The N bomb heard around the world
Watching ‘Seinfeld’ will never be the same
By Tyler Gaskill
E-mail
Print- Share on Facebook
-
Seed Newsvine
- Text size:
Something inside Michael Richards’ brain broke on that L.A. stage.
Just in time for the holiday release of “Seinfeld” season seven, Michael Richards, who played Cosmo Kramer in the famous sitcom, made a triumphant return from post-“Seinfeld” obscurity with an explosive set at a Los Angeles comedy club.
Like a storm trooper of comedy, he marched into Funnyville and took no prisoners with his no-holds-barred act. His poetic prose brought the crowd to its feet.
The L.A. crowd worked itself into a frenzy not seen since Mel Gibson zinged the nation with his unforgettable roadside act “The Inebriation of the Bigot.”
Some may consider lynching devoid of comedic material, but the bumbling Kramer weaved through the touchy subject with the precision of a beer-soaked Gibson tongue.
Dressed in his usual Imperial Wizard Klan uniform, Kramer barraged the audience with N bomb after N bomb. His method acting brought the house down with some audience participation by reminding two black hecklers that 50 years ago they’d be hanging from a tree while he rammed a pitchfork up their asses.
Like Jerry Seinfeld always preached on the TV show, Kramer went out on a high note.
Perhaps the aforementioned Imperial Wizard outfit was stretching the truth a bit. I can’t be too sure, though. It’s difficult to see Kramer in the video because of the glare coming off all the skinheads’ scalps in the front row.
Something inside Michael Richards’ brain broke on that L.A. stage. His movements on stage resembled so many hobos having one of their gibberish spells: The mindless pacing back and forth, quietly spouting nonsensical statements, lacing them with quick eruptions of extreme racial slurs. Couldn’t he just yell, “Serenity now!”?
Prior to Kramer’s meltdown, I saw Seinfeld live at the Milwaukee Theater. During a Q&A with the audience at the end of the show, someone asked, “What’s Kramer like?” Seinfeld’s only response was to explain that “George, Elaine and Kramer are all fictional characters. And when the show ended, they ended.”
Thank god that’s settled. Whew!
For a second there I was worried I couldn’t ever watch “Seinfeld” the same way. Knowing the gem of the show was merely a thin veil pulled over raging river of racist hatred, rubbing its knuckles in anticipation for the next minority lynching that somehow slipped through the show’s casting screeners. The show will be forever changed.
I’ll constantly be looking at extras’ faces for Cosmo Kramer palm imprints. The anti-Dentite episode’s satire will gain another layer of depth when Kramer’s forearm tattoo of a Confederate flag, with the words “The South Shall Rise Again,” slips out from under his sleeve.
In the episode where Elaine is confused about whether she’s in a bi-racial relationship or not, the DVDs may offer new commentary from Kramer. He reads the entire Hammerskin Nation manifesto.
No teary-eyed David Letterman apology can bring Kramer back for Michael Richards to hide behind. Richards has secured the noose around Kramer’s neck and fans are forced to decide if he hangs.


> Comments