Fran Liebowitz is an acquired taste. When she arrived on the scene in the late ‘70s /early 80’s with her acerbic magazine articles and wildly successful book of comic essays, METROPOLITAN LIFE, she was somewhat of a sensation. Here was a 30 year-old very funny curmudgeon at a time when New York, Woody Allen, and Jews were enjoying the zeitgeist. She was a fresh voice. And I was a fan.
In the mid ‘80s when my partner, David Isaacs and I were creating a show for Mary Tyler Moore we thought, “wouldn’t it be great to have a Fran Liebowitz-type character for dear sweet Mary to play off of?” Hence the character we created for Katy Sagal. She was easily the most fun character to write for in that show. And why not? Cranks are funny. They can say things others thought but were afraid to say. BECKER was another. For the ultimate example — Ignatius J. Reilly in the hilarious novel, CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES.
Fran stopped writing in the ‘80s. That’s a long time for writers block. And yet she has somehow managed to remain a public figure and earn a living through speaking engagements. And freeloading. She truly has become “America’s Guest.” Her calendar is filled with dinner party invitations and Hampton weekend invitations from Manhattan and Hollywood movers and shakers. She’s essentially a court jester, someone to amuse the others at these gatherings. I sure don’t blame her for accepting. How would you like to live the “lifestyles of the rich and famous” just by being witty? I would be pithy at Martin Scorsese’s 4th of the July BBQ, wouldn’t you?
Speaking of Scorsese, he’s the producer/director of a seven-part documentary series on Netflix about Fran Liebowitz called PRETEND IT’S A CITY. Basically it’s seven half-hours of Fran Liebowitz spouting her disgruntled philosophy. Even fans of Ms. Liebowitz (like me) would argue that three half-hours would have been more than plenty. Edit, Marty, edit!
We see clips of Fran on talk shows down through the years, along with panel discussions, speaking engagements, and an intimate conversation in the Players Club.
The series has gotten mixed reviews. Even the New York Times dismissed her act as tired and tedious. I found a lot of it amusing but could not totally disagree.
I see Fran Liebowitz as a stand-up comedian. She has a definite persona, a definite shtick. Comics will often drop the persona when they’re not on stage. Jack Benny wasn’t cheap, Larry David is not an asshole, Joan Rivers wasn’t really "the queen of mean," Steve Martin is not a “wild and crazy guy,” and I can only hope Andrew Dice Clay was just playing a character. But we are led to believe that Fran Liebowitz actually IS this put upon kvetch in real life. And if so, she feels like a walking anachronism. A writer friend put it perfectly — she was once ahead of the curve and is now way behind the curve.
But if you like the persona, the same way you might like Lewis Black’s angry persona, or Dave Chapelle’s edgy persona — you will get some laughs out of this documentary. And she talks fast so there’s a lot to choose from. I enjoyed a good deal of it. But even if Fran Liebowitz were my all-time favorite comedian/humorist, I sure as hell would not want to sit through a 3 1/2 hour concert. That’s what this was. So if you like Fran Liebowitz, binge-watch this series… but maybe one episode a month.
20 comments :
Hey Ken,
I agree. A little of her goes a long way. Some of what she said was funny. But Martin Scorsese thought everything she said was funny. He was the Ed McMahon to Fran’s Johnny Carson.
I saw the SNL skit where they had Scorsese laughing uproariously at everything she said. I didn't know what it was about, but now I do.
Also, it's "Lebowitz," not "Liebowitz."
tangent to the subject of your post, Ken, but your “Edit!” comment made me realize why recent Scorsese films aren’t resonating like his earlier work. A DeNiro-Pacino mob tale and Dylan documentary with the subject’s participation seem like everything I’d want to see, but both would’ve been so much better trimming a third of the running time.
I liked their previous collaboration, PUBLIC SPEAKING, but 3 and a 1/2 hours of Fran's farbissina act is too much to bear.
Lebowitz also played a judge in about a dozen episodes of 'Law and Order'
...casting Fran Lebowitz as a judge -- does that count as "meta" ...
I'm 53 but wasn't quite hip enough in high school to be aware of Leibowitz. As someone not overly familiar with her work, I loved all 3.5 hours of the show. It was all fresh. And it was a good look into what New York used to be. She personifies the old NY spirit. I'm glad she's around.
re: the SNL skit with Liebowitz/Scorsese - the ONE time Kyle Mooney actually made me laugh. Ever.
It did seem like Marty was just hanging out with his pal Fran for a while. I found it shallow but engaging. I would go to a party with her.
That's not half bad considering that in our lockdown loneliness we find ourselves watching some guy walk around the ruins of the old Soviet Union in Kazakhstan on You Tube talking to babushkas and goat herders. (Bald & Bankrupt.)
