Otis Lee Crenshaw
p. My “masseter (In case you don’t know where it is)”:http://home.teleport.com/~bobh/masseter.htm muscle is still aching from Sunday night. You see, we went to see Rich Hall (in his “Otis Lee Crenshaw”:http://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/stage/2003/02/rich_hall.shtml persona) at the Playhouse in Oxford, and I laughed so much I pulled something. He came on to the stage, guitar in hand and started strumming. This went on for some time, and everybody was wondering what this gentle sounding song was going to turn into. Eventually, the lyrics came in: “Let’s all get together / And kill George Bush”. He had us in the palm of his hand from that moment on. His country song parodies all have fantastic and unexpected twists to them. “Drunk” starts sounding like a sweet song, reminiscing about the good times — “Do you remember nights beneath the Milky Way? / Held you in my arms, Darlin’ how we’d sway”. But at the end of the verse we get a total turn around — “Do you remember? / Well I don’t / Cause I was drunk!”
p. Rich/Otis is also fantastic at improvisation, and invented a couple of songs about audience members during the evening. The most memorable one was an epic ballad about a stock broker called Alan heroically intervening to prevent a truck full of stocks and shares hitting a school bus and sending the stock market out of control when the children fail to learn about the value of money. He’s a very funny man, but how he doesn’t wreck his voice doing Otis’ phlegmy rattle is quite beyond me.
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Just caught Otis Lee on Comedy Central, and am trying to find a DVD in USA. I knew VHS was coded differently in UK but it seems DVDs are too--anyone know if anything is available Stateside, compatible w/ US machinery?----- Saw Otis on comedy central and could not figure-out who he was, although he was familar to me, but as Hall. Looked forever to find it on c-centals list of standups(the c's have two pages-idiot). This has got to be one the funniest, most talented improv guys going. He had me crying, takes a guy who sells boxes and makes this wickidely funny song up that twisted and turned and lasted the entire skit. He is seriously talanted, if you know of any long downloads, please email me, thanks.
by tom duffy @ 16/03/2004 7:03 pm • Permalink •
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I bought the video on DVD from Amazon.com.uk and was able to play it on my Compaq laptop but certainly not with the Sony DVD player hooked up to the tv. Laptop has some sort of software that is compatible but I believe it will give me only 3 times to watch it. Might have to look for more permanent software to download. Just annoying to have to watch it on the small screen. I also got the cd for the car and it's fine but half the fun is seeing Otis Lee and the band. I too was doubled over in laughter each time I watched.
by kathy @ 31/03/2004 8:03 pm • Permalink •
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