tajybajyboo
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Posts posted by tajybajyboo
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Mmm... but I'm not suggesting a stand up comic can't draw from their own experience or be true to themselves, but if they're performing a routine they're still playing a role. The jokes are written and rehearsed beforehand and they go from show to show repeating the same performance. The delivery conceals how they might be feeling in that moment, and a truly great comic will make the audience feel like they're telling the joke for the very first time.
For me, the jokes in tears of clown were not particularly funny anyway, but it's the slow, distracted delivery which kills the momentum of the joke. She's amazing and there are incredible things she can do. I'm just not yet convinced that stand-up is one of them, but given time and practice who knows. Never say never!
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I think a lot of it is to to with the words people use and how they express themselves. Curt remarks can come across very thoughtless and reactionary, but I think some people just have trouble articulating what they want to say and they don't take the time to try and explain it. I suppose it's a symptom of the quick turnaround on social media. It's so easy to react emotionally without considering why you feel that way and how that might make others feel.
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Having heard what others have said, I'd like to readdress and clarify my initial review. I appreciate fans come to a Madonna forum for a sense of kinship and camaraderie. We want to share our their thoughts and experiences and feel uplifted. Therefore I apologise if I offended anyone, or brought them down.
I don't think it's wrong to be critical. Nor is criticism necessarily disappointment, although having been dazzled by Madonna so many times before, perhaps my expectations were too high in this instance. I'm sure with a bit of careful editing this performance could be polished up very nicely, but that should not detract from the reality of what this show is, nor her intentions.
She's trying something new and she did it for a very good cause. I absolutely applaud her for that and for not being limited by other people's expectations. As long as people aren't bitchy or cruel, I think constructive criticism can be valuable, but she doesn't need any of us telling her what to do. She was there, so she knows what worked and what didn't, and no doubt she'll re-watch the show, feel horribly self-conscious as anyone watching themselves would, and continue to develop it further. Indeed our criticism of her voice might only fuel her desire to re-record live shows in future, so we should be careful what we wish for. We can't always have it both ways.
I've always thought that being an amazing performer in her own show was never an indiction that she should be an actress telling someone else's story. To my mind they're completely different talents, polar opposites apart.
On her own stage she's playing herself. It might be an extreme version, dressed up in all these fun costumes, channelled through the form of another character; but it's still her songs, her experiences, her story and for the most part her voice; so it remains deeply personal, authentic and sincere, all be it narrated in a colourful and theatrical way.
It's no coincidence that Evita is her best acting role to date. When she was playing a character she greatly identified with, she wasn't so much portraying Eva Peron, as she was being Madonna in the guise of Eva Peron. Accordingly we, her audience could identify Madonna's personal narrative through someone else's story.
I think that's why she's struggling with stand-up comedy, and why on balance, she's failed to become an actress. Her amazing recording and concert career has thrived on the predication of authenticity, of just being herself. So much so, that we only see 'Madonna' when she's playing another character in a film. She seems failing unbelievable pretending to be someone else, because we (seemingly) know her so well.
For me, Tears of a Clown is a contradiction. On the one hand the set list, the song lyrics, her voice, the music, the stage, the clown costume are all indicative of her personality expressed brilliantly through her artistry, and I really do appreciate it for that.
But a stand-up comedy show is by design, an inauthentic performance. It's not about being yourself, but about becoming another character with the express intention of making people laugh. However you might be feeling inside that day, angry or sad, the intention is always the same. The laughter must conceal you true emotions.
Of course that's the very deliberate irony of this show - less we forget, she is not a stand-up comedian; she's not a clown. She can put on the costume, but she remains every bit Madonna, all be it this time, through the guise of a clown.
And there's a deeper irony beyond this show, permeating her entire career. Superficially she may project herself as this strong, ambitious, unstoppable force of nature (medieval warrior, bitch, goddess!); but behind the make-up, beneath the costumes, away from the stage, the real Madonna maybe frail, vulnerable, and dare I say, human after all.
The contradiction of a strong exterior belying a vulnerable interior is a reoccurring theme throughout her music career. Think about it - the Rebel Heart - a triumphant survivor concealing a broken heart. Erotica - S & M, that being sexual pleasure enjoyed through physical pain, was really an allegory for the emotional heartache experienced in the pursuit of love. Even Hard Candy was a metaphor - a dazzling coloured confectionary, deliciously sweet on the outside with a impenetrable shell; but melt away that toughened exterior to reveal a soft gooey centre at its vulnerable core.