I went off Lebowitz during the election, when she was opining that both Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders were too old to be president. That's not wit, that's just ageism.
The only Scorsese movie I ever wished longer was THE LAST WALTZ.
I see on twitter that Scorsese has upset the comic book fanboys again with his truthful comments about the damage being done when art is reduced to the one umbrella term of "content." It's quite funny when Scorsese is attacked by those whose idea of great cinema is a Zack Snyder film.
I wanted to make a comment about another news story today, but this tweet I read sums it up best.
"Just a reminder that Rush Limbaugh would read the names of humans who died of AIDS on his radio show back in the day and then would play sound effects of bells and trumpet fanfares. What a horrible human. Good riddance."
I've got lots of favorite stand-up comics, but they all have the potential to wear out their welcome after awhile. I mean, even leaving aside the ones who are also actors in their own right(Robin Williams, Mel Brooks, Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle, Woody Allen, Chris Rock, Garry Shandling--jeez, the list could go on forever), there's only so much one can take out of even the most brilliant performer.
If I had to pick one favorite stand-up comic who just did only that, it would probably be Bill Hicks. But shit, I would even cut him off after about 2 hours too.
Jee Jay: You beat me to the L&O comment.
Plus, I'm always confusing her with photographer Annie Leibovitz.
M.B.
That commercial you just showed is pretty funny and makes me want to watch. Of course, it's only a little over a minute and not two hours or whatever.
Years ago I read FL's book Metropolitan Life. My favorite bit: "Generally, poorer people summer where they winter." That encapsulates so much.
A little of Fran goes a long way, but I found enough of her observations engaging enough to carry me through the series. At its best it reminded me of the old Jack Paar Show with eccentric guests like Oscar Levant and Alexander King. Wit is harder to come by these days, so I welcomed it.
I've always enjoyed her writing, and my wife and I loved this series. It could continue on every week as far as we're concerned. With late night comedy having devolved into political lectures for people who can't be bothered to watch the actual news, I miss acerbic wits like Fred Allen and Oscar Levant, and she's one of the last of the breed. To show how low standards for satire have become, I saw all the raving about the brilliant impression of Fran and Marty on "SNL," so I watched it. If I hadn't been told who they were doing in advance, I never would've guessed. Rosie O'Donnell and Jimmy Fallon maybe? But I can't blame them for not being able to impersonate a wit; that show has been witless for years.
To Alan Christensen: that reminds me of a line from the Talking Heads' "Stop Making Sense" liner notes (paraphrasing from memory): Rich people will spend a lot of money to go on vacations to look at poor people.
Hey Ken, long time reader of your blog, and I have a question about something that has nothing to do with today's post. (Maybe it can be a Friday Question?)
I have recently been watching old reruns of the Match Game from the '70s. At one point in 1975, Charles Nelson Reilly took an extended leave from the show to star in a Broadway play, and Gary Burghoff sat in for him for 140 episodes. I have to say that I was surprised to see Gary in "normal" persona. As Radar O'Reilly, he was always very quiet and serious, but on the Match Game, he was outgoing, funny, and quite boisterous! He was constantly cracking corny jokes and sometimes running around the set for a laugh. It was quite the surprise, as I only knew him as the (mostly) sullen Radar.
I assume you saw the same rowdy side working with him on M*A*S*H, so my question is, do you have any good Gary stories that might surprise us that you can share?
I devoured Fran Lebowitz's 2 books in the late 70's/early 80's, then heard nothing about her until "Pretend it's a City" - I watched it over 2-3 weeks, and enjoyed it tremendously.
First, thanks so much for the notice on this documentary - for my money you could do more "reviewing" - worth a lot "more than we paid. "
If this were REALLY a stand-up concert, Scorsese WOULD have edited/shortened this documentary.
As it stands, he breaks up the "new Lebowitz material" with old and material covering others of interest.
And a fun observation - Lebowitz quite incisive, relevant, patient, and even polite with Spike Lee, when he insisted on his own special definition/amendment of Michael Jordan as "an artist". SOOO typical of "sports fans", who inflate their precious fanboy desires - even to the point of adding a special wrinkle to a commonly-used word.
(which in this context, should be "artist-plus-Jordan")
I dunno Ken, I found it too short. Every episode ended almost too soon. Maybe it's because, as several commenters have already said, it seems like so long since we've heard witty characters on talk shows on a regular basis appearing for no other reason but just to be bounce snappy repartee back and forth with the host and other guests.
If all the episodes seem like too much, the two that were especially worth watching to me were the second one about writing and the last one about books.
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