night Live. It means, though, that they skitter from idea to idea, never pausing to connect them in lovely long lines of lunacy. The director is also rather distracted; John Landis seems to be browsing through the scenes rather than gobbling them down. As a result, a cast of excellent black actors -- about whom Murphy in his role as producer has been making justifiably proud noises...