It makes sense that the inventive sensibility behind Sharpeworld should come from such pedigree. It’s difficult to imagine a better designer than Jennifer Sharpe to bring the singular comedy of Jim Coyle and her father Mal Sharpe to the web…
To my mind, Coyle and Sharpe are the great unknown comic geniuses. They stand alone among all the unknown comic geniuses that I know.
After a few pathetic attempts, I’ve given up trying to describe their particular brand of anarchic comedy/performance-art/psychodrama. I’ll spare you the cliches, and simply urge you check out their material (free, presumably legal MP3’s) and the host of articles and photos that the site has collected.
I’ll add another favorite artifact: Mal Sharpe guests on Kenny G’s WFMU radio show in 2001… The host plays Mal a disturbing fan-tape sent in by a listener, one who obviously has the DJ confused with that other Kenny G. A planned tribute is deferred in favour of a surprisingly gentle live telephone interview with the fan. The rest of the show is packed with rare recordings. Radio at its best. Listen (RealAudio)