I feel it coming together, People will see me and cry...
...Fame.
It's on my mind after last night's comedy show. The Out of Focus Group were warming up for Edinburgh at London's trendy Zetter hotel in London's trendy Shoreditch, with Adam "No Joe" Buxton (below) presiding.
Mostly high quality stuff - with a gasp-provoking surprise appearance by heterosexual- man-crush object Peter Serafinowicz (below) - but the offstage shenanigans made me think the most.
1.) In a small room of maybe 50 people, some 20% could've been described (more or less) as famous: people what have been on the television. A famous corner quickly asserted itself, swelled by performers joining as they left the stage, and sequestered by an invisible velvet rope of intimidation and self-congratulation.
2.) In his farewell address, Buxton apologised for the hung-over state of the performers, as they'd all been wined the night before at a "BBC Talent Evening". Anecdotes were flung out, and the names "Baddiel" and "Gervais" dropped with considerable force.
The impression I got was that after an entertainer reaches a certain plateau of recogniseability, to interact socially with the public becomes a real hassle. Our celeb exposes himself to professonal judgement or empty acclaim from strangers, so opts to surround himself with those who suffer the same. But there are only so many S. Frys, D. Bakers and J. Sessionses. After a while, what more is there to discuss among this narrow, frightened group? As Buxton confessed, in social situations recently he'd been mostly talking about his new beard.
It's on my mind after last night's comedy show. The Out of Focus Group were warming up for Edinburgh at London's trendy Zetter hotel in London's trendy Shoreditch, with Adam "No Joe" Buxton (below) presiding.
Mostly high quality stuff - with a gasp-provoking surprise appearance by heterosexual- man-crush object Peter Serafinowicz (below) - but the offstage shenanigans made me think the most.
1.) In a small room of maybe 50 people, some 20% could've been described (more or less) as famous: people what have been on the television. A famous corner quickly asserted itself, swelled by performers joining as they left the stage, and sequestered by an invisible velvet rope of intimidation and self-congratulation.
2.) In his farewell address, Buxton apologised for the hung-over state of the performers, as they'd all been wined the night before at a "BBC Talent Evening". Anecdotes were flung out, and the names "Baddiel" and "Gervais" dropped with considerable force.
The impression I got was that after an entertainer reaches a certain plateau of recogniseability, to interact socially with the public becomes a real hassle. Our celeb exposes himself to professonal judgement or empty acclaim from strangers, so opts to surround himself with those who suffer the same. But there are only so many S. Frys, D. Bakers and J. Sessionses. After a while, what more is there to discuss among this narrow, frightened group? As Buxton confessed, in social situations recently he'd been mostly talking about his new beard.
posted by Savs at
11:21 AM
3 Comments:
On fame from the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/fridayreview/story/0,12102,1476961,00.html
"If you walk to Coldplay's studio from the tube station, you pass a row of shops. Recently, as the band were ambling past, they heard the chink of sovereign ring on glass. There was a man in a window, making an internationally understood hand gesture at Chris Martin. So he went into the shop, and said: "Why are you doing that?" And the man, who was talking on his mobile, said: "You're a wanker, your music's shite and I'm sick of seeing your face in my fucking paper every day."
The rest of the band had to pull their singer away: "Do you think I want to be in your paper, you twat? I hate it and do everything to avoid it!" They went to play snooker. Martin wanted to go back and wage battle with a cue, but instead, the next day, popped into the shop with a bottle of champagne. He had a friendly chat with the bloke and everything seems to be OK now. Even when all four members are together, people think that Coldplay is just Chris Martin; the attention has been worse since he met and married Gwyneth Paltrow. Of course, without Martin's drive and songs, Coldplay wouldn't exist; still, the band is just that - a band. They split royalties equally, and are noticeably democratic when working."
By
Jake, at 12:31 PM
By a Reviewer on tinymixtapes who also is a worker at Starbucks, who sell X&Y at the tills in America...
"Hmm, what is this Coldplay band like?" asks an older woman after ordering a decaf iced latte and a slice of lemon-raspberry loaf. This wasn't in my job description; I think to myself, I wish they would have sent along a card of a preordained little recitation I'm supposed to give, as they did with the Yukon Blend. "Well, they are pretty much the quintessential band of a large group of decidedly British bands capitalizing off trying to sound like Bends-era Radiohead though falling flat due to trite and pithy lyricism, lack of musical inventiveness that hides behind washes of reverbed soundscapes and ornately orchestrated string sections as a means to connote deep existential journeying and hopefully portray an unassuming genius from a heavyhearted and (supposedly) lovelorn mind that is making his way in this universe despite its maddening incomprehensibility."
[Blank stare.]
Onto Plan B. "Eh, they're pretty good. So are the chocolate covered graham crackers."
"Oh wow, those do look good."
"Heh, yeah."
I don't hate Coldplay, they're harmless enough (Keane on the other hand...)
As for your fame question, Sava - we all need to belong to an in-group, it's just the way our minds make sense of the social chaos. You should just march right up to one of them and poke your finger up their nose. That's right, up to the second knuckle.
Lata, Hot-Face
By
Ricky M, at 1:53 PM
Nothing Wrong with a nice new beard.
By
Anonymous, at 1:50 PM
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