Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling for April 15, 2011

what the hell….?

I hate lafftrax, too.

Harsh audience. At least we didn’t see him at the urinal.

The viewing public has fickle taste.

Vote for Pedro!

I fell asleep before the punchline. Could someone tell me what it was?

Do y’all really need this one explained? Well, good on you – maybe it means you had a neurosis-free upbringing. The laugh track (and boo track) is in Louis’s head. He’s got that narcissistic, adolescent thing where you imagine a camera follows and admires your every move. The only problem is his raging self-doubt breaks in to destroy the fantasy, so that the cheers become catcalls. But even this doubt is narcissistic, because it still assumes that anybody would care one way or another about his little failures. “What happened? In front of who?”

Maltby, Don’t you understand the hero has to be humiliated before he triumphs? The ketchup stain humanizes you so ordinary students can identify with you. We love you with a ketchup stain!!

Ruben: adjust your meds.

Uh…. no.

Call me when you have something to say, would you?

I see it as being about being so insecure that failure even infests your fantasies.

From calm, cool impressionist to devastated neurotic, and all in two seconds–adolescence revealed again. The egomania of thinking “everyone” is watching and judging you, and the rapid, slippery sloped of being the funny-guy turning into loser-stain-boy–there it is in all its gawky terror.

^Huh? I’ll just go with teen angst. It IS all about you.