It isn't so much getting old that sucks as it is the way the world can shift around you. Robert Campos and Donna LoCicero's3 Still Standingprofiles three Bay Area comedians — Will Durst, Johnny Steele, and Larry "Bubbles" Brown — who started out in the 1980s, and are still at work in spite of the seismic changes in the local and national comedy scenes. Disclaimer: I've seen all three of these comedians perform live. (Actually, that's more of a boast than a disclaimer.) The comedy boom ended, but all three stuck to their guns even as they grew unfashionable in the youth-obsessed culture, especially the political-minded Durst, who is all too aware that the way to guarantee laughs is to talk about human fluids. There isn't nearly enough time to get into their full C.V.s, including Steele's stint as San Francisco's best morning DJ — Live 105 announced they were replacing Steele with Howard Stern on the same day in 1998 that Phil Hartman was killed, making it the bleakest day in comedy history — but3 Still Standingdoes a good job of surveying how the comedy scene has changed over the decades. It also includes one of Robin Williams' final interviews, making it all the more important that Durst, Steele, and Brown are still with us.
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