Lover of Life TV: The Indigenous Comedy of Teddy Dibble

Teddy Dibble in Person Preceded byshort: Made for TV (Ann Magnuson, Tom Rubnitz, U.S., 1984).From stressed-out housewife to desperate evangelist, Magnuson impersonates amind-boggling array of female "types" as portrayed on TV. Channelsurfing at its best. (15 mins, From Video Data!nbsp;Bank) Teddy Dibble dabbles in a brand of comedy that needs TV. Theclaustrophobic box, the privileged view, and perhaps most importantly, thegrotesquerie of TV history itself make Dibble a contempo-comic whose time hasn'tjust come, it's been interrupted by a commercial break. With a face as pliable aschewing gum, Dibble delivers visual one-liners that range from belly laughs tothorny gaffs. The medium aids and abets in "3 Things" when Dibbleslices the TV screen, only to shatter his own image. In "PositiveThinking," metal bindings pull his lips apart to reveal a monstrous smile,the "have a nice day" of the '90s. In his most enraptured moments,Dibble dominates the tube: full-face front, spitting out grapes from beneathcomically distended cheeks, or licking the screen in a lugubrious, snail-like fitof passion. As an extra bonus, Dibble has included some, yes, commercials. Apremiere compilation, Teddy Dibble's Lover of Life TV shows that the little boxbreeds big laughs.-Steve Seid

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