I object to your description of Coulter as a standup comedian! She doesn't possess those skills. Witness her incredible thrashing at the Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe in which she utterly failed at taking roast revenge on her opponents. She was going against the entire room and bombed. She had zero performing skills in that atmosphere! She was demoralized and shaken by a bunch of pros who'd spent many years honing their chops and, not incidentally, learning how to fight through the demoralization and failure that is inherent in standup. Writing funny polemics and being funny are two entirely different pursuits.
Her skills are probably much more apparent when she is performing in front of a friendly audience, which is what I witnessed on many occasions.
But my point is that when people used to get so mad at her 20 years ago for saying inappropriate things, she was almost always just joking and intentionally baiting people. And it worked.
Yeah, she's also been more of an entertainer than anything else. But, in terms of standup, making a friendly crowd laugh is far far far easier than making a room of strangers laugh.
This is an excellent chronology of your intellectual journey, thank you so much for sharing!
I appreciate your encouragement. Let me know if you have any questions on these authors or themes.
That's an interesting list you've compiled. Paglia and Coulter I already revere (Paglia more so, however).
I object to your description of Coulter as a standup comedian! She doesn't possess those skills. Witness her incredible thrashing at the Comedy Central Roast of Rob Lowe in which she utterly failed at taking roast revenge on her opponents. She was going against the entire room and bombed. She had zero performing skills in that atmosphere! She was demoralized and shaken by a bunch of pros who'd spent many years honing their chops and, not incidentally, learning how to fight through the demoralization and failure that is inherent in standup. Writing funny polemics and being funny are two entirely different pursuits.
Her skills are probably much more apparent when she is performing in front of a friendly audience, which is what I witnessed on many occasions.
But my point is that when people used to get so mad at her 20 years ago for saying inappropriate things, she was almost always just joking and intentionally baiting people. And it worked.
Yeah, she's also been more of an entertainer than anything else. But, in terms of standup, making a friendly crowd laugh is far far far easier than making a room of strangers laugh.
Anyone else on the list catch your eye?
There are public domain artwork. You don't have to use AI shit
https://marlowe1.substack.com/p/archive-of-the-odd-appreciation-extra