I Love You, But I’ve Chosen Keaton

Attention comedians of 2013: I’m not interested in that crazy sexual anecdote you just tweeted. I don’t want your Vine. Also, I won’t download your podcast. My comedic demands are simple and finite: Be as funny as Buster Keaton. Whether he’s riding a horse backward into a lake or diving...

By Jamie Laughlin

November 14, 2013

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Attention comedians of 2013: I’m not interested in that crazy sexual anecdote you just tweeted. I don’t want your Vine. Also, I won’t download your podcast. My comedic demands are simple and finite: Be as funny as Buster Keaton. Whether he’s riding a horse backward into a lake or diving through a miniature window, Keaton uses every piece of himself to deliver his message. Hey, you know who else was amazing? Harold Lloyd. Yeah, you think you’ve cornered the market on “clueless and disaffected”? Nobody stumbled hilariously through life like that guy. And let’s rap about Charlie Chaplin. It’s been 100 years since he cut those old silents and he’s still the master of physical humor. So what I’m saying is, you keep your podcast. Go broil about something inconsequential on a late night talk show. I’m spending my night with Hollywood’s three greatest men: Keaton, Lloyd and Chaplin. The Dallas Chamber Symphony — the city’s best little gift of the last two years — performs original scores by Alain Mayrand, Penka Kouneva and Brian Satterwhite synced up to films by Keaton, Lloyd and Chaplin in Tuesday’s 8 p.m. program “The Comedic Three.” They’ll also play selections by Benjamin Britten and J.S. Bach, and it all happens in the Dallas City Performance Hall (2520 Flora St.). Tickets range $19 to $44. Visit dallaschambersymphony.org.
Tue., Nov. 19, 2013

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