Blowback from Tourgasm review

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on June 14th, 2006

Everyone into the pool!

We felt the need to bring a reply to a comment up to the surface. Enjoy:

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“Chris O” wrote:

“Boy, I know you guys are on the conservative side, but this post reads like a caricature. I like you guys, so I don’t want to seem like I’m jumping down your throats, but “MSM”? Really? The show was incredibly boring, and the Variety review was right on.”

To which we reply:

We defend a comic against particularly billious reviews (and use the term “MSM” in the course of doing same) and we’re all of a sudden conservative? How exactly does that work? For the record, we’ve ripped into the so-called “alternative press” and we’ve also taken it to such non-MSM outlets as Suck.com (may they R.I.H.). We’ve also taken conservo radio host Laura Ingraham to task for making clumsy and uncomplimentary generalizations about all comics. Give us a little more credit. (Or read us a little longer or a little more frequently before jumping to such conclusions.)

“Chris O” also wrote:

“Just because someone writes a negative review, it doesn’t make it ‘hateful’.”

To which we reply:

Certainly not. But we’re not the ones who are making up the ground rules about what is hate speech and what isn’t. We remind you that Tom Shales called all comedians “monkeys.”

There is legitimate criticism… and then there is bile-filled invective that is not so much criticism as it is self-indulgent pandering that is indicative of a real, deep-seated hatred of an entire group. Go back and read those reviews. Tell us that you can view them, through any political prism, and that you can reasonably regard them as as decent, reasoned analysis that isn’t tinged with some kind of personal bias.

What is wrong with this picture? We defend a fellow comedian against third-rate garbage and we‘re the ones with the problem?

Let’s remind ourselves again: Tom Shales called us all “monkeys.” And he said so without any qualifiers, no attempt at a joke, no shading.

Put aside your personal jealousies, your aesthetic standards, any possible political or ideological differences and contemplate that for a minute.

We are all, in the opinion of a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for a major American daily, monkeys.

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