One of the most encouraging developments in comedy over the past decade has been the growing directorial ambition of stand-up specials. It’s folly to duplicate the feel of a live set, so why not fully adjust to the screen and try to make something as visually ambitious as a feature?At the forefront of this shift has been Bo Burnham, one of YouTube earliest stars, who went on to make his own innovative specials with satirical songs backed by theatrical lighting and disembodied voices. In recent years, he has begun directing other comics’ specials, staging stand-up sets by Chris Rock and Jerrod Carmichael with his signature extreme close-ups.
Using cinematic tools other comics overlook, the star (who is also the director, editor and cameraman) trains a glaring spotlight on internet life mid-pandemic.
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IS BOB BAFFERT FIT AND PROPER?
May 10, 2021 12:34 pm
By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor
Is
Bob Baffert a serial cheat or serially negligent?
Or this time – Baffert’s umpteenth drug breach – is America’s most celebrated horse trainer the victim? Again?
“I got the biggest gut-punch in racing, for something I didn’t do”, Baffert insisted after his
Kentucky Derby winner
Medina Spirit tested positive to betamethasone and may be disqualified, pending testing of a reserve sample.
Only one Kentucky Derby winner has been disqualified for a positive drug test, a horse called
Dancer’s Image in 1968.
The Medina Spirit drama, and the latest stain on Baffert’s rollercoaster career, as Hall of Famer and apparent Hall of Shamer, comes just two years after the