Rich Hall’s California Stars - 2014 - 6/10
Scattershot history of the Golden State, named after a mythological Amazon queen.
Proceedings are hit n miss, though Hall avoids obvious fruit fly jokes or easy targets.
Instead, he gets right down to ridiculing fevered fortune hunters who flocked to California during the Gold Rush, then skewers robber barons who enriched themselves with the Central Pacific, and this bodes well.
To my mind, he spends way too much time on the Okie migration, possibly because this reinforces his Southwestern shtick. The flow and pace seem to puddle at this point.
The first third is mercilessly funny. Front loaded with acid jokes. His withering comments of the witless Occupy Movement is laugh out loud funny.
The middle third chugs to amused entertainment.
Runs outta gas by the last act. Hall yaks on and on, the humor evaporates.
I watch and wish it was better. Too bad.