Thread: PA: Crowd goes wild w/Joey Vento's "immigration" f

go to source link and take the poll....do you think Joey Vento's immigration-themed float was inappropriate? So far, the majority say no!


Did routine cross bad-taste border?
Vento's Mummer skit upsets some

By WENDY RUDERMAN
Philadelphia Daily News

rudermw@phillynews.com 215-854-2860
Geno's Steaks owner Joey Vento might make a delicious Philly cheesesteak, but he's not exactly the poster boy for good taste.

So it's not surprising that a few people who watched this year's Mummers Parade took offense to Vento's starring role in a performance by Comics brigade B. Love Strutters titled "Aliens of an Illegal Kind."

The skit featured Vento popping out of the top of a float labeled "Gewizno's Steaks" with a "When ordering, speak English" sign. Vento waved a poster reading, "What?" and tossed fake cheesesteaks into the crowd.

Then an announcer for B. Love Strutters cried out, "Uh-oh, here comes the Border Patrol!" Club members wearing Texas-sized cowboy hats and brandishing wooden rifles pretended to hold back a rioting crowd of "immigrants" from storming the border "fences." As the immigrants burst forth, they traded in their country's flag for an American flag, and a Mummer dressed as President-elect Barack Obama handed out Green Cards.

"It could be construed as bad taste," said Leo Dignam, parade director and deputy commissioner of the city's Department of Recreation.

But Comics being Comics . . .

"Sometimes they do things that are a little bit controversial," Dignam said. "It was intended to be funny."

Whether the skit was intended as a spoof on Vento's controversial "please speak English" sign or a tribute to what some view as Vento's anti-immigration sentiment depends upon whom you ask.

"I couldn't believe what I was watching. Could the Mummers really allow that kind of blatant racism?" said Erica Vanstone, 33, who watched the parade on television at her New Kensington home. "Or, if you don't consider it racism, clearly it's a right-wing, conservative political statement. Is that really needed in the Mummers Parade?"

Another parade watcher posted this comment on Philly.com: "The Joey Vento thing one club did was a real disgrace . . . The announcers seemed flustered when they saw that and tried to tone it down."

As the performance unfolded, Channel 17 anchor/parade host Steve Highsmith said, "Oh look, it's Joey Vento standing behind that very controversial sign."

Highsmith added, "By the way, [Geno's staff] never turned anyone away who didn't [speak English]."

A female commentator on air with Highsmith remarked, "This looks like a celebration of diversity."

When asked about that characterization yesterday, the 69-year-old Vento said, "Diversity? It's a celebration to get a message across that we love immigrants here, we just want you here legally and we want you to speak English."

Last week, Vento donated $40,000 toward the Mummers Parade to help prevent city budget cuts from ending the 108-year-old tradition.

Vanstone said she believed Vento's contribution "not only bought him a spot in the parade, but it also purchased a platform from which to wax poetic about his anti-immigrant ideas."

But Vento and Bud Emig, captain of B. Love Strutters, said the idea for the act germinated long before Vento's donation.

"He did not buy his way into the parade," Emig said.

Emig's brigade, which operates out of Ray's Happy Birthday Bar next to Geno's, had toyed with the idea of doing a take on the "Please speak English" sign for the 2008 Mummers Parade. Ultimately, B. Love Strutters went with a Casino theme. This year the group wanted to do a space-alien theme. They switched gears after learning that another brigade had already taken the idea.

Emig said the B. Love Strutters, which is a brigade within the Murray Comic Club, tried to be sensitive to cultural diversity in crafting the performance.

"We had Canadians, Germans, Russians," Emig said yesterday. "We are all immigrants. This country is nothing but immigrants. It was about people from all over the world."

The majority of the crowd seemed to love the act; most cheered wildly when Vento popped out.

"Maybe the [B. Love Strutters] were saying that Joey Vento is wrong and now Obama is going to come and save everybody," Dignam mused. "Some people, unfortunately, are just looking for a way to be offended." *

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_up ... rder_.html

Mummers and "mumming" go way back to the Medievel period and they were traveling bands of performers.....musicians, actors, magicians, and yes, even comedians....or jesters if you will.

Even back then, and all throughout history, some of the acts and performers were raucous and bawdy, not always considered in the best of taste.

The Philadelphia Mummers are not dissimilar in any respect and they have been around for over 100 years. Especially if you're from back east...like me....and in that general vicinity, you know exactly who they are and to expect anything from them.

There's not a damned reason in the world why ANYONE should've been shocked by this particular skit or why the Mummers are being criticized for it.

It's like anything else....including Mardi Gras. If you think you might be offended then stay the Hell home and make sure you watch something else on tv that day.

READER FEEDBACK
Do you think Vento's skit was inappropriate?
Yes
857 (41.0%)
No
1127 (53.9%)
Not sure
106 (5.1%)
Total votes = 2090

Do you think Vento's skit was inappropriate?

Yes 857 (41.0%)

No 1127 (53.9%)

Not sure 106 (5.1%)

Total votes = 2090

STRANGE.......The vote count didn't change.

Do you think Vento's skit was inappropriate?
Yes

862 (40.9%)
No

1138 (54.0%)
Not sure

106 (5.0%)
Total votes = 2106

Do you think Vento's skit was inappropriate?
Yes
893 (40.9%)
No
1179 (54.1%)
Not sure
109 (5.0%)
Total votes = 2181

Do you think Vento's skit was inappropriate?

Yes 895 (40.8%)

No 1188 (54.2%)

Not sure 110 (5.0%)

Total votes = 2193

Do you think Vento's skit was inappropriate?
Yes

900 (40.8%)
No

1193 (54.1%)
Not sure

111 (5.0%)
Total votes = 2204

Do you think Vento's skit was inappropriate?
Yes
941 (40.9%)
No
1248 (54.2%)
Not sure
114 (5.0%)
Total votes = 2303