The Muppets

This clip from The Muppet Movie (1979) always makes me smile. Note the cameo by Steve Martin toward the end.

It appears that there will be a new Muppet movie in 2011, so it's time to catch up with our shaggy, googly-eyed friends: Ode to Joy, Popcorn and Bohemian Rhapsody should brighten your day.

The Crow

One of my favorite albums over the last year has been Steve Martin's bluegrass / banjo album called, "The Crow." As Steve once said in an old stand-up routine, "You just can't sing a depressing song when you're playing the banjo... When you're playing the banjo, everything's okay... I think it's the one thing that could have saved Nixon." The video above is the title song from that album, but if you click here, you can watch an absolutely amazing performance with Steve and other banjo luminaries on The Late Show with David Letterman.

Over the line, Smokey!

Good comedy depends on an awareness of the audience's limits, the discipline to stay within them, and the wisdom to know when they can be trampled. It strikes me as a delicate social undertaking: the performer risks his relationship with the audience as he navigates between what little will succeed and the mass of what will fail.

On any given day, this blog endeavors to rise slightly above the gutter, usually to reproduce art, philosophy and music that transcends normal life. But today - perhaps inspired by my ignorance of the audience and my fundamental suspicion of lines - I push the boundaries by offering three of my favorite, all-time limit-testers.

These are not for children, and while there is nothing offensive about the video content, you wouldn't want your co-workers to hear the sound. Consider yourself warned.

The opening scene of the film "Chasing Amy".

From the television show, "Kids in the Hall".

Finally, I direct you to this link of Steve Martin performing a classic portion of his stand-up routine.

The Great Flydini