— This is a longer post than usual, so if you’re reading this via email, you might want to hop on over the the web version here to read the full thing! —
Caravan played by Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach
Letter From African America (March, 2024)
Dear readers,
Just over a week ago, my sister and her husband welcomed their first child together, thus making me a biological uncle for the first time (because, of course, this is all about me right?). I haven’t met the kid yet, but even from afar, I feel the full magnitude of unclehood. I adore this person I’ve never met, whose birth wraps a bow around the year of intense change that 2023 was for our families.
February had some surprising ups and downs for me that have luckily settled into a plateau of positivity. And if that sounds vague, it’s because this roller-coaster was almost entirely entertainment industry related. And entertainment, as you likely know, is the attractive sibling of politics — bearing the same traits of fake smiling, ladder climbing and deception that make saying anything with clarity a risky move. Wow, that sounds way more intense than I intended. My issue doesn’t have anything to do with deception or ladder climbing. Honestly, it all boils down to my relationship with ego.
I’ve been distanced from ego for a while. Didn’t abandon it or anything. Just put it in a jar and ran a series of experiments. “Do I really need this thing?” I’d ask to whoever I am without it. Turns out I didn’t have much to say in response.
I’ve been re-watching The Larry Sanders Show and diving further into Garry Shandling’s work because of how well it analyzes ego, relationships, and the pursuit of fame (love’s wealthy cousin).
The Larry Sanders Show was Shandling’s set of experiments on the ego, and perhaps even an attempt at caging it in a television program so that he could live a blissful existence in the real world.
Of course, that is impossible.
I’ve also been watching Atlanta for the first times.
So, yes, I finally get your years of references to it. And, yes, during those years I’ve just nodded along so that you could make your point without stopping to say, “What?! How have you not seen this yet?!”
Hiro Murai’s brilliant direction of each episode led me to the interesting thought that the camera is the true main character of the show.
And this concept of camera as main character has expanded into a larger thesis that I’ve always identified with the camera of any show or film more than the characters.
What does that mean?
Do I not see myself as worthy of being a flesh and blood person on screen?
Or do I in some way wish to be omniscient?
A balanced life, of course, happens in-between those options.
So, come on ego, let’s boogie.
Best,
-Tim
last month right now! (best jokes)
Each weekday, I email five jokes and subscribers vote on the ones that make them laugh the most! Here are your favorite jokes from February, 2024!
[Milly Tamarez] Is The Genre:How dollar store media, Robin Williams' Popeye, and Buddhism guided Milly Tamarez toward her own comedic genre.
[James III] Is The Genre:How a childhood love of cartoons fuels the work of James III on stage and behind the scenes.
[Mary Rambaran-Olm] Is The Genre:How 'Adventures of Gummi Bears' and yarn encouraged Dr. Mary Rambaran-Olm to combat false notions of our past.
[Greg Iwinski] Is The Genre:How listening to sports radio and watching self-aware sitcoms and variety shows guided Greg Iwinski toward late night television and beyond.
Listen to the latest four episodes of Yub Nub the Star Wars podcast that I co-host with Jim Fagan and Greg Iwinski!
Years ago, I saw him exiting a Zanies show in Chicago. In that brief glimpse, he seemed at once a rock star and Dracula. But his greatest skill, in my view, was his ability to seem like family to anyone who watched… Angry, bitter, anxious, hilarious family. Dying is one of the scariest things we do. Right below public speaking. He was great at the latter, and was always dressed for the first.
current obsessions
SOUNDS:
PODCAST: Stick The Landing “Did The Larry Sanders Show Stick The Landing?”
Hey, I told ya I’ve been diving further into Garry Shandling’s work.
I’ve been addicted to this show. Cush Jumbo and Peter Capaldi play such an intense, nuanced, and frustrating rivalry that somehow reaches the heights of more abstract adversaries like Luke vs Vader and Agent Smith vs Neo, despite being totally grounded in real world London.
TELEVISION: The Larry Sanders Show
You heard me rant about it in the letter, but I think it should be notes how weird this modern trailer for the series is. It makes the show feel ancient and way too self-important.
TELEVISION: Obituary
I forgot to mention this show in previous updates (I think… I try not to look back). But it’s staid in my mind in the months since it came out. It strikes such a specific, dark, Irish tone and establishes a world of characters I hope to see more of.
TELEVISION: Young Sheldon
Why did no one tell me how great this show is?! I’ve spent years lumping it into the category of shows that just cash in on popular IP. But the series appearing on Netflix recently has been my own personal Suits phenomenon. As a kid who loved Urkel and spent far too much time trying to be smart while also genuinely pondering the meaning of the world beyond religion in a religious household, this series pulls all the right strings for me while still being palatable for the mainstream. Bravo, Young Sheldon. Bravo.
There is something magical about trios. The magic of this united effort between Duke Ellington on keys, Max Roach on drums and Charlies Mingus on bass in the 1962 recorded/1963 released album Money Jungle all comes down to time. Duke Ellington is stripped of his famous big band sound — 48 years after writing his first composition, while Roach and Mingus suddenly find themselves collaborating with with one of their idols in one of the songs that defined his career and inspired elements of their own work. And you can really zone in on each individual instrument, making it worth repeat listening.
🎶—🎶
UPCOMING SHOWS!
“The Story Collider” —MARCH 7, 7:30PM @ Pier 57 (NY) (TICKETS)
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