Watching Showtime

Known to Americans for her biting wit and many characters, Tracey Ullman heads to Showtime in a few weeks, bringing her comedy with her. In State Of The Union, she tackles a day in the life of the American people, one character at a time. Whether a woman facing her husband’s death in Texas by moving on to the next inmate, an Indian pharmacist who dances and sings her way through each customer or Ariana Huffington herself, Tracey’s characters bring to life a wide variety of American pesonas.

With a phenomenal makeup team and her flair for dialects, Tracey’s characters do what most comedians’ cannot … they steer clear of racial stereotyping and discrimination. For the most part. It’s a fine line she walks, with her Jamaican caretaker and her Bollywood pharmacist (among others), but after watching the show, I think she does it in the right way. Tracey seems to be commenting on our stereotypes rather than forming her own for the public to view.

I’ll be honest here. I don’t normally like sketch comedy, and I tend to vehemently oppose these types of characterizations. Generally they feel too contrived, too stereotypical, and too close to racist, classist, and sexist for my comfort. But with Tracey, I found myself laughing out loud. Maybe it’s having a British woman under the makeup that made the difference, I don’t know. I do know that her Arianna is hilarious, and her take on immigrant work ethic packs a punch (while making the comments bookend her show, there’s some social commentary hidden away just waiting to be unpacked later).

Unlike any half-hour show brought to Showtime thus far, Tracey Ullman’s State Of The Union will wow you and hook you in. And for those who can’t wait the two weeks to see Tracey take on Showtime, leave a comment to this post with your favorite Tracey character, and you’ll be entered into a drawing to win the first five eps of her show on DVD, sent to you this Friday! The contest will end at midnight tomorrow night (Thursday, CST), so you don’t have much time to get entered!