Yes, yes, I know I'm behind the times. I recently found Julia Sweeney's God said, "Ha!" on Showtime. I had heard that it was a really good show, and when I say that, I mean that a celebrity I respect talked about it long ago. I tivoed it, and have to say, it does not live up to my expectations. When I heard about it, Penn Jillette had Ms. Sweeney on his radio show and they talked about her performance. It was so long ago, it may have been a different show, but the name seemed to stick with me. I remember her saying that Regina Spektor was a part of it, and I was excited because I really like Ms. Spektor's music, and while I was not extremely familiar with Ms. Sweeney's work, I enjoyed what I had seen. So I tune in tonight, and immediately I notice that this is more of a scripted show than I had expected. The second thing I noticed was that she is really funny throughout most of the show, but she tells a very personal story about her brother going through cancer treatment, and her own diagnosis of cancer, and its a little unsettling hearing her talk about it.
I am of the opinion that nothing is off limits in the world of funny. I believe that one can laugh about anything without diminishing the severity of it, such as AIDS or genocide because I feel that anything funny is offensive to somebody, and its all or nothing. If you made a joke about something that offended me, I would not laugh but I would not try to prevent others from obtaining enjoyment from it. But in the case of God said, "Ha!", its hard for me to laugh at such a tragic personal moment. She includes things that you cannot help but laugh at, but the rest of it makes you feel bad for it.
Not to down the show, Ms. Sweeney is abosolutely brilliant in her timing, choice of language, etc. (especially the International House of Cancer bit). If someone made a joke about Michael Jackson dying, I could laugh with the best of 'em, but to hear Ms. Sweeney make light of her own personal tragedy is just too much for me.
God said, "Ha!" is a beautiful, poignant story, interspersed with comedy that seems a little out of place, but it makes the story what it is, so I guess I wouldn't have it any other way. I hope I took it the way Ms. Sweeney intended.
