Humor As Art

Guy Ben-Ner's Moby Dick

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:35:21 PST

The breath of fresh air Humor As Art as been hoping for. Guy Ben-Ner continues a long standing tradition of humor in art through personal examination. Moby Dick is a low-fi, creative remake of the literary masterpiece - shot in Ben-Ner's house and starring himself and his children in the leading roles. Using clever set design, as well as stop motion editing Ben-Ner creates a compelling piece of video art.

This kind of video art rolls back to the essence of the medium. In the day of "high definition" 24p filmic quality digital movie making, Moby Dick (and other pieces by Guy Ben-Ner) are amongst the visionary pioneer humorous video artists Wegman, Rosler, and Kuchar; this is the reason HUMOR as ART (this website) exists.

This videos exemplifies several properties in the humor spectrum: incongruity theory, disposition theory, frame shift theory, as well as relevance theory.

http://www.cca.org.il/guy-ben-ner/

A Post from my iPhone

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:26:11 PDT

During preperation for a child's two year birthday party, my girlfriend was icing the cupcakes; traditional vanilla and chocolate became a deeper meaning in my hum(an)(or) subconscious.

A Wrong Turn in Harlem

I quickly titled it to catogorize the photograph as Humor in Art.

- Posted from my iPhone

Paul Vs. George

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 06:23:03 PDT

When I met George Cox he was producing an auto-documentary while at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 1999. At that time, it was the most interesting thing happening at the school that I knew of. I kept a safe distance to study George's behavior and artistic approach, I admired it. George and I had few intimate moments, I mostly sat back and awwed at what I was witnessing. Analogous to viewing this video, the cognitive responses are similar to those days at the Museum School.

The closest I came to living like a George Cox was when I rode my bicycle across the country; only a marginal fraction of what the George Cox experience could be.

George runs his own production company now: Cogs Industries. I ran into him about 3 years ago, he was thinned haired, still wiled eyed, but still spit fired. I don't know where he is. The city of Boston now has just memories and social sporadic residue of his occupancy. But Cogs Industries is out there still, and you too can keep an eye on his on goings as they are always fascinating and more interesting than the life you are living.

Oh, Dem Watermelons by Robert Nelson

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:22:31 PDT

From UBUWEB

Watermelons was commissioned by the San Francisco Mime Troupe as a short entertainment to be screened during intermission for its rather infamous 1965 Minstrel Show (Civil Rights from the Cracker Barrel), which assaulted racial stereotypes by wildly exaggerating them -- as performed by (mostly white) performers in blackface, yet. A relative latecomer to filmmaking, the 35-year-old Nelson had just begun fooling around with the medium, mostly in collaboration with then-wife Gunvor Nelson. To make Watermelons he drafted talent from the Mime Troupe and alma mater Mills College, where he'd also found a young composer named Steve Reich, later known (to his occasional annoyance) as the father of minimalism, and thus the person to be blessed or blamed for subsequent fellow travelers Philip Glass and John Adams.

Reich's raucously repetitive choral arrangement of a Stephen Foster oldie (in which a slave mourns his deceased master) adds another satirical dimension to the color visuals, which direct the campus era's mood of anarchy and impudence toward the watermelon. Aiming to explode stereotypes and their symbols, the film finds melons used as bombs, footballs, baseballs, shooting targets, even as sensuous love objects. Watermelons are cut-and-pasted onto existing images (from Superman to a NASA missle) and sometimes animated there, à la Terry Gilliam's Monty Python 'toons. Fruits are chased by white male hordes, then turn around (via the magic of reverse projection) to chase them in return."

James O'Brien dies?

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Sat, 02 May 2009 05:05:46 PDT

A Message from the Blogger:

A lot of people who googled my name this week have been writing me and my family thinking I died. I assure you I'm alive and well, and although my name is often associated with the word humor on the internet, this James O'Brien is not me. It appears that the O'Brien name, though does carry a certain culture weight in the realms of humor. Google is an authority on such connections and the evidence is here in this link. Please there is no cause for any more alarm. I am still alive, and MY humor is still JUST as contagious as THIS James O'Brien who is dead now.

http://www.freep.com/article/20090426/NEWS08/904260692?imw=Y

James O'Brien dies; his good humor was contagious

Starting others off on the right course -- both mentally and directionally -- was all in a day's work for James O'Brien.

