Mark Russell Comedy Special, April 1988 (1/3)

[Disneydanny]

the opening theme sound Electrical Water Pagent-ish

[Cooman456]

Thanks for uploading this. I'm a big fan of past presidential campaigns, and it's great to hear Russell rip on them.

[MarkRussellPBS]

Maybe he was meaning to repeat "pathetic" or say "prophetic", but honestly, after a punchline using the word "anus", I don't think anybody was paying attention. Those "genius...henious...anus" lyrics sorta struck me as being unrelated filler so Mark could do a final chorus using the Aladdin & Cuomo jokes. (Mind you, it was HILARIOUS filler, but filler nonetheless.)

[WrestlingHeretic]

The rhyme is pathetic/prophetic. It makes sense. The joke is that because Jesse *actually is* sort of an asshole, Russell is rejecting the word "anus" because it would be too on-the-nose.

I videotaped this when it was broadcast in 1988, and watched it so many times I can still sing along with most of it from memory.

[despondentisthmus]

I disagree with the idea that Russell did it because of any personal dislike of Jackson. I think it was just a simple throwaway line, which could have been used interchangeably in almost any other MR parody.

Besides, Russell strikes me as the kind who doesn't get too personally involved in the politicians or their agendas. Russell's main job is to make fun of the ridiculous aspects of politics, but seldom to the point of outright ridicule & advocacy.

[WrestlingHeretic]

I never said Russell didn't like Jackson personally. One can like Jackson just fine, and yet objectively observe that yes, indeed, sometimes the man can behave like a self-aggrandizing ass. Nobody's perfect. A satirist's job is to exploit those foibles for comedy fodder, which Russell does here.

I happen to like Jesse Jackson myself.

[Ian16545]

I didn't catch the end of the stanza from 6:13-6:14... what's the "-etic"?