Date: 2007-10-16 00:55 Subject: Role playing at Red State Update Security: Public

For those of you who have not yet discovered Red State Update, their latest video is a great place to start. The first time I saw these guys, I wasn't sure how to respond, because it seemed like they might be just a couple of guys from New York playing stupid hicks, which would be a one-note, not-very-funny premise, like that horrible Geico Neanderthal sitcom. Then I watched a few more, and something clicked, and I couldn't stop laughing. As with most great humor, Red State Update works because the characters are so loveable, which probably comes from the fact that the two actors who play the parts actually do come from small-town Tennessee, even though they've since moved to LA, so they're portraying people they know well. They inhabit the characters so completely, it's really bizarre to see them out of costume. The character of Dunlap (the young one) is whip-smart but lazy, savvy about world events but unmotivated to do anything but drink beer and find creative ways to jeer at liberals and send Jackie Broles (the old one) off onto one of his legendary rants. The more you watch, the more you get to know about them; for instance, Jackie loves animals, and Dunlap loves smashing things. They may not be to everyone's taste, but they brighten this bluest blue-stater's day.