A retired General Motors Corp. employee who worked as a starter at the Pine Trace Golf Club in Rochester Hills for the past decade, Mr. O'Brien was known by many for a sunny disposition that often proved contagious to those around him.

A Troy resident and veteran of World War II, Mr. O'Brien died Wednesday at Beaumont Hospital in Troy of cardiac arrest after complications from surgery. He was 83.

"He had the most amazing outlook on life and touched so many people's lives in a positive way," said his son, Kevin O'Brien. "You could be experiencing the worst possible day of your life until you ran into him, and after one of his inspiring pep talks, your whole attitude had changed for the better."

Born in Chicago, he graduated from Birmingham High School and served with the Marine Corps during World War II in the Pacific theater of operations.

After the war, he went to work as a Lifesaver candy salesman. He married Elaine Cross in 1949.

His career with GM Fisher Body began in 1951. He spent his entire career as a production analyst, responsible for overseeing various aspects of assembly-line operations for the company until his retirement in 1986.

A health and fitness buff, Mr. O'Brien's daily routine included weight lifting and calisthenics, as well as walking 5 miles each day with his wife. The couple also enjoyed ballroom dancing.

Beside his wife and son, survivors include daughter Maureen Windel; five grandchildren; one great-grandchild; two sisters, and a brother.

Visitation is from 2 to 8 p.m. today at A. J. Desmond & Sons Funeral Home, 2600 Crooks, Troy, with a scripture service at 7 p.m.

A funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Hugo of the Hills Church, 2215 Opdyke, Bloomfield Hills. Visitation will precede the service at 9:30 a.m.

The body is to be cremated.

Contact JOE ROSSITER: 313-222-6594 or jrossiter@freepress.com

Going too Far Corner: Facebook

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 19:01:05 PST

Facebook has gone too far with it's advertising claims lately. I was just browsing my facebook when this ludicrous advertisement came on for teeth whitening. Now, I've seen a lot of hair brained facebook advertisements in my day, but this one takes the totem.

Let's think about this though, it says, "Dye your face skin a darker shade!" Won't that make the rest of your body look ludicrous? The extremes people go through to make their teeth look whiter is beyond me. In this post-conservavative, neo-liberal, post-racist America, people might even take the results of the procedure the wrong way.

How to Pronounce Things by Michael Gibbons

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:14:14 PST

Best Oscar Speech

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 09:48:37 PST

It sucks when you make a joke then no one gets it. It happened to Kunio Kato when he won the Oscar for his animated film. Or - they didn't want to offend his accent.

Old Jews Telling Jokes

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:31:02 PST

My dad can tell a story. But he’d prefer to tell a joke.

Storytelling is a Jewish tradition. You’ve probably seen Fiddler on the Roof. Whenever they ask the Rabbi a question, he tugs thoughtfully on his beard and says “let me tell you a story.” Then they sing.

Jokes are like stories, but shorter and funnier. Old jokes tend to have a stigma, but they only last if they’re good. Some of the best ones provide a window to the culture of a bygone era. They can reveal the concerns of a generation or even the generation before. Anxieties of coming to a new country, of prospering, of assimilating, of having families, of fearing and worrying about, well, everything. Humor was and is the ultimate anti-depressant.

My father gathered twenty of his friends to share their favorite jokes. We set three rules for the production: the joke-tellers were to be Jewish, at least sixty years of age and they were to tell their favorite joke – the one that always kills.

