The Underground — Issue #134
Everything you need to know about in this weekly series: Artie Lange takes the Hot Ones challenge, how South Park has changed over its 20 year history, a fantastic infographic explaining hurricanes, and Jean-Claude Van Damme’s new show about himself.
At Social Underground we go beyond the mainstream stuff and see what’s underneath the surface. What should we get into, listen to, read, eat or watch? If there is something in our culture that needs attention that’s our job: Show you the underground things that you need to know about: Books, music, television, movies, comedians, art, and whatever else we can find to get you into something you never knew about. That’s The Underground.
1. Artie Lange endures the Hot Ones hot wings challenge. If you know anything about Artie Lange, you’ll know doubt know that that man has been through a lot. Heroin abuse, trying to kill himself and much more. It’s a miracle he’s still alive after all he’s been through, but he’s still here, still hilarious, and now has to punish his mouth with the hottest wings on the planet.
What really stands out in this episode is just how much Lange makes host Sean Evans laugh. With all the funny people that have been on the show, Lange comes in and drops hilarious jokes and stories while constantly commented how good the show and Evans is as a host.
Watch Lange burn his mouth in a brand new episode of Hot Ones below
2. Have a look at how much South Park has changed over the years. I’ve watched South Park since I was in middle school. I will never stop watching it because it’s consistently hilarious and can take on a subject that has just happened on the news. Sure, I started watching it because it was cruel and they swore, but the show has grown into a force of nature. If you mess up or humiliate yourself in the news, South Park might come after you.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone have created a show that has become a cultural phenomenon. When they’re not making this, they’re winning a Tony award for The Book of Mormon. No big deal to win one of those when you take some time off your award winning TV show. Not only do they make an amazing show, they have to make it in 6 days. There’s a documentary called 6 Days To Air which documents the process, and I gotta say, it stressed me out watching them have to bust their asses from early morning to maybe even 2 hours before they have to come back into work. It’s all worth it.
Watch how the show has evolved over the years. It’s really quite impressive that they turned a show about kids swearing and poop jokes to a smart show… about kids swearing and poop jokes.
3. A look at catastrophic hurricanes and how they work. If you haven’t noticed, America was devastated by multiple hurricanes this year. Puerto Rico is still without clean and or power weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated it, despite what the president has consistently lied about. It wiped out their energy grid, forced people to drink water from toxic sources, and go without food or much needed medical care. Long story short: hurricanes are the worst.
If you’ve watched the news, you’re probably caught up with the hurricane scales, but maybe not so much as how hurricanes work besides they’re huge swirling storms. This handy infographic from the always reliable futurism.com will give you a bit more information that you might not have known before turning on The Weather Channel.
4. Jean-Claude Van Damme stars in a show called Jean-Claude Van Johnson. This show is essentially Van Damme playing a fictionalized version of himself. I can’t think of anything better than an action star poking fun of himself in his own TV show, especially Van Damme.
Premise: The story centers around a retired martial arts and action movie star Jean-Claude Van Damme played himself, who begins working as a private undercover agent. The cast features Van Damme, Kat Foster, Ian Fisher, Moisés Arias, and Phylicia Rashad.
Okay, so he plays himself pretending to be an undercover agent… even though he’s world famous and can be recognized anywhere on the planet. Yeah, this show is going to be hilarious judging by the trailer alone.
Jean-Claude Van Johnson hits Amazon Prime on December 15, 2017. You can watch the trailer below.
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Jeff Sorensen is an author, writer and occasional comedian living in Detroit, Michigan. You can look for more of his work on The Huffington Post, UPROXX, BGR and by just looking up his name.
Contact: jeff@socialunderground.com