Modified On February 25, 2005
In a piece entitled “The William F-ing Buckley of stand-up,” John Swansburg, writing for Slate, says:
“I can play the Apollo, and I could play the Senate,” Rock bragged to Charlie Rose last year. “In the same day. And have great shows at both.”
Sure, we’ve pointed out to anyone with ears that Rock’s more right of center than everyone thinks. (Even getting quoted saying as much in a couple of articles on Rock in major dailies.) But no one will believe it (or hear it!) until it’s in Slate! To bolster his point, Swansburg cites a chunk of a Rock screed from an old HBO special:
“If a kid calls his grandma ‘mama’ and his mama ‘Pam,’ he’s going to jail,” Rock explains. To all the women who leave their kids at home so they can pop some bubbly at the club, Rock has this advice: “Go take care of those kids before they rob me in 10 years.
Interesting article.
We’ll be watching the Oscarcast… or at least time-shifting it. We expect that Rock will acquit himself nicely. He didn’t get this far this fast by playing it safely… nor did he get this far without being very shrewd. We still don’t think his hosting performance will come close to that of David Letterman’s.