Mr. Birchum, on Daily Wire+

As a junior high shop teacher, Mr. Birchum’s classroom concerns are binary in nature. His students are either wearing their safety glasses or they aren’t. Their power tools are either on or off. His students’ “lived experiences” and “their own truths” do no make any difference. Unfortunately, that is the kind of thinking his school’s new J.E.D.I. (justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion) officer wants to stamp out. However, the cranky wood-worker will not be quietly cancelled out of his job in the debut episode of Adam Carolla’s new animated series, Mr. Birchum, which premieres tomorrow on Daily Wire+.

It is the first day of school, but Birchum and his best buddy workmate, driver’s ed teacher Mr. Gage, are already dreading the stupidity of their students and the school’s bureaucracy—even before they meet Karponzi, the new J.E.D.I. officer. Since Birchum’s unwoke rep proceeds him, Karponzi is already gunning for him and the lazy, feather-nesting Principal Bortles is not about to object.

Mr. Birchum is a character Carolla developed early in his radio career, whom he resurrected to serve as a zeitgeisty critic of the decaying American educational system. There is a little bit of Archie “Silent Majority” Bunker in him and even more of Tim Allen’s Home Improvement persona. However, Mr. Birchum is more right than wrong and he is smarter than 99% of the people around him.

He is also really funny. Yes, this is a Daily Wire+ series executive produced by Ben Shapiro, but it is important to remember Carolla paid his dues touring comedy clubs for years, before he became a leading free speech advocate and critic of “safe spaces.” Carolla and writers Mark Hoffmeier, Byron Kavanagh, and Mike Lynch score plenty of points against Karponzi’s rigid extremism. However, some of the funniest gags come from traditional workplace and family sitcom situations.

The show’s pointed perspective just gives them more bite, as when Birchum’s sympatico, woodworking-crazy stepdaughter Jeanie stages a protest against her realtor mother’s desecration of a mahogany fireplace. The writers even gently mock Birchum’s rightwing persona, when he grudgingly admits the teachers’ union he despises probably saves his bacon.

Nevertheless, some of the series satire is worthy of South Park, which was obviously a source of inspiration. Arguably, J.E.D.I. is the funniest, most ruthlessly cutting acronym since Team America’s Film Actors Guild.

No Safe Spaces: Prager and Carolla Defend Free Speech

Your rights are in danger, but not from Trump. Our president (for now) has his conspicuous faults, but he really does not care at all what you say or think. That is not the case on college campuses and in major cultural institutions. The right to express dissenting views is under attack with an intensity not seen in this country since the days of John Peter Zenger. Iconoclast comedian-podcaster Adam Carolla and conservative talk show host and part-time symphony conductor Dennis Prager sound the alarm in No Safe Spaces, directed by Justin Folk, which opens tomorrow in Arizona, with a planned national expansion scheduled for subsequent weeks.

Prager and Carolla have an act they like to take on the road to college campuses. If you disagree with them, you are welcome to debate them, as long as you keep cool and civil. Instead, the professional activists at many universities have increasingly sought to have them disinvited and banned from campuses. It is not just Prager and Carolla who get this treatment and not just high-profile center-right speakers who face the wrath of an unhinged leftwing mob. Anyone holding dissenting views can find themselves facing strategically weaponized shame and intimidation.

No Safe Spaces chronicles several orchestrated attempts to silence mainstream dissenting viewpoints. They are all alarming to anyone who values the right to free speech. However, the threats of violence directed against Prof. Bret Weinstein, a self-described “liberal” biology professor (with tenure) at Evergreen State College was the sort of madness you would have expected from Mao’s Cultural Revolution rather than Washington State in the year 2017.

Yet, the most chilling fact reported in No Safe Spaces is the shockingly low level of support for the 1^st Amendment among currently enrolled college students. More and more frequently, the desire to prohibit anything that might cause offense trumps our long-held rights of free speech and expression. Of course, a loop-hole that size is just an invitation to censor. Indeed, Prager and Carolla rightly argue on a number of occasions only so-called “offensive” speech warrants protection, because it is the only kind that will ever face censorship.

Admittedly, Prager and Carolla have their shtick worked out, but it would be a mistake to use that as an excuse to dismiss their arguments. It just means they are entertainers as well as commentators. Frankly, Prager gives the other side more opportunities to make their case than any of the usual stilted advocacy documentaries that get endless festival play. He actually engages in dialogue, where he and his discussion partners listen to each other and respond without kneejerk rancor.

The 24 Hour War: Ford vs. Ferrari

Paul Newman’s team took second place (first in their class) at the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans. Steve McQueen wanted to drive the 1970 race for his docu-like drama Le Mans, but he was not allowed for insurance reasons. However, for fans in the 1960s, the real stars of the endurance motor race were Ford and Ferrari. Nate Adams & Adam Carolla (the actor-comedian playing it straight and staying off-camera) chronicle the rivalry blow-by-blow in The 24 Hour War (trailer here), which releases today on VOD.

It makes the head spin in the context of today’s world, but Ford very nearly acquired Ferrari in the early 1960s. The deal was motivated by racing—Ford wanted to catch up with Chevy fast—and it fell apart due to racing—Old Man Enzo simply would not allow for any interference with his management of Ferrari racing. Once the deal was off, Henry Ford II rolled up his sleeves and built up the Ford racing operation the old-fashioned way—with buckets of cash.

Sometimes HF2 got what he paid for with some truly innovative designs and sometimes he was frustrated by simple engineering flaws. Those were the breaks in motor sports. Of course, some of those breaks were fatal. Like Frank Simon’s Weekend of a Champion (featuring racing fan Roman Polanski), 24H War takes us back to a time when deaths behind the wheel were a regular, weekly occurrence.

Adams & Carolla observe several intriguing historical ironies surrounding the rivalry and take stock of the larger than life figures leading their respective companies. They also have sit-downs with a host of Ford and Ferrari drivers, who are not exactly shrinking violets either. However, it is rather baffling that Carolla of all people would give Ralph Nader some camera time to tsk-tsk the Big Three for marketing horse power.

Regardless, Adams and Carolla keep the film motoring along at a good clip and they obviously have good rapport with the motor sports community, having previously collaborated on the even more entertaining Winning: The Racing Life of Paul Newman. Even if you are not a motor sports fan, you should appreciate the recent bumper crop of surprisingly engaging racing docs, also including Steve McQueen: The Man and Le Mans. It is still kind of dull to watch cars race around and around a track, but the behind-the-scenes stories are fascinating stuff—at least those recorded by Adams and Carolla. Recommended for sports fans and those interested in the history of the American automotive industry, The 24 Hour War is now available on iTunes.

Can We Take a Joke?: Losing Our Right to Laugh

In 2010, only 40% of incoming college freshmen agreed it was safe to hold unpopular opinions on campuses. When polled again as seniors four years later, only 30% agreed. That is terrifying, because it suggests future adults have been acclimatized to an environment without free speech. As a result, in a recent Pew survey 40% of millennials supported curbs on free speech on social justice warrior grounds. That is obscene. It is our rights they are willing to trade away, but it is comedians who are the canaries in the coal mine. Director Ted Balaker and a platoon of outspoken comics ask WWLBD or “what would Lenny Bruce do?” in the funny and alarming documentary Can We Take a Joke? (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

No comedian has been arrested on obscenity charges since Bruce’s 1964 trial in New York. His biographer and posthumous attorney readily point out the irony that the cops and politicians who once targeted Bruce would now respect his First Amendment rights, but he could never play college campuses today. Chris Lee is a case in point. Washington State University administrators actually recruited a mob to disrupt the staging of his gleefully tasteless campus production, Passion of the Musical. Now that’s obscene.

Some of stories of rampant political correctness are just plain ludicrous, like Gilbert Gottfried getting fired from his gig as the voice of the Aflac duck because of a joke about the Japanese tsunami. Seriously, what part of Gilbert Gottfried didn’t they understand? Obviously, they never saw him on the Comedy Central roasts. Clearly, Gottfried is not about to shut-up anytime soon. Indeed, he offers plenty of no holds barred commentary throughout the film, along with unintimidated colleagues, like Adam Carolla, Penn Jillette, Heather McDonald, and Jim Norton.

On the other hand, Justine Sacco remains in hiding, but her story clearly illustrates the point. She became the face of internet mob justice when she Tweeted: “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” before boarding a plane. While she was offline, she was pilloried by the righteous (naturally led by Gawker) and fired by her employer, IAC (they own Tinder and Chelsea Clinton sits on their board of directors) without giving her a chance to tell her side of the story. That’s obscene. For the record, it was a bad joke, but it was meant to be satirical.

Indeed, this kind of political correctness deliberately deafens the masses to notions of context, which profoundly impoverishes the level of public discourse. The implications for a relatively free democracy are absolutely chilling.

There might be a little too much Lenny Bruce love slightly unbalancing Take a Joke, but its analysis is always spot on, particularly that of Greg Lukianoff, the president the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). It will make you offended by the professionally offended and outraged at kneejerk outrage. Timely but hopefully not too late, it also features a good deal of laughs (albeit often bitter ones). Highly recommended for free-thinkers as well as any Millennials not afraid of getting their feelings slightly bruised, Can We Take a Joke? opens this Friday (7/29) in New York, at the Cinema Village.

Winning: the Racing Life of Paul Newman

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were way too classy to ever appear in a reality TV show. However, for decades racing fans were able to get a good close look at Newman that was entirely different from what the one could glean from the glossy entertainment magazines. He was a competitor through and through, who is fondly remembered by his colleagues and teammates in Adam Carolla’s Winning: the Racing Life of Paul Newman (trailer here), co-directed by Nate Adams, which releases on VOD this Friday.

Winning was a 1969 Newman-Woodward vehicle that was reasonably successful at the box office, but it had special significance in Newman’s life. In preparation to play Frank Capua, Newman was sent to racing school, where he quickly discovered a real aptitude for driving. It quickly became a passion. As a successful movie star, Newman could indulge an eccentric hobby, but it eventually became a bona fide second career.

Throughout Winning the documentary, Newman’s former rivals give him credit for putting in the time and effort to develop his skills. He was willing to lose a lot of races before he started winning. He was legit, coming in first in his class and second overall at the 1979 Le Mans (the subject of the 1971 Steve McQueen movie). Frankly, it is really cool how to hear how Newman became an accepted and respected part of the racing world.

Believe or not, Carolla is building an impressive portfolio as a filmmaker. Following up the solidly entertaining Road Hard, the comedian (who collects and restores Newman’s former vehicles) has assembled a first-rate sports doc. Fans should understand, there is not much material concerning his film career here, besides Winning and the Pixar animated film Cars, for which Newman voiced the character of the Hudson Hornet. However, Carolla did score a sit-down with an old Newman friend and co-star by the name of Robert Redford.

Winning (2015) also features interviews with Winning (1969) co-star Robert Wagner, Cars director John Lasseter, both Mario and Michael Andretti, and trailblazing African American driver Willy T. Ribbs, who credits Newman’s support for his big break in motorsports. Sometimes amusing and other times revealing, their anecdotes paint a compelling portrait of Newman the sportsman.

It is just great to have a new Paul Newman film nearly seven years after his death. However, Carolla’s interview subjects make it pretty clear Newman’s zeal for racing necessarily resulted in fewer films for posterity. On the other hand, he therefore chose projects with a discernment that well served his cinematic legacy. Wholly entertaining and surprisingly insightful, Winning: the Racing Life of Paul Newman is highly recommended for fans of the man and the sport when it launches on VOD this Friday (5/22). Fittingly, it will also have a special screening at the Indiana State Museum IMAX Theater in Indianapolis on the same night.

Road Hard: Maybe Sort of the Adam Carolla Story

Comedian Bruce Madsen is sick of going out on the road. The only consolation is he lives in Los Angeles. He is pretty sick of it too, but he stays because that is where his daughter and the business are. He grinds away hoping his agent will find a way to get him back on television, enduring the pettiest annoyances the club circuit has to offer in Adam Carolla & Kevin Hench’s Road Hard (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Madsen was once the co-host of the crude but popular Bro Show. His former partner is now the star of his own late night network talk show. Yes, there do seem to be some parallels between Carolla’s life and his on-screen character. Madsen is also divorced, living in the converted garage of his former McMansion, so he can be close to his adopted daughter, Tina—that is when he happens to be in town. Since Madsen was once on television, he can still draw relatively well at middling comedy clubs, but it is getting to be a drag.

Madsen perks up a little when he meets Sarah at a typically de-moralizing gig. Of course, she happened to be there through a strange set of circumstances. She certainly isn’t a fan, but they will somehow meet again. Will Madsen finally get off the show business treadmill or will his persistence finally be rewarded? Road Hard will answer those questions satisfyingly, but first Madsen’s ego will have to take a few beatings.

Road Hard is sort of like Scared Straight for anyone considering a career as a comedian, but it is consistently humorous, nonetheless. Clearly, Carolla can still do old school stand-up, because his bits are peppered throughout the film. He is also quite funny kvetching with his cronies Phil Rosenthal (essentially playing himself) and David Alan Grier (as Michael Gerard, a comic on an unlikely upswing). Yes, you read that here first—the words “David Alan Grier” and “funny” used in the same sentence. Howie Mandel also turns up for an unusually edgy and self-deprecating cameo, again as himself, but Larry Miller disappointingly resorts to a lot of shtick as Madsen’s sleazy agent (is there any other kind?), “Baby Doll” Weissman.

Yet, one of the nicest surprises is the easy-going chemistry between Carolla and Cynthy Wu and his former Loveline colleague, Diane Farr, as Tina and Sarah, respectively. These feel like believably imperfect but workable relationships. In fact, there are some moments down the stretch that are quite sweet, despite all the preceding masturbation jokes.

Yes, Road Hard works blue from time to time, but it has both an edge and a heart. Its show business insider stuff rings true and it delivers laughs at a more regular pace than the standard issue studio comedy. Recommended rather enthusiastically for stand-up fans and those of us who always wondered what went on behind-the-scenes at Loveline tapings, Road Hard opens this Friday (3/6) in New York at the AMC Loews Village 7 and also launches on iTunes day-and-date.