the comic's comic: Shoot the Messenger

When Jon Stewart tore into CNBC's business reporting last week on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, and CNBC's Mad Money man Jim Cramer sat there hopelessly acknowledging his mistakes, there was one guy who watched it go down having an insider's perspective from both sides of the conversation. As comedian Jeff Kreisler pointed out to me via email over the weekend: "My guess is I'm the only person that even remotely bridges the gap between Cramer and Stewart."

Here's how: For three years, Kreisler wrote a weekly humor column and video blog, "Funny Money," for Cramer's TheStreet.com (and the person who hired Kreisler, he noted wryly, was Aaron Task -- the guy shown interviewing Cramer in the video in which Cramer says how easy it is to manipulate the markets). He left that gig in 2008, and wrote last year for Comedy Central's Indecision2008 blog. Kreisler, who has been honored with the Bill Hicks Spirit Award and been received well both here in America and over in Edinburgh, acknowledged that in his time working for Cramer, he "never really had much, or any interaction with Cramer himself. I worked remotely, only popping in to occasionally record a video -- yes I've been in that hideous orange studio -- though I did ask him to read my book for a blurb. He refused (perhaps because I mention him as a cheater?). That's fine."

Kreisler has a book coming out in May called Get Rich Cheating (Facebook group), and he quickly points out that he talks about Cramer's manipulation of the markets for his own personal gain on page 249! Of course, there is a part of Kreisler who wishes his book could be bought and read now to take advantage of this hubbub -- but then again, the book's delay came about because his editors wanted him to expand his satire to all of the other real-life cheaters in sports and entertainment, so perhaps it'll have an even easier sell by May. Here, for example, is a video Kreisler shot in February about Alex Rodriguez fessing up about steroid use:

This Week In Cheating: A-Rod - watch more funny videos

Kreisler also is part of a NYC-based group called Shoot The Messenger that has put on a weekly live show spoofing TV's morning news/entertainment programs. Anchored by Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead and stand-up Baron Vaughn, they're filming their live shows tonight and tomorrow (March 17-18) at the Steve Allen Theater in Los Angeles for a possible pilot (info).

All of which made Kreisler view the Stewart-Cramer exchange a little differently. As he explained to me via e-mail yesterday:

Back to the "showdown," one of the great subtexts was the continuing blurring of the line between news & entertainment. "Infotainment" as we call it on "Shoot The Messenger." Just the fact that I've written comedy for both Cramer & Stewart shows that there's a (dangerous?) overlap. When the comedy show becomes a trusted source for news and the news network provides entertainment, where does one turn? Hell, throw Rush Limbaugh, Coulter, Bill Maher all into the mix of infotainers/opinionsters, too. Cramer has been a wildly successful speaker on college campuses, drawing huge crowds who want to see his shenanigans and hear how easy it is to make money. You know who else built up a huge following on college campuses? Dane Cook. Plenty of people will criticize both for the substance of their "acts," but guess what? They're both really successful, and you cannot deny their savvy for recognizing their market and exploiting it. Yes, the news should be austere and serious and informative, but it's not, and I'm not sure we can blame Cramer for being a fantastically vibrant example of that. We could just stop listening to him and hope he goes away. Which he won't.

If you haven't seen Lizz Winstead's latest creation, then you're missing out. Winstead, who co-created The Daily Show and later went on to Air America Radio, now has her sights set on skewering morning TV. Her Monday night show, Shoot the Messenger, recently moved into larger digs at The Green Room at 45 Bleecker. In the new venue, the set design and everything else feels much more like an actual morning TV program (even if it's not actually six hours, as advertised in the tagline for "Wake Up World with Hope and Davis," TV's only six-hour morning 'infonewsment' show). There are the requisite sofa, chair and coffee table. A separate news desk.

Benari Poulten plays the frat-tastic energetic audience warm-up guy. Baron Vaughn as Davis Miles plays affable co-host to Winstead's ridiculous Hope Jean Paul. Each week typically features a taped interview segment with self-help author, "Life Expert" Dana Levan (Carol Hartsell). A big screen behind the stage plays these pre-taped bits, new toons, and last week offered a well-executed debate between other 24/7 network anchors (played by Lucas Held and Sean Crespo) with Vaughn moderating it live.

Here is a segment from last Monday:

And here is a toon they produced about the Democratic horse race:

It's unlike The Daily Show, which makes direct jokes about actual news and newsgatherers, nor is it like The Onion News Network, which is all about fake news. No. Shoot The Messenger aims somewhere in between, poking fun at the actual ridiculousness of morning TV news. After each week's 45-minute production, there's an intermission, after which Winstead returns to the stage as herself to talk about what they're up to, then interviews a special guest. Last week, she talked with Andy Borowitz about the 2008 campaign. Borowitz complimented Winstead on creating "a fully realized character" as well as the technology behind the production.

Tonight's Shoot The Messenger won't be the usual production, however. Instead, Vaughn and Darbi Worley will host a show centered on the several comedians who contribute to the program, with video highlights of their contributions followed by their stand-up. On the bill: Jeff Kreisler, Sean Crespo, Lucas Held, Baron Vaughn, Carol Hartsell and Jamie Kilstein.