Review of The Ointment

Nearly each weekday since February 2006, SoCal-based Steve Tatham (a stand-up comedian and Disney Imagineer) has broadcast a news show from his house. While his wife and kids wonder how their house became a studio, Steve continues to create his 3-minute daily episodes that cover everything from Condoleezza Rice and Nancy Pelosi to Nicole Ritchie and Tom Cruise.

His style is a cross between “The Daily Show” and the Weekend Update sketches on “Saturday Night Live,” combining headlines with punch lines and witty, tongue-in-cheek commentary.

Steve acts as anchorman and introduces new stories, delivering his caustic commentary in three-to-four minute episodes. On Wednesdays, he breaks the mold by bringing in special guests, often other comedians and musicians; on Fridays, he gives viewers a summary of the week’s headlines and the Ointment News quiz (oddly, answers are not provided on the site). There are even occasional special reports on weekend shows.

The content of the stories follows politics, celebrity

news, and anything bizarre enough to warrant a snicker or two. For instance, when Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace for over $500 million, it was time for an Ointment MySpace Special Report, taking the show to the streets of Bakersfield, CA for a fake interview with a typical MySpace user (“Oh my goodness, Orlando Bloom just said he’d be my friend”). The guest stars range from comedians who already have a following, like the hilarious Cathy Ladman, to amateur singer/comedian Robin Roberts.

A discussion on swing voters in Arizona is hilarious, if only because “journalist” Mary Manofsky spends most of the video at the Grand Canyon talking about the “national hazard” that is a canyon’s lack of a railing. “It’s very dangerous here, look at this. There’s no railing. Children and little puppies are just falling every day to their deaths.” It’s the guest reporters and fake interviews that round out the show and make it worth watching.