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Brick Wall Comedy

Citizen Arcane

Dennis Miller

HBO · 1996 · 56 min

Dense, reference-heavy stand-up filmed at a theater in Aspen.

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Dennis Miller takes the stage in Aspen, Colorado, dwarfed by a massive projection of Orson Welles as Charles Foster Kane. It is 1996, and the comedian is deep into the rhythm that made him a defining pop-cultural encyclopedist of the decade. He fires off hyper-literate similes and obscure references that demand the audience keep up, treating the English language like a blunt instrument dipped in a thesaurus.

Filmed for HBO while he was concurrently hosting his late-night talk show Dennis Miller Live, Citizen Arcane captures Miller right in the pocket of his cynical, pre-millennial phase.

He touches on the ACLU and writes off Branson, Missouri, as “Vegas for people without teeth”. The pacing is relentlessly dense as he diagnoses an American public he finds “as skittish as Blanche Dubois on a 12-hour Sudafed” and compares the rapid passage of time to “Rod Taylor sitting outside that dress shop in ‘The Time Machine’”. Reviewing the set, the Los Angeles Times noted the comedian was “wearing his obscure references like a tinhorn dictator’s chest full of medals”.

The set list

4 bits

  1. Aspen altitude and using an oxygen mask

    When reaching for an oxygen mask, audience members scoff at him, prompting him to fire back with 'Well fuck you. Get a climate!'

  2. Bill Clinton's presidency and legacy

    Sums up Clinton by observing that 'The chasm between his potential and his actuality is so vast…and the struggle (to find balance) sets off all his deficiencies.'

  3. The American judicial system and trials

    Laments that 'we have too many hung juries and not enough hung defendants' and characterizes the United States as 'one big, violent trailer park.'

  4. Personal mindset and lambasting the ACLU

    Spends time attacking the ACLU and declares 'I’m looking to make a little bread, build a wall, take care of my loved ones…and stay out of the crosshairs.'

How it plays

Tone
Sarcastic, frustrated, and outraged.
On stage
Articulate and amusing yet increasingly cynical, defensive, and sharp-tongued.
Pace
A tad lethargic due to the high Aspen altitude, prompting him to reach for an oxygen mask on stage.
About
American culture and legal system, Bill Clinton's political presidency, Criticism of the ACLU, Talk-show culture and duped juries

What the critics said

Regarded by retrospective reviews as still amusing and articulate, but showing early signs of decline with lethargic pacing caused by altitude, excessive time spent lambasting the ACLU, and less sharp focus on the powerful.

In the room: Some audience members scoffed when Miller reached for an oxygen mask on stage.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: thetvdb.com, themoviedb.org, allmovie.com, imdb.com, bullmurph.com, televisionacademy.com, en.wikipedia.org.

Backstory

Filmed as the closing event at the second annual U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado.

Details

Released
Taped
Wheeler Opera House, Aspen
Runtime
56 min
Where
HBO
Honors
Nominee: Outstanding Variety, Music Or Comedy Special - 48th Primetime Emmy Awards (1996)
Topics
Before
Live from Washington D.C.: They Shoot HBO Specials, Don't They? (1993)
After
The Millennium Special - 1,000 Years, 100 Laughs, 10 Really Good Ones (1999)

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