Review of Drinking with Bob

Bob Thompson is a middle-aged, middle-class would-be comedian who lives in Queens, New York, who according to various MySpace “friends,” used to be a elementary school substitute teacher. In 2001, he started a television show called “Drinking with Bob,” which airs late nights on Queens Public Access. It gained so much popularity that in May 2005, Bob decided to take his rants to the internet, posting them almost daily on his blog, Drinking with Bob. Since the sites launch, Bob’s posting pace has slowed, but his rants are as energetic as ever.

The mostly one-minute segments feature Bob ranting about a specific topic, often plucked from the week’s headlines. Descriptive titles accompany each posting, followed by a screen shot of Bob, open-mouthed and mid-rant. The segments aren’t exactly relaxing to watch, what with the non-stop yelling and flushed face way too close to the camera, but Bob has good points.

He begins each video with the same opening, “What’s next? I’ll tell you what’s next,” and then he does. His rants are loud, monotone, fast (but not that

fast) and about everything from his neighbor who takes 5-minutes to parallel park, to American Idol, to why New York City would think closing bars at 3am would keep innocent young women from being killed, to the various idiots he runs into on a regular basis. Usually, he’s naming the elephant in the room, acknowledging what most Americans are thinking, but won’t say.

In addition to rants, he also posts a few simple, 2-chord songs, in which he elaborates on his hates, particularly his loathing of Rosie O’Donnell. Besides a MySpace page, he also has another website associated with his show on QPTV, on which you can find longer “Skits” found only on television. 

Although I like me some Susan Sarandon and it seems as though Bob took her comment on building schools in Mexico a little out of context, he does have some good points.