Sqatting Monkeys Tell No Lies

A classic Bouncing Back post today. Dana Carvey, age 53 (can you believe that?!), is making a stand up comeback on HBO this weekend with "Squatting Monkeys Tell No Lies."

Many of the early pre-release reviews have been fairly harsh, accusing Carvey of relying too heavily on his 80s material. And God knows I am certainly hoping that there won't be much time spent on impressions of George Bush the 1st or a rehashing of the Church Lady; but I'm willing to give it a try for two reasons: 1) it's obviously my blogger duty, given our focus here on comedians finding a new tempo to their work after age 40; and 2) I read some more sympathetic words about the piece over at Dead Frog which suggested that Carvey does spend some time reflecting on the unique challenges of age (from divorce to some rather terrifying health challenges). And after watching this early release clip, I'm hopeful. Yes, it is essentially just Carvey playing with this love for voices, impressions and silly accents, but he does do so here in the context of facing some of late life's harsher realities (in this case, a disconcerting chat with the cardiologist). Even the youngster readers over at Funny or Die, most of whom were certainly too young to enjoy Dana Carvey's initial run on SNL, seem to be giving this clip some kind words.

So enjoy the preview and check out the full show on Sunday. I will, of course, be back with a full review next week. Would love to hear what ya'll think of it as well.