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Friday, April 10, 2009

Roy Zimmerman... not

I was so excited yesterday when I walked into the library and spotted a poster of singing political satirist Roy Zimmerman. It said he was playing a little church in West Van on Tuesday for a suggested ticket price of $15, but they wouldn't turn anyone away because they couldn't pay. (In West Van, yet!) I've been a big fan of Zimmerman for a while now. The guy, like Tom Lehrer, writes really catchy, really smart, really funny, really timeless tunes. Plus, he's a helluva musician. Maybe that's why the L.A. Times called him "a latter-day Tom Lehrer." That's not journalistic hyperbole. He's that good. More people should know him. Why isn't he on the talk shows? He'd make a great singing correspondent on The Daily Show. Something. He's prolific.

I play from his CD Faulty Intelligence on the show all the time. On his website, I noticed he'd be playing Eugene on Saturday and then nothing until Tuesday's gig – his first ever – in Vancouver. So I wrote him asking if he'd be in town on Sunday and if so would he come on the show. Or at the very least call in. This morning I got the bad news. He wrote to say he's had to cancel this leg of the tour. Doh!

Hopefully it won't be too long before he makes it back here. And hopefully I don't have to rely on a poster in a library to inform me he's coming.

Meanwhile, take a look at some of his work. Zimmerman is an unabashed liberal and went to town during the Bush II administration, as you'll see in these clips. It'll be interesting to see what direction he takes under Obama:







4 comments:

Ezio Pinza said...

If there's one thing I can't stand it's a singing political satirist.

Guy MacPherson said...

Like there are so many of them. Did you look at his clips? They're as smart and cutting as any stand-up comic's stuff.

Ezio Pinza said...

Even if there were none I'd still hate them.

No, I didn't watch the clips. The mere thought aggrieves my soul.

Guy MacPherson said...

That makes sense. Better to live in ignorance. Like people who say they hate jazz without ever listening to more than one type.

I can't think of one type of anything that I hate. I have my preferences, sure, but there's certain individuals in any genre of anything that I like, even if the genre itself isn't my favourite.

Seriously, though, watch a clip or two. Then if you don't like it, fair enough.