Here, you will find them, Old Jews Telling Jokes.

http://www.oldjewstellingjokes.com/

David Letterman interviews

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:35:12 PST

Joaquin Phoenix on Late Show w David Letterman Feb 11 2009

Crispin Glove on Late Show w David Letterman July 28 1987

Andy Kaufman on Late Show w David Letterman

Christian Bale takes David to the Dentist

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:39:09 PST

A Rare Music Video by James Arthur O'Brien

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:37:29 PST

Click to Play

I made digital music some time ago. I made a video to go along with it. This is copyright heavy. I better not catch this on a New Balence commercial or anything. I'm risking a lot by throwing this up on the internet. I do it for my audience. Please respect my art.

Elevator Phone Sex from Second City

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 06:00:04 PST

In this reporter's opinion, the video would be nothing without the reactions from the guy behind the caller.

Who Needs A Movie? Fred & Sharon

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 08:23:45 PDT

Some of Fred & Sharon's creative work. Go to http://fredandsharonsmovies.com for more

What is Comedy?

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 04:22:06 PDT

From their post on YouTube:

A long-forgotten 1951 classroom film from Medium Large's educational library ("Bake Your Way to Marriage!" "How to Cripple a Bully" "Polio: God's Judgment Against Gays" ), this short exposes the chilling, horrifying, alarming truth about comedy in a fun, fact-filled format. The movie was made possible with a grant from "Buick: The Cadillac of Cars."

Written, drawn and directed by Francesco Marciuliano. Edited by Sara Benincasa.

http://www.medium-large.com

http://francescoexplainsitall.blogspot.com

Amateur Creampie by Karl Stevens & Gustavo Turner

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 10:37:57 PDT

Banana Slips on a Human

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 03:59:46 PDT

There is so much going on here in terms of humor. The first thing that comes to mind is the obvious frame shift. The shift may come late after the banana falls, realizing that it has slipped on a human. This then creates the association of parody on the timeless slipping on a banana peel joke. Added associations for more comic effect are the suitcase and umbrella the banana is holding. This frames the banana in our world which Echoes the theories of Henri Bergson:

"You may laugh at an animal, but only because you have detected in it some human attitude or expression. You may laugh at a hat, but what you are making fun of, in this case, is not the piece of felt or straw, but the shape that men have given it,--the human caprice whose mould it has assumed. It is strange that so important a fact, and such a simple one too, has not attracted to a greater degree the attention of philosophers. Several have defined man as “an animal which laughs.” They might equally well have defined him as an animal which is laughed at; for if any other animal, or some lifeless object, produces the same effect, it is always because of some resemblance to man, of the stamp he gives it or the use he puts it to."

Food is no different. Now with the rise of analytical comedy, a lot of weight is put on laughter in the question, "Why am I laughing at this?" which leads to "Why was this video even produced?" which may lead to another frame of laughter. The incongruity of the scenario lends itself extreme to the release of laughter. Banana's slipping on humans doesn't make sense, and this is a basic form of laughter that even the youngest human can cognitively understand.

The Arnold Palmer

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:03:51 PDT

Click To Play

The Avante Garde is Funny

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Mon, 12 May 2008 07:30:45 PDT

Great article on a visit from Tony Conrad.

The Avante Garde is Funny.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:17:18 PDT

A scene from Joe Gibbons' Deadbeat (1986).

Click To Play

Analyzing the 2 hunters joke

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:30:54 PDT

Jared Medeiros "The Newlyweds"

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 07:52:19 PDT

Click To Play

Jared Medeiros "Go Get Your Mule"

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 07:42:20 PDT

A few years ago Jared Medeiros released (on the internet) a few videos that remade some old media. The remakes are filled with humorous subtlety thats speak about the mediums they're emulating. These are some of the most honest, creative, timely remakes on the internet. And we know how swamped the internet is with remake culture. This is one of the few times I support remake culture in art.

Click To Play

Inciting Humor

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 07:01:30 PDT

In regards to the Jews developing humor in German Culture, refer to the book Inciting Laughter by Jefferson
S. Chase.

I haven't read it. It's on my "to read" list.

Addressing the Germans (English translation)

jamesaobrien@gmail.com (James A. O'Brien) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:26:34 PDT

Click To Play