General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I stopped liking Bill Cosby 25 years ago. Here's the story. [View all]LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Art? Maybe, maybe not-- I s'pose it's a diaphanous definition in the eye of the beholder. Is a comedian an artist? I think so, but I don't pretend to know one way or the other-- they do seem to fit the definition of the word, but I also realize that 'artist' is a high bar to achiever regardless of profession (a concept which my downstairs neighbors who think they have a super grunge/metal garage band don't really get...)
But yeah... Cosby's stand-up routines had me laughing my butt off-- particularly one that was available on VHS in the mid-eighties that almost every family seemed to own. And the few times I catch re-runs of the Cosby Show, I'm still in awe of how effortlessly he seemed to re-write his stand-up material to television format without losing any of its wit or relevance.
Playwright David Mamet, author Tom Wolfe, actor James Caan (heck, even Bruce Willis if I include a guilty indulgence or two) are all serious jerks on a personal level (Mamet is, I've concluded, the World's Biggest Jerk... with Harlan Ellison as the Court Jester of that kingdom), but God help me, I've got a real thing for their work.