I could go on but I think the point has been made - contradiction and juxtaposition are essential ingredients in all of Madonna's work. Tears of a clown is no exception, and I applaud the strength of her artistry even if the execution exposed the vulnerability of her craft as a singer. By her own admission, that failing has never been the point her career, and ultimately, its that vulnerability which makes her human, and in turn, that which makes her so appealing to me.
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Well, having watched and re-watched, here’s what I made of last night’s performance.
Madonna's shows are often criticized for being over-rehearsed and lacking spontaneity. Fans have derided the over-editing and re-recorded vocals on the Sticky & Sweet and MDNA tour DVDs. But based on yesterday’s concert, I completely understand why she’d prefer to re-edit her ‘live’ shows, post-fact.
We’re all fans here, so we can and should be honest – it clearly wasn’t perfect. Yes, her voice was off-key and she did cough more than once, so I don’t think we heard the best of her. Yes, the backing track was far too loud, but perhaps the audio in person was better than the Facebook feed suggests. But that said and all forgiven, I found the in-between-song banter quite messy and awkward. Doing stand-up well, requires an ability to read the room. You need focus, carrying the audience with you, building the momentum; but she was too easily distracted, meandering off topic, killing the joke in-progress. Mean and bossy Madonna makes sense in big stadium and sports arenas, where defiance and aggression are a prerequisite required to rise above the roar of a deafening crowd. But this show needed warmth and charm, when the audience’s silence, screamed so much louder than their applause.
I commend the set-list; there was clearly thought and purpose. It was personal, political and topically relevant. Toxic was an obvious highlight, commanding an artistry far beyond Britney; but in-total, I came away feeling underwhelmed and disappointed.
As a big-thrill, high-energy showgirl there is none better than Madonna. I’ve seen her over 20 times since 2001, spending thousands of pounds, traveling around the world to see her. But the would-be intimacy of this show required a discipline, she hasn’t yet mastered. We’ve seen her humor-in-action on Jimmy Fallon and Amy Schumer’s shows, but each time, the response has been less than favourable. Perhaps her comedy is an acquired taste waiting to be discovered; but for now, I can see the direction she wants to go, but upon the evidence, Tears of Clown Melbourne and Miami both suggest she’s still stuck in the development phase.
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American Life!!! Long overdue and couldn't be more relevant, given how America is disappearing down the rabbit hole these days. Love it!!!
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The Allphones Arena, now renamed the Qudos Bank Arena is in Sydney Olympic Park:
- madgefan and RebelHeARTPOP
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I'm sorry if this offends anyone - it is not my intention to do so - but I really think we need to take a step back and get some perspective here.
None of us know this person. She's not our family, friend, or work colleague. Criticising her artistic choices is perfectly valid of course, but there are no universal 'truths', that make anyone else's opinion right or wrong. The only opinion that matters is hers.
Take a moment to imagine how offended you'd feel if a stranger told you how to do your job? You'd be outraged! You'd think 'who the f*$k are you talking to me like that?!' It's never acceptable to be so rude to someone you've never met.
I agree her response was facetious, but we also understand her sense of humour, because we've become familiar with it over a longer period of time. But that understanding is not mutual - as much we may think we know her - she does not know each and everyone of us.
Social media is rarely a closed conversation, and just because she doesn't always respond, doesn't mean she isn't listening, so we should mindful of how hurtful our comments can be.- Alex JLR, MiB, vitoralmeiida and 8 others
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My God. I can't believe what I just read. A reality-check: it is absolutely HER work, to do as she wishes. We pay our money for it. If someone doesn't like, then they shouldn't buy it, but always, ALWAYS be respectful. She owes us nothing.
To be so arrogant, so upfront is utterly disgraceful, embarrassing and shameful. I hope none of us would dare say that to her face, because it's RUDE and HURTFUL, so why say it online?
We should be grateful that she's still doing this - she doesn't have to do it for any of us. So have an opinion by all means, but express it in a polite, respectful and dignified manner.
- Frank, blondboi559, kesiak and 3 others
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Madonna.com lists some other music concert/documentaries aired on Showtime:
As the premier destination for the best concert films and music documentaries, MADONNA: REBEL HEART TOUR joins a growing list of Showtime Documentary Films featuring music's biggest names including recent concert films from The Who, The Rolling Stones, Lenny Kravitz, One Direction, Mumford & Sons, U2, The White Stripes and Paul McCartney, along with the documentary films featuring Michael Jackson, David Bowie, The Eagles, Nas, The Police, Elvis Costello, Public Enemy, Ozzy Osbourne, Kings of Leon and Billy Joel. For more information on the SHOWTIME Music Makers collection, go to SHO.com/documentaries.
