Published on Sep 17, 1998
Confession: I absolutely hated the television show
Seinfeld. I thought is was one of the dumbest shows on
television ever, and I didn’t think what comedian Jerry Seinfeld
was doing with the show was funny at all. (Yes, I watched part of
the series finale – same opinion.)
So why was I so interested in listening to Seinfeld’s first live
comedy album,
I’m Telling You For The Last Time? Possibly because I wanted
to hear Seinfeld in his natural habitat – the stage. Maybe because
I wanted to hear him do something different. Maybe I was just
curious.
Maybe I was wrong about Seinfeld not being funny, as there are
some incredibly hilarious moments on this disc that show Seinfeld
is back where he belongs: in front of a live audience.
There still is a lot of the old Seinfeld that people saw in the
opening/closing montages of the show, featuring him asking “what’s
up” with particular things. However, it seems much more natural in
a true live comedy show setting than it did on the program. He
kicks into one such routine, about cab drivers and, aah, bodily
odors, within the first five minutes. Fortunately for Seinfeld,
he’s got a good routine to back up the statement.
In fact, a lot of what Seinfeld talks about is based in reality.
Whether it’s reminiscing about cheap Halloween costumes,
questioning why pharmicists have to stand two feet above everyone
else or making fun of old lady drivers (I won’t spoil the joke for
you, but it’s funny as hell), Seinfeld does have his finger on the
pulse of truth, and delivers his material in perfect fashion.
Nobody is safe from Seinfeld’s wit. Not McDonald’s, not horse
racing, not airlines – not even audience members (Seinfeld takes
two light-hearted jabs at people in the audience, one of whom has
their cellular phone ring in the middle of the performance). But
such attacks aren’t delivered with venom, so they’re quite easy to
laugh at and to laugh off.
What I especially admired about
I’m Telling You For The Last Time is that Seinfeld took a
big chance, and took questions from the audience. Some of the
questions were so banal that one wondered if they might have been
plants; who really cares what kind of cereal Seinfeld likes the
best? Still, the interaction between common fan and comedy
superstar was fun to listen to.
Fans of the television show, beware that
I’m Telling You For The Last Time is different from the show
you knew and loved – thank God. It’s still the same old Seinfeld,
but he does sound liberated, and that is a refreshing change.
I’m Telling You For The Last Time is a comedy album that you
will want to listen to repeatedly, and Seinfeld shows just why he’s
one of the most revered comics of the ’80s and ’90s. Although this
album won’t be out until September 22, it will be worth the short
wait.