It ain’t the off-color joke, it’s the no laughter
During the monologue, out of boredom, I focused on the band behind Gillis, especially the bushy-haired sax player. That guy did not laugh once, not even a faked laugh.
Other things were keeping me busy, so I did not comment on the low-megaton bomb “comedian” Shane Gillis laid on the "Saturday Night Live” stage last week.
The first social media reaction to his monologue was a lot of shrieking about him having said women in gyms “dress like whores now.”
That is what he said. What many snowflakes heard was they were whores. That’s very different. Was it slut-shaming?
And even taken at its worst, even if it is misogynist, how shocked should you be while watching a late night comedy show? At least, that’s the aim even if it falls flat more often than hitting the mark.
I was going to pass on commenting, until I saw this take by Philadelphia magazine’s Patrick Rapa, who got it almost all right in a commentary titled, “Dear Shane Gillis: Please stop hosting SNL”
Really excellent advice because each time I have seen him do it, three times, he does the worst thing possible — not by insulting women, gays, minorities, etc. — but by being not funny.
And it’s not just me or Rapa. During the monologue, out of boredom, I focused on the band behind Gillis, especially the bushy-haired sax player. That guy did not laugh once, not even a faked laugh. His expression was that of a constipated man seated on a toilet.
Per Rapa, Gillis “flubbed his lines, couldn’t take his eyes off the cue cards, and mumbled out a monologue. . . .”
Gillis didn’t know the rules SNL has fashioned over 52 seasons, wrote Rapa.
There are six, said Rapa, but cheated by repeating Rule No. 1 as No. 6. So, really, five rules. For now.
The No. 1 rule: “Don’t call women whores. Or say that they dress like whores. Or use the word ‘whore’ at all.”
Some comics can get away with “whore,” Rapa writes, but for Gillis, “it’s a nonstarter.”
Why? In the next breath, Rapa describes Gillis’ stage persona as “somewhere between frat boy, Bugs Bunny, and a bouncer trying to memorize the address on your ID.”
Hmmm. That sounds exactly like the kind of comic who could throw “whore” around.
Memory check. “Whore” and “slut” are synonyms. They mean the same thing.
Join me in the Way Back Machine to visit the Dan Aykroyd/Jane Curtain “Point/Counterpoint” sketches on SNL, in which Aykroyd habitually referred to Curtail as an “ignorant slut.”
The reaction? Laughter from the audience.
That was before Political Correctness.
Rule No. 2. “Don’t namedrop. And don’t namedrop Joe Rogan and Theo Von.”
That rule is violated a lot, but it’s usually done in a self-deprecating way.
Rule No. 3. “Don’t drop an F-bomb on live television. And: Don’t break the fourth wall.”
It’s self-evident that performers can’t say “fuck” on broadcast television, although Gillis wasn’t the first to do that on SNL. That honor goes to Charles Rocket, who was promptly fired In 1981. (Am I dating myself?)
The fourth wall? Is Rapa under a rock? Hasn’t he seen “The Office” and countless other shows that directly address the audience?
Rule No. 4. “Try. Make an effort.”
Can’t add to that.
Rule No. 5. “Don’t pull a Morgan Wallen.”
What?
During the show’s close, Gillis left the stage by the center aisle, mimicking the exit last year by country-pop artist Wallen, which is “pissy,” according to Rapa.
Sorry, scratch that one, so, really, we’re down to four rules.
Gillis should study them, but it’s a good bet he won’t be called on to host again.
Not because of the blue language. He’s lazy and has delivered three sub-par monologues.