To describe these as ‘concert films’ as well as ‘documentary films’ is confusing, but among those mentioned One Direction’s Where We Are was a full concert, plus 15 minute documentary, The Who Live in Hyde Park was also a full concert plus documentary, and U2’s Songs of Innocence Live in Paris was a full concert, plus 10 minute documentary; so I’m hopeful we’ll get the full Sydney show plus some behind the scenes footage. After all Guy Oseary is managing U2 so surely (surely?!), they’ll follow a similar format. The press release does state ‘MADONNA: REBEL HEART TOUR was shot around the world and features a collection of live and behind these scenes footage culminating in performances at the Sydney Olympic Park in March of this year.’ I could be completely wrong of course, but on the examples already mentioned, I’m reading that as probably a 10-15 minute introductory documentary, followed by the full Sydney concert.
I remain ever hopeful!
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That was absolutely gorgeous! She can be the greatest show-person in the world. Nobody does it bigger than Madonna, but I love these intimate performances so much. It's lovely to hear her voice so clearly. After Tears of Clown, Nothing Compares 2 U, and Borderline, I'm really hoping these are all signs towards a more initimate up-close and personal tour coming in the future - understated, simple and created specifically with the the most earnest fans in mind. Love, love, love you M. x
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How about an acoustic version of Illuminati?
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I find it unfathomable that can we live an age with zero tolerance for racism and increasingly for homophobia, and yet ageism and particularly ageist misogyny are barely commented upon.A mainstream TV personality writing for a widely-read website would never dare utter the 'N' word or use a person's skin colour against them, and yet constantly mentioning M's age in derogatory manner is somehow permissible. Why and how, I just can't understand. It's beyond vile, but I suspect in years to come, people will look back on Piers Morgan with utter contempt for his obnoxious bigotry.M on the other hand, will be elevated to a visionary artist thinking far beyond her time - a consistent hallmark of most truly 'great' artists. If anything, all the sniping only justifies her existence even more, and for that reason alone, I don't think she's ever been more relevant.Ultimately, I hope all this hatred only stokes her fire even more. In my opinion she's never better than when she's retaliating off the back-foot.
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Okay...
I'm so bored of the vitriolic hate. It's gotten really old.
Since the world has lost Prince and Bowie so soon after each other, you'd hope people would appreciate how precious their time on Earth was.
Instead they seem intent on bringing Madonna down, the last great music icon for the X Generation; casting her as some pantomime villain until the bitter end. It's sad and depressing, but most of all, really, really boring now.
& it annoys the hell out of me when I read any bias news story built around Twitter reactions, as if a few hateful voices, screaming the loudest, should qualify for every person's opinion. Since when did Internet trolls become the voice of reason?!
It's time for mainstream media to grow up and move on. Enough.
I say this to all the haters:
If you didn't like the performance - fine. That's absolutely fine. You're entitled to your opinion. It's yours to have.
But why do you think anyone else gives a shit about your opinion anyway? Who are you to judge? Why do you think we need to hear it?
My mother always told me, if you haven't got anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all.
People have lost all sense of self-respect, dignity and decorum. Where are their fucking manners already?!
This is not how you treat other human beings. It's plain and simply wrong and it needs to stop.
Time is running out. We need to do better. Now.
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Spectacular! Well done all involved. The Rebel Heart tour has been a critical, commercial, and creative success. It's truly remarkable and very well earned. But...Bruce is back on the road again playing arenas across the States and stadiums in Europe. He'll easily crunch $200 million by the end of the year, so enjoy this moment because it won't last long.That said, he's playing the entirety of The River album - originally released in 1980! I can't say I'm a fan, but rehashing an album 3 decades old is hardly the zenith of creativity, is it?Similarly, The Rolling Stones toured their 1971 Sticky Fingers album on last year's Zip Code tour, and only this week I received an email promoting Stevie Wonder in Hyde Park performing 1976's Songs In The Key Of Life' album. Are you freaking kidding me?! Err, no thanks. Did I unknowingly hitch a ride in a time-travelling DeLorean?!Can you imagine Madonna announcing the 'Like A Virgin' tour in 2017? She'd be universally slated! To sustain her career she's expected to remain impossibly youthful, dance her ass off in heels, change costume multiple times, rearrange and re-choreograph her back catalogue, create brand new chart topping hits and raise a family all at the same time. And Heaven forbid she might falter for a moment and miss her son during a custody battle.In short, there's a massive double standard when it comes to women in pop music, so Madonna's achievement is so much more impressive than any of her peers. She's in a class of her own when it comes to creativity, and no one else, in or out of the billion dollar club, can touch her. Queen.
