Emerging From the Depths With the Beales

I don't think I've ever gone an entire week without blogging. Didja miss me? My family and I had some wonderfully relaxing moments at Christmas in Indiana, lounging around in jammie pants until nearly lunchtime, taking slow ponderous walks around our improbably quaint Main Street, reminiscing and reconnecting with longtime family friends. More on that once I have time to digest all that went on.

I've been rekindling my obsession with all things Edie and Beale with the marvelous Beales of Grey Gardens. If you haven't seen the original Grey Gardens, a sort of sad love letter to the once glorious, now fallen cousins of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, you should. The story is utterly mesmerizing, and it's one of those movies you find yourself thinking about in countless unexpected moments later. There's drama, and tragedy, and great humor, and dark psychology, and fashion, and cats. Lots and lots of cats.

At K-Rock's recommendation, I've also enjoyed several intense viewings of When Stand Up Stood Out, about the boom of the Boston comedy scene, the effect on the scene nationwide, and the way huge success and opportunities changed the relationships between the comics in the tightly-knit Beantown stand-up culture. It's interesting to realize it was almost entirely a white male scene that prompted the explosion of stand-up across the states in the '80's (yeah, that "dude with a mic in front of brick wall on every other cable channel" era). It's also very instructive to see how success (and the opportunities for success) shifted alliances and sometimes destroyed camaraderie among comics. This parallels some of the things I'm observing in the Chicago scene, as scouts swoop through town looking for the best and brightest, and some are lucky enough to nab spots on the schedule of Big Important Comedy Festivals.