The Mayor Steals the Show

[EndtheMadnessNow]

"The Mayor Steals the Show" - American comedy is back! And man, are we in stitches from this one. A quick review of the new series:

To be honest, this reviewer never thought NBC’s Saturday Night Live would ever make a comeback after Eddie Murphy left. Of course, we thought the same thing after Chevy Chase and Bill Murray left. What do we know? We just work for the New York Times Entertainment desk—until the next round of lay-offs.

Miracle of miracles! Some of the best comedy in years is coming out of New York City once again!

Chevy had his Weekend Update anchor, Belushi and Akroyd had the Blues Brothers, Murray had his lounge lizard, and Murphy was the quintessential Gumby, but the latest recurring character is absolutely inspired!

The newest cast member, Zohran Mamdani, hit the ground running with his signature “Mayor of New York” character. This is satire at its most sublime. He has left this reviewer in tears, hardly able to see the screen between guffaws. Underneath the bumbling blowhard Mayor skits lies some of the most barbed stabs at Woke culture ever conceived.

“The Mayor” is the best biting send-up of American Progressivism since Libs Of Tik Tok debuted several years ago. Mamdani does to modern liberalism what Archie Bunker did to conservatism—stab it through the heart with a sinister snigger.

Mamdani could have stopped with his “Tax The Billionaires” skit and rested on his laurels, having created a comedy skit that will certainly be remembered as one of the best bits yet devised. But no! He’s gone one better with his latest lambasting.

Mamdani’s latest skit last week involved a Rube Goldberg-style scheme to increase minimum wages to $30/hour, while clawing it all back with his tax plan. The idea is to force people to take “free” generic groceries, because they can’t afford to shop anywhere else. The plot is so absurdly convoluted that the audience doesn’t fully appreciate it, until several days later on their lunch break when it hits them and they blow an entire ham sandwich through their nose while laughing.

This is right up there with the Three Stooges at the top of their game. We’re thinking specifically of the “Plumbers” skit.

A leaked script is making the rounds on social media, for a skit where the “Mayor” threatens to take over any business that tries to escape from New York, and confiscate the business “for the good of the people”. The “Mayor” calls out a squadron of social workers in full therapy gear to surround the city and nag any business trying to sneak out in the dead of night.

If this isn’t a real script, then whoever dreamed it up needs to get a job writing for Mamdani. The image of 1,000 lab-coated Karens blocking the exits is more than this reviewer can take. The cramps are unbearable.

“The Mayor” has some stiff competition. France’s long-running “M. President,” starring Emmanuel Macron as a clownish Napoleon wanna-be “leading” a modern industrialized state, with a tranny wife twice his age, is pure gold. Germany’s “Merz” has the Bundestag coming up with weekly side-splitters about a once-great nation trying to power itself with sunbeams and unicorn farts.

Only the UK, which gave the world “Monty Python’s Flying Circus,” is struggling to keep its show, called “In His Prime,” in the top tier. Lead star Kier Starmer has lost his mojo and the show looks like it may be cancelled soon.

Mamdani’s “The Mayor” is even giving “The Trump Show” a run for its money. The first four seasons of “Trump” were brilliant, giving the world stinging satire at a level unseen since Jonathan Swift made a modest proposal.

However, once the show’s star dropped his most famous tag line, “bigly,” the audience wandered away. The show was eventually cancelled and replaced by “My Son Hunter,” which never got off the ground despite several shocking jump-the-shark moments. In a surprise move no one saw coming, “The Trump Show” was revived with another four-year contract. Despite recasting most of the main roles, audiences and critics are still processing the newest iteration. It seems to have lost the spark that made the first four seasons shine, with a darker more serious tone.

“The Mayor” has shaken up the industry. Everyone thought Populist satire was a dead baby, but that baby seems to have some bounce left in it. Ratings are climbing into the stratosphere, as viewers tune in to see the latest tomfoolery cooked up by Mamdani’s writing team. This reviewer suspects there’s an Emmy (if not a Nobel) lurking in the wings.

Just when we thought that comedy had flatlined, Mamdani has sent in the clowns. The DEI Police Commissioner is inspired casting. This reviewer, for one, is grateful “The Mayor” has stoked the dying embers of past greatness and shown the world that America still reigns as the King of Comedy.

The veteran producer of “The Mayor,” Sydney Scheinstein, says he thinks Mamdani will take his place in the Comedy Hall of Fame, located on Riker’s Island. “Baby, this boy’s got legs. My people can set you up with some face time for a fee,” he growled while chomping on a spit-soaked stump of cigar.

Scheinstein hinted that the show could start launching arrows at Islam in the near future, but they’re waiting on a ruling from the FCC first. “Pot shots at Jews are so yesterday’s chuckles,” he grinned.

Now pardon us while we run to stock up on “free” popcorn for this week’s installment. We used to get it delivered, but at $30/hour, who can afford it?

Si mundus vult dicipi, ergo dicipitatur. [If the world wants to be judged, then let it be judged.]

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Today’s celluloid parable is unusual for me, since I normally wouldn’t recommend Warren Beatty to my worst enemies, but Bulworth (1998) is so on the nose that I have swallowed my pride. Warren wrote, directed and starred in this comedy-as-scimitar, slicing through politics and pop culture. A politician takes out a hit on himself, then starts telling the truth while diving into the hip-hop scene. It’s almost prophetic.