When my father was introducing me to the world of comedy, he said you don’t need to curse to be funny. Turn on any cable comedy jam and 75% of it will be unfunny dudes using swears as a crutch, hiding their unoriginal ideas or bland personas behind shock value.
And then out of nowhere comes Danny McBride and Kenny Powers. Profanity is the clay from which he molds his art. No one cusses (and, since he’s Southern, I’m pretty sure he cusses) quite like Danny McBride. And when he’s not cussing, he’s still hysterical. He’s one of those people who are just blessed with some strange gift – all he has to do is just stand there and he’ll be hilarious.
Luckily he doesn’t just stand there – there’s a pretty engaging “anti-Sitcom” going on in Eastbound & Down, yet another HBO show about a desperate man surrounded by assholes and creeps. I’m late to this one, but it is absolute perfection. I watched all of Season 1 in one evening, and have tremendous respect for its creators who manage to dodge cliche (both of a Sitcom and redneck manner) while still keeping the eye on the joke ball.
