Open Mike Night
I thought that this would be a good time to go into my On Hold file and post a video from an actual "Kennedy Center" Honors ceremony, before anyone tried to horn their way in and screw things up, taking credit for their non-existent part in a highly-respected part of American culture and make it all about themselves.
While watching the 2003 Kennedy Center Honors for Carol Burnett, which I posted previously, I noticed that also in the balcony with her getting honored was Mike Nichols. So, I had to go track that one down. Strangely, the entertainment portion is extremely thin. It’s entertaining, but you expect a great deal more for Mike Nichols. However –
-- the reason I’m posting this because the introduction by playwright Tom Stoppard is superb: funny, whip smart, insightful and eloquent. Pretty much what you’d expect and hope for from Tom Stoppard. Plus, the film bio is excellent. And the following speech by his initial comedy partner and longtime friend, Elaine May, is wonderful, as well. The entertainment that comes after is fine, but nothing more than that, and it pales in comparison to all that that came before. But that’s okay because what came before is such a joy. (My only quibble with it is that in the film bio, they don’t mention that Nichols and May worked together again twice later in their individual careers when she wrote the screenplay for The Birdcage and co-wrote Primary Colors, both of which he directed.)
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