Friday, November 18, 2005

Classic moments in media metacriticism (aka "funny stuff")

XM has added a Canadian-centric comedy channel, which explains why I've just run across an old song by a sketch comedy group called The Vestibules.

The Ballad of Marshall McLuhan (MP3 available here) is a play on the name "Marshall," telling the tale of the media theorist's efforts to tame the Old West. It's the best take on McLuhan since the man himself popped up in a theatre lobby to silence a pretentious academic in Annie Hall.

For those who don't want to download the MP3, here's the punchline (select the text):

And he called out for Marshall McLuhan. He said, 'Marshall, I don't agree with your description of television as a tactile medium in a context of a visual notion of causality.' So Marshall shot him."

Yes, I know -- I'm a geek.

No comments: