Laughing, laughing

One of the greatest experiences I ever had with a book occurred in around 1989, when I came across a copy of Richard Meltzer's bizarre 1970 cult classic The Aesthetics of Rock in a used bookstore in Chapel Hill. Ever heard of it? Poorly designed, and clearly the late-night product of a grad student who had lost his faith in the academy and turned the record player up, up, it has the manic energy of Kerouac, and the pop cultural theorizing of, say, a Baudrillard.

I lost my copy long ago, but was happy to find out, recently, that Google Books offers a limited preview of it. And so, from Meltzer's typewriter to you, via Silicon Valley, a passage on Jim Morrison's habits in concert: "He would yell at and stare and and sing, 'When you laugh, you laugh at yourself,' in response to anything from inappropriate laughter to mere inattention; the stares have been particularly telling on an audience, and hesitations extended far too long for an audience's patience have been big too. Even fear: audiences have been frightened by his leaps and the other Doors themselves have gone in for being nervous before a crowd."

The unconventional performance, in other words, leads to nervousness on the part of the crowd - which leads, in turn, to something new, or different. The fourth wall's dissolved, and Morrison entertains himself by turning the tables on an audience that expects to be entertained but feels finally, something else. Or that, at least, seems to be Meltzer's interest, and it gives you a taste of his unique approach to early rock.

21 years after first encountering such prose, I still like it. But I'm now seduced by simpler modes of entertainment, too. In the video above, there's no self-consciousness about a fourth wall; it's more or less pure, unreflective happiness. And yet, if you think about it, even a video of Cleo laughing introduces certain complexities that might have interested the late Lizard King. For is Cleo the audience, as she laughs at L. running about the kitchen? Or is she the entertainer, as she brings smiles to our faces?