Thursday, June 01, 2006
To Entertain or Not to Entertain? Is That a Question?
 To describe Corey Dargel�s CD release performance at Cornelia Street Caf� last week I have to use an adjective of which most music critics have no business getting within 10 feet. What�s the word? Funny. Sure, the concert was a lot more than that. Intriguing, poignant, exciting - these modifiers all had their moments. But, undeniably and consistently, it was funny.
For those of you familiar with Corey�s music, this might not be a huge surprise. In my review of Less Famous Than You, I mentioned that humor plays a recurring role in many of the songs. Clever lines inject a bit of emotional and narrative distance. In concert, however, humor shoots for double-billing. There were one-liners, hand puppets, and even a flute up the nose. Significantly, most of the jokes appeared choreographed, and some I even remembered from a previous performance.
The experience got me thinking. What was all the funny stuff about? A commentary on our entertainment-saturated society � the one that fuels the fame Corey addresses? Possible � though it�s hard to feel condemned when your accusers seem to be having so much fun. Was it a denser shade for the bruised hearts described in many of LFTY�s songs and a sugar coating for the bitter political pill Corey feeds us in the new songs he premiered? Again, possibilities, though as I described in my review, the songs do a thorough job of achieving this aim all by themselves. Or could it be sheer audience pandering? Well, could be, but shouldn�t that require that the humor some how detracts from the music or serves as a crutch for sub-par content? Neither is the case.
The conclusion I reached is that all the performing is really just an acknowledgement that, hey, this is a performance. Live music offers a visual and physical space that music alone is rarely shaped to fill. Throwing in some old-fashioned entertainment stops that gap and throws a bone to the non-auditory senses. Along the way, the audience loosens up and starts to suspect that art and fun and have more in common than three-letter length.
So, my question for the forum is this: do you consider the performative possibilities when putting notes on the page? If so, how? If not, why not?
posted by Lanier Sammons
4:04 PM
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