- groovyguy, schumakg86 and xrhaul
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Ha! The'd better adjust the countdown. You know she's gonna be late!
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I’ve been carb-comfort-eating the whole week, trying to keep my shit together, but I don’t know how I’ll cope when the last shows ends on Sunday. I hope I’m in a safe place when it happens! :wink:
The only thing keeping me from spiralling into despair is the thought of the DVD/Blu-ray release at some point in the hopefully, not-too-distant future.
Rebel Heart has been a series of massive highs and crashing lows, but creatively I think it’s her best album and tour since Confessions, even if the release and promotion was ill-fated from the start.
The press have been baying for a Britney-style melt-down since her split from Guy in 2008, and the ongoing ugly, cruel obsession with trying to shame her into retirement makes me so angry. I find her endless tenacity incredibly inspiring, especially given the situation with Rocco. She’s really held it together and weathered the storm. I’m so grateful she hasn’t given up.
In spite of all the drama, it’s been an incredible era, and I hope she finds peace and happiness in her familial life soon.
As fate would have it, the narrative of Rebel Heart past has played out in real life – the rebel warrior triumphing over her broken heart.
Thanks again and again M. No one has, can or ever will thrill me quite like you do. There’s only one queen and that’s Madonna. x
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Good for Josephine! It's disgusting how hell-bent certain people are on tearing Madonna down.
By this point she must have titanium-coated skin to withstand the constant neagtivity.
Yahoo reprted it fairly:
https://uk.celebrity.yahoo.com/post/141249165404/crazy-onstage-antics-video-playlist
They also noted she started late (although earlier than before), and played for longer than usual, so it's not all bad.
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I´m a little bit worried about Madonna, she´s late almost every show. Maybe she´s sad enought to start a show? Maybe she forgot that the fans put her on the throne , they might decide to take her off the throne. It´s scary.
It's probably because she's drinking heavily, during and after every show, then riding around on her tricyle in circles until she falls over and passes out.
Nah, I'm sure she's fine. Leaks, capes, and undeserving Drakes couldn't stop this unapologetic bitch!
3 shows to go... Hold tight, everything's gonna be alright.
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While I understand why she's late, she should try to go on stage earlier. Lots of people travel to go see her and a lot of them need to work on the next day, especially on week days. And it's rude to leave them waiting 4 hours in the arena. I dont think there's another artist that goes on stage this late. She's truly the best performer alive and the show is worth every penny but she cant expect people to stop their lifes to go see her.
I doubt she'll be coming back to perform in Australia, so I'm sure there's a sense of, 'oh well, who cares'.
I'm not sure if I read it here or on another forum, but I remember someone saying she deliberatley hadn't acclimatized to the local time zone to avoid jet lag? Perhaps that's the reason why she said Good morning! Whatever the reason, its sucks to be late.
With the end of the Live Nation contract, I predict this will be her last 'mega-world' tour. Going forward she'll play smaller intimate shows like Tears of Clown. They'll be in theatres, playing multiple nights in the same venue, but only in major cities like New York, L.A, London, Paris etc. She'll ditch working with top-40 producers and we'll see a more creative, but less commercially successful stage in her career.
That said, tickets for these show will be very limited, drivng up prices on secondary markets in an astronomical way. The shows will be no less creative, but offer a more confessional, cabaret-like intimacy, which will see her delve deeper into her back catalogue.
I highly doubt Tears of Clown was as spontaneous and unplanned as it might've initially seemed. The change of pace has been a long time coming...
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Wow! That was fast even for them. No one could deny the have an ongoing agenda to smear her (probably orchestrated by Piers Morgan). I hate, hate, hate the Daily Mail, but in all fairness, they've got a point. Stop giving them reasons to criticize and they won't do it (as much!). I hope everyone enjoys the show. I hope we get a full show...
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Madonna Live in Miami December 2, 2016
in The World Tours
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I agree - trying something new takes guts especially when you're well known. I'd already applauded her for that in earlier post. The comedy wasn't for me but glad you liked it.