I read David Cornelius's DVD review of Me & Michael at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=24222 and...

For those who count themselves as fans of Willard Morgan (and I am unabashedly one of them) it comes as no surprise to discover that Middle America just doesn’t get him. David Cornelius unflattering review is living proof of this sad fact.

I first saw Willard when he did standup in Greenwich Village back in the ‘60’s. In Karen Kramer’s excellent documentary “Ballad Of Greenwich Village” the beat poet Allen Ginsberg called Morgan, America’s first metaphysical comic — “The only man I know who could make Lawrence Ferlinghetti piss himself laughing.”

Morgan’s brief, and tumultuous association with Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey in the ‘70’s is still something Morgan won’t talk about. However, a great deal of his style as a filmmaker and comedian is informed by that experience.

Which brings me to Morgan’s latest work, “Me & Michael.” The genius of Willard Morgan’s oeuvres is they are all derivative’s of his early work. He can take a single idea and rework it many times over, but always making it fresh and new. Not unlike art appreciation, it is important— no essential — to understand something about the artist earlier work in order to recognize and understand the new.

Morgan uses the premise (success, failure, etc.) over and over again, but with each new telling, comes new meaning. Warhol did the same in his time and was equally ridiculed.

Because Morgan is never ironic, he is able to be both profound and funny at the same time. And that David Cornelius, is the genius of America’s first metaphysical comic, Willard Morgan.

I'm not sure how editing a handful of old movies into one longer feature makes his film "fresh and new," nor do I find any essential need to examine Morgan's previous works in order to realize that Me & Michael just isn't funny.

As for the "Middle America" comment, is a series of kooky accents and bad wigs really as highfalootin' as you make it sound? Not really.

I'm sure Morgan has his fans. But judging from his film, I can't quite see the metaphysical, pants-peeing genius you describe.

Most people didn't get Andy Kaufman until he was gone. So I guess Morgan has to drop dead to prove me right and David Cornelius wrong.

PS: David Cornelius— didn't he host "Sould Train' in the '70's????

Cornelius doesn't get the joke. Morgan's has some great insights to the whole celebrity cult things and the way even a great "outsider" like Michael Moore becomes insulated by his own success. It's a film worth watching and I hope Morgan keeps spinning our foibles into more dramas.

Mr. Morgan's sense of humor might not be right for Michael [Moore], but it is for ... me! This docu-comedy should be made compulsory viewing for any and all budding videographers & performers flying into LAX who are even thinking of trying to claw their way up onto the lower rungs of the ladder of duress, in this Land of Broken Dreams. I know Me & Michael could save countless rubes mountains of money all the while shattering their dreams from the comfort of their own plastic covered barca-lounger. We can all learn more than a few things as Morgan hits the nail on the head honing his humor in on every Hollywood stereotype imaginable. From struggling actors, insensitive lawyers, and an army of relentless security guards one can see just how difficult it is to make it in Hollywood. Morgan delivers some truly rich characters including my favorite, the guitar playing auto repair man. No matter who you are in Hollywood, you're always really someone else? This scene alone is worth the price of admission, and is funnier than eighty percent of fluff generated by the mainstream corporate film making conglomerates. I'm not saying Me & Michael is a grand slam, but a stone cold standup double with Morgan driving in more than a few rock solid laughs, and in the end ... the very end I loved the button. Definitely worth a watch. Pass the popcorn, jones.