Modified On August 26, 2005
Dusty Saunders, writing in the Detroit News:
Like (Ray) Romano, Jerry Seinfeld and other TV comedy stars, James came to series work via standup comedy. He was signed for several appearances on Everybody Loves Raymond after getting rave reviews at the 1996 Montreal Comedy Festival. This was followed by a development deal under which he helped create King of Queens.
James returned to his roots as an on-the-road standup performer last spring and early this summer.
“The reactions of audiences are interesting,” he says. “I think Seinfeld said it best. They give you a lot of initial recognition because of who you are. In the first five minutes of my act, I can’t even finish a punch line because they’re clapping and going so crazy.
“But after they settle in you’ve still got to be funny, because for an hour just the fact they get to see you live in a theater is going to wear off if you’re not doing well.”
Read the whole thing. James may be second only to Drew Carey in terms of being a real trouper when it comes to his reaction to his treatment at the hands of the network he works for. While it’s true that neither James’ series nor Carey’s series were the cultural phenomenon that Seinfeld was, we’ve seen networks go apeshit over far less. Not only is James and co. not getting any kind of press push from CBS, the Tiffany Network has seen fit to change timeslots on the series yet again. (“Here’s your hat… what’s your hurry? BTW: I took a dump in your hat!”)