Over the last few days I have been seen thinking about Weird Al. I think I would have loved to work with him. Word Al has been about as close to a personal hero as anyone can get with me. Bill Cosby used to be on that list until I met some people who actually worked with him. Other people on that list are Cher, Lady Gaga, Dolly Parton, both of the Obamas, Kamala Harris and Jackie Chan. Bruce Lee too, in a way but it was a really mixed character, complex like the rest of us.
I like courageous people, people who are going to grab reality as others see it, give it a good shake and turn it on its head. I like political cartoonists, satirists, people who can knock something out of the metaphorical park and can be gracious about it.
I like people who can knock you on your butt, again metaphorically, and then help you back up and teach you exactly what they did because they didn’t do it with malice, they did it to teach you.
I also like people with flare, style in the non-fashion way. People you meet who you remember, not because they’re wearing a Rolex worth a half million but because of their presence and personality. Of course, several of the people on this list are, or were, professional performers. Their presence on stage may be completely different than how they act behind the stage. Jay Leno, at least for the short time I saw him, was still a comedian even when he was behind the stage. Of course, that was just before and after a show, so he certainly was still performing in a way. You don’t really get to know people until you see them at home being idle. Which, for all the people I have met that are recognizably famous, I’ve not met any of them at home.
Satire and parody have been two of my favorite genres throughout my life. It is good to look at what we take seriously and poke fun of it. I have always liked the sentiment that you should be able to laugh at yourself. If you can’t, then you’re going to have a harder time when other people criticize your work, no matter what you do. Everything can be twisted into reflect meanness and comedy is no different. I’m not interested in that because I’ve been treated far too often with mean or at least casual cruelty.
There is far too much bad behavior in the world we live in, so I don’t feel the need to contribute to it. Anyway, I digress. My point is that I like performers to express traits of kindness, thoughtfulness, play, pushing the boundaries of what is considered normal.
I often say, if we were all the same then life would be so boring. I appreciate diversity, playfulness, and even showmanship.
I would have loved to have worked with Weird Al, Lady Gaga and so many others. As I have said before, the highest production act that I worked with was ZZ Top, or Chicago. Hard for me to say because I don’t have either contract anymore.
So, Weird Al, why does Lady Gag break out into French for no apparent reason? Who cares! She does it so well. I also love multi-lingual performers. It’s so amazing to see people who can switch seamlessly between languages. As a person who used to work with language tutors I know just how hard it is.
I have friends who play music sets that may cover 2, 3 or more different languages and that’s really neat. Music is a language all it’s own and the vocals are only one aspect of that.
