Comedy Music Cellar

The infamous comedic team of Cheech & Chong were known for their drug induced comic routines, long before they were famous for their songs.  Anyone who grew up as a child of the seventies or the eighties would be sure to remember this comedic duo.  And, those same childred are very likely to remember their songs as well as their standup routines.  I know I do.  Who could forget the song Santa Claus and his Old Lady?  I always look forward to hearing that song every Christmas on the radio.  Although, now that I think about it, I don’t recall remember hearing it this year.

I think, that by virtue of the fact that most people would remember their songs as well or better than their stand up routines is evidence enough to count these guys as true comedy music artist.  Sure, they may have talked / rapped through most of their songs, there was definitely a melody and I remember laughing hilariously listening to it.  I still do to this day.

The group split up in the early eighties, but have since then performed together, and continue to talk about the possibility of them doing another movie together.  Cheech certainly hasn’t remained quiet over the years, as he seems to pop up everywhere in little movie cameo roles that often lead to bigger roles. Just off the top of my head, I recall seeing him in Desperado with Antonio Banderas as the bartender.  He also starred alongside Kevin Costner in Tin Cup, a golfing movie of all things.  He’s had recurring roles in the popular television series Lost as well.

Chong hasn’t exactly remain silent either during this time period.  While I really only recall seeing him in The  Seventies Show on television, he remains one of my favorite character actors on television.  Perhaps not as prolific as his former partner, he does keep busy.

Cheech & Chong remain to this day, one of the funnies comedy duos of our generation.  Or other generations for that matter.  Right up their with Laurel and Hardy, and The Three Stooges.  At least in my books they do.  I would love to see them together in a movie, or even cut a new album (CD/iTune download) these days.  Although, I’m not sure it would really have the same impact today.  Given that much of their shtick was drug humour, and cultural views of that topic have shifted, I suspect their audience would be a little divided on their relevance.

Well, to be honest I’m not quite to sure exactly why people like comedy music.  But, I do have a few theories.  The first one being, that people like all kinds of music depending on the mood they are in.  Sometimes, we need music to cheer us up.  Sometimes we need music to calm us down.  Sometimes we need music to dance to.  Sometimes we need music to distract us.  And, sometimes we need music to make us laugh.  Or at the very least, put a smile on our faces.  Even just a little smirk will do.  There are those amongst us that think humorous music is just plain nonsense.  Music is supposed to be serious.  Real important stuff, performed by really important artists that have a relevant message to get out.

Well, to them I say you can stick to your classical Bach and Beethoven.  I do like that stuff too by the way.  But I’m also open to having my funny bone tickled by the genuinely funny artists of our time.  That’s not to say there aren’t some older artists out there that can coax a good belly laugh out of me, but I’m a big fan of the new stuff too.  My favorite funny musical artists, would have to be The Bare Naked Ladies.  I like them, because they’re a little bit subtle in their humor.  The joke is not so obvious that everyone get’s it instantly.  You have to pay attention to the lyrics, and think a little bit.  I like it that way, as it makes the humor seem as if it’s a bit of a private joke between me and the band.

Now,  because I like funny comedy music, that doesn’t mean I like all funny music.  I don’t like all rock and roll, and I don’t like all pop music either.  One artist that really gets under my skin in his attempts at humor would be Weird Al Yankovich.  I think what bugs me the most about him, is that he really just uses other peoples insanely popular songs and twists them in a childish way for his own.  It just doesn’t seem all that original to me, and it also seems like he’s making fun of the original artist.  I suppose in a way he’s supposed to as that’s what a parody is.  It just seems sort of hypocritical to me.

There’s one other popular funny song every Christmas that always seems to get mixed reviews.  Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer I think, is a very funny song, and so do may others, as it’s been played every Christmas since I was a kid.  But, I’ve yet to find a Grandma that finds it very funny.  Kinda funny huh?