Sharpes · 4 February 2003
“That’s where Jim and I spent the night in jail.” My father is pointing to a drab civic building off the freeway. As we drive past it, my father tells the story of how he and Jim had been working that day, hovering the streets of San Francisco with their hidden tape recorder looking to create and record tense situations.
Hey look: Jennifer Sharpe, proprietress of the robust web destination Sharpeworld, has put up a site dedicated to the work of her father, Mal Sharpe. I’d heard of Coyle and Sharpe before, something about two comedians who did prankish man-on-the-street interviews in the early 60s. Going through the material on the site (if you have the pipes, be sure to listen to the mp3s) though, it’s clear there is more than mere comedy going on, and some dark and admirably cruel minds are at work in these interviews (apparently Jim Coyle preferred the term ‘terrorizations’).
Incidentally, with the untimely hiatus of misterpants, Jennifer’s Sharpeworld is now the sole one-stop shop for all matters of dubious celebrity, failed ambition, creepy sexuality, faded glory, biker mags and other really rather funny crap.
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