mgroves

Posts Tagged ‘comedy’

For some reason, a lot of commercials really appealed to me this year.  Maybe it’s because I so rarely watch commercials anymore (DVR,Netflix) that a good commercial really stands out to me.  Anyway, this is mainly an excuse to get a cheap blog post with some funny videos.  So, without further ado…

5. My brand!

1-800-CONTACTS overly dramