TV Shows Watched: Daryl Dixon: S2E5 (AMC Plus) no audio description, Before: S1E2 (Apple Plus) with audio description, Ghosts: S4E2 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, Queens Court: S1E6 (Peacock) with audio description, and Happys Place: S1E2 (Peacock) with audio description.
Podcasts: None
YouTube: The Awards Contender (Supporting Actress Predictions)
Movies: The Remarkable Life Of Ebelin (Netflix) with Audio Description, Transformers: Dark of The Moon (Paramount Plus) with audio description, and Seth Meyers: Dad man Walking (MAX)
My first Stand Up special. I’ve been trying to broaden the types of audio description I consume and discuss, with some forays into programs aimed at kids this year (including MAX’s Hop, Paramount Plus’s Dora, and Disney Plus’s not described Ariel) as well as some more reality shows (The Summit, Love Is Blind, and Queens Court), trying to get more of that cross section of how this accessibility works outside how I would typically consume it. Stand up for me, coming from the sighted world, in some ways was an afterthought. However, after seeing what audio description can do for Saturday Night Live, by recontextualizing all of the physical comedy and cues we would normally miss, I wondered what audio description could do for a comic like Seth Meyers, who often just sits behind a desk, and has to rely on the words more than his own physicality.
When Stand Up Comedy really started breaking into the mainstream in a way that it started giving specific comics a nationwide platform, one of the ways it did that was with comedy albums. Good old fashioned records that were on vinyl. Lots of comics who were never going to go to your city, suddenly available on your stereo, and then even more through TV. But those early comics certainly had to have material that translated onto a disc, and still today, many comedians are just stand and talk type funny.
Seth Meyers was a good jumping off point, because he does use the freedom of the stage to bring physicality, which is highlighted, and helps to give jokes context. One joke, about rolling dice, had him laying down on the floor. Without the audio description, how would I have known that? So, as I start to explore more stand up, But, I’ve only maybe watched one or two other specials before this with audio description, so I’m trying to gain a bit more of an idea of just how far our medium can take stand up to the next level. If it can help a rather sturdy comic like Seth Meyers, what could it do for someone known for physical comedy being integrated into their set? We shall see.
And, as a side note, before has excellent audio description. It must be said. The show is weird as hell. The ending to this last episode was chilling. I highly recommend Before, as it is unlike anything you are used to seeing Billy Crystal do.
