Jeff Laughlin
Most Recently: Leslie William Nielsen, 1926 - 2010
Jeff Laughlin is the editor of 10 Listens.
Leslie William Nielsen, 1926 - 2010
Among the most humorless people I knew were those who despaired at my love for the Naked Gun trilogy. Blinded by the shuffle of dick and fart jokes—these are the objects of scorn for critics of the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker comedies—they couldn't see the inventive plot excursions and genius hilarity. Presumably they also didn't see the genius of the straight man amid the chaos: Sergeant Frank Drebin, Detective Lieutenant Police Squad. READ MORE
"A Suicide Bombing By Invitation Only" at the Whitney Museum
Lars Jan is walking up to his crew and asking if they are comfortable. He moves toward Chat Logs– the noisier half of his team of musicians. It's hard to say if they are comfortable, really. They are about to play the Whitney Museum of Modern Art, the crowd is getting rather large and they are hooked up to a Martin Kersels sculpture that wasn't really intended to promote sound. They are turning knobs and shifting their weight around. They say they are comfortable and talk about the noise ending. They have had one rehearsal. They have never played with the other composer/band in the performance. This is their first live show. READ MORE
The 2010 Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club
Augusta National displayed its wariness with the evils of contemporary society quickly and efficiently. The signs at the entrance made everyone quite aware of the rules: there would be No Cell Phones, No Pagers, No Electronic Devices, No Guns, No Knives. They were more concerned with civility than the progress and survival of civilization. That may sound awkward or overly genteel, but civility turned out to be a lot more inviting than I had first thought. READ MORE
