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Saturday, July 14, 2007

Several months ago, I wrote a column for SFGate titled "Will Franken: Comedy, Not Political Correctness" about a San Francisco Bay Area comedian whose work I very much admire. I would classify Franken more as an independent thinker than anything else, but his hawish and accurate take on radical Islam combined with his satirical approach to the suicidalism and irrationality of Western liberalism definitely appeals to someone with my political proclivities.

Here's an excerpt from my article on the subject:

When it comes to comedy in San Francisco, stale Bush jokes and nefarious Rove references all too often are the order of the day. For those in search of something different, comedian Will Franken (no relation to Al Franken) is a breath of fresh air. I went to see Franken's one-man show, "Grandpa, It's Not Fitting," at The Marsh theater last week and was blown away.
...The first sign that it would not be business as usual the night of his show were the name tags handed out randomly to audience members as they came in the door. Mine, I was proud to note, was named for "Infidel" author and radical Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Let's just say this was hardly standard fare for San Francisco.

Things got even more curious as the show began, with Franken adding his own spin to a number of subjects familiar to me from the right-leaning blogosphere. A partial list of the topics he touched on includes:

  • The flying imams

  • Woven "anti-war scarves" (keffiyehs) from Urban Outfitters

  • The cult of "celebrating diversity"

  • The inspired silliness of the Burning Man festival

  • San Francisco activists "counter-protesting" Christians in Golden Gate Park

  • The never-ending obsession with the 1960s

  • Marketing to the LGBT community

  • The self-indulgence of therapy culture

  • "The Final Broadcast of the Christian Faith" (a cautionary tale)

  • Bush Derangement Syndrome (otherwise known as BDS)

  • The left's irrational hatred of Israel (otherwise known as IDS)

  • Using the Crusades to justify Islamist terrorism

  • Modern-day moral relativism and its intellectual underpinnings(Foucault, Derrida)

  • The Danish cartoon controversy and the "bravery" of mocking Christianity

  • Everyone's favorite "political prisoner," cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal

  • PC-ism running amok at our airports, to the point where a man clutching box cutters and a Koran, and wearing a ski mask, keffiyeh and suicide belt while asking for seat-belt extensions for no apparent reason, is waved cheerfully onto a plane

Will's show is currently running at The Marsh theater again through August 4 and I urge all those in the area looking for laughter, illumination, and a rare evening of politically-incorrect material in San Francisco to check him out. Providing support to local artists that dare to buck the Bay Area's political orthodoxy doesn't hurt either. Also, I hear that humor-challenged local audiences sometimes need a little help knowing when it's okay to laugh. Perhaps we can help them...

And for the East Coasters reading this, rest assured, Will also does stints in New York City. Stay tuned.

Cross-posted at CinnamonStillwell.blogspot.com.

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