Modified On December 3, 2009
Weird Al Yankovic, Stephen Colbert, Patton Oswalt, Kathy Griffin, George Lopez and Spinal Tap were nominated for Best Comedy Album.
What’s striking about the list is the diversity– a song parodist, a faux news anchor, an alt comic, a monologist/story-teller, a straight standup comic and the stars of a fake documetary.
Yet you could probably find a vast number of people who like all or most of these acts. We’re always stunned at the tremendous variety within the larger field of comedy. There are a lot of successful comedians appealing to large audiences using wildly different approaches. Keep this in mind the next time someone tries to tell you that a successful ventriloquist is taking food out of the mouth of a sullen truthteller or a song parodist is muscling an insightful, clever and daring comic out of the club dates he deserves. It’s a big, crazy comedy world out there. And, from all indications, it’s wide open.