COMEDY: The Bitter Buddha returns!

Eddie Pepitone; NY Times, 12/15/20; Seth Auberon, Sheldon S., Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly 

Eddie Pepitone's "For the Masses" is "the best comedy special of 2020" according to The New York Times, which knows a little something about comedy if not about setting the record straight on world events as the official propaganda arm of the military-industrial complex these United States.

Best Comedy of 2020

Jason Zinoman, The New York Times, 12/15/20

What was the best comedy of 2020? (NY Times)

The comedy boom finally busted. Not only did the pandemic shut down comedy institutions, but New York clubs like Dangerfield’s, which was half a century old, and the stalwart The Creek & the Cave closed for good, as did the city’s branches of the improv powerhouse, the Upright Citizens Brigade.

At the same time, comedians adjusted to the new abnormal, transitioning to Zoom and Instagram Live, and to shows in parks and on rooftops. It was a period of experimentation and stagnancy, contraction and accessibility, despair and occasional joy. In a low year, here were the highlights:

Funniest Special

Do you find an angry blue-collar guy yelling about being high on molly funny? Does the phrase “Stalin on Spotify” amuse you? Do pivots from ragingly unhinged roars to an NPR voice make you lose your breath in laughter? No? Not to worry: Eddie ["the Bitter Buddha"] Pepitone will still delight.

An overlooked master of the [stand up comedy] form, he’s perfected a persona of the silly grump that makes anything funny.

Smart comedy that aims for the gut, his new special (available on Amazon Prime) is titled “For the Masses,” but he jokes that is by necessity, in one of several insults of his audience: “I would be doing jokes about Dostoyevsky if it wasn’t for you.” More