David Cross vs. Joseph Smith
So, Emily Cox of SFist went to a comedy show that included David Cross. Cox was pretty underwhelmed by Cross’s performance and wrote a review. David Cross saw the review, got pissed, and wrote a lengthy, somewhat pedantic response (excerpt below).
To represent on this web site that bit the way you do is damaging if not worse. Emily, you can’t simply reduce everything I said, and it’s obvious (to most, at least) intent to merely being a vitriolic, bigoted soap-box lecture wherein I just say, “This is what Mormons believe, aren’t they fucking idiots?”. That is being either purposefully dishonest or at the very least, lazy and irresponsible. In addition, your numerous references to how poorly I was received seem put in there to bolster your position. This just wasn’t the case. Again, the set and entire evening were taped. I have the proof on tape. You have your clearly biased memory of events, which do not match reality.
Having said all that, I do think it’s astoundingly stupid and lazy to believe in Mormonism given it and it’s founder’s history.
Now, I did not see the performance Cox was reviewing. Her beef was largely that Cross spent much of his set talking about how Mormons are idiots — in language she says echoes recent pieces in Slate and other publications. Her conclusion was that he seems to be a bigot. Cross’s response to these accusations seems to be something like, “You totally didn’t get my set, am not, you’re a lousy journalist, also, Mormons really are idiots.”
The whole scene is amazing. (A) Why is David Cross responding to reviews of his shows published on blogs? (B) Does Cross actually think bloggers are journalists in anything remotely like the traditional sense? (C) Is Mormonism really any more or less ridiculous than any other faith? I mean, sure, it sounds a little loopy, but if we bumped Jesus or Allah or Moses or any other religious figure up to some point after the colonization of the Americas, it would probably make the faiths based around them seem quite silly as well. (D) Shouldn’t his response be, you know, funnier?
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. I’ve been underwhelmed by David Cross’s routine for years. Regardless of whether he thinks his performance bigoted or not, his response to the review seems to indicate a certain lack of professionalism. In more than 6 years of writing reviews of various creative efforts, I’ve only once been contacted by the person I reviewed. In that case, it was the artistic director of a regional theater company who sent me a drunken, belligerent e-mail. He sobered up and apologized profusely.