Tom Smothers has passed - good article

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Tom Smothers, one-half of the iconic musical comedy duo the Smothers Brothers, passed away on Tuesday, Dec. 26. He was 86.



The sad news was announced in a statement from his brother Dick Smothers, who shared that Tom died peacefully in his home in Santa Rosa, California, after a battle with cancer. The National Comedy Center published a press release sharing the news and statement on behalf of the family.



"Tom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner," said Dick. "I am forever grateful to have spent a lifetime together with him, on and off stage, for over 60 years. Our relationship was like a good marriage – the longer we were together, the more we loved and respected one another. We were truly blessed.”


www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/smothers-brothers-dick-mourns-death-184834173.html

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www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/what-the-death-of-your-dad-s-favorite-lefty-comedian-highlights-about-cancel-culture/ar-AA1m7stK?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=ad6bea94d8034ef894a3034b29a7b05e&ei=10

Beloved by baby boomers of the left-leaning variety, the act featuring Tom and his sibling, Dick, is almost completely unknown to millennials and today’s Gen Zers.

When I’ve mentioned the group to my comedy classes, I’ve often been met only with blank stares and furtive attempts to Google them. The Smothers Brothers are unknown to The Youth. Which (says this Gen X observer) might be understandable but certainly is unfortunate. The dramas that emerged around their act — perhaps even more than the goofy antiestablishment jokes that were their bread and butter — foreshadowed and remain relevant to today’s comedic controversies. Their careers show us what ought to happen in a functional Comedic Liberal Democracy.

To contemporary comedic sensibilities, the whole Smothers Brothers “concept” may seem anomalous. To begin with, performing comedic duos have largely gone the way of the rotary phone.

Looking back on Tom Smothers’ life, filled with accolades and accomplishments and admiration from other humorists, we might posit the following: Comedians, by the nature of their craft, will elicit outrage, and, rightly or wrongly, they will be de-platformed. In a proper Comedic Liberal Democracy, their cancellations are never total; there is always another venue or platform where an audience can come to its own conclusions.


I remember them being on TV so I do wonder what true Gen Xers and younger think. (I feel more like a Gen Xer than a Boomer given I always ace the Gen X quizzes.)  As the article notes there are few comic duos and at the moment I think Michael Che and Colin Jost are the most popular duo I can think of.