BUT…SERIOUSLY

Here's a record-breaker. No CIFF entry has ever tackled as many controversaries as this one: Vietnam, racism, war criminals, censorship. Iran-Contra, nuclear holocaust, the Russians, drugs, AIDS, terrorism, the homeless. Or made them as hilarious. but…seriously is a 30-year survey of American stand-up comics who, beginning in the 1960s, shunned traditional Borscht-Belt gags and vaudeville schtick and took on burning issues, shaping a new, politically-oriented humor that touched panic buttons with every punchline. Well-chosen TV, concert and nightclub excerpts span the decades; here is a protean George Carlin, evolving from a clean-cut JFK impersonator in a suit to comedy's eldest angry young man. Here is George Kirby, raising chills with his 'King Heroin' soliloquy. The durable Mort Sahl explains Washington like “Nightline” or Rush Limbaugh never could. Plus Lenny Bruce, Lily Tomlin, Robert Klein, Jimmy Walker, Robin Williams, Dick Gregory, Pat Paulsen, Jackie Mason and others who make viewers laugh, think, and perhaps change a little. And don't be surprised if young Richard Pryor's unexpected and sensational blues singing gets spontaneous auidence applause.-Charles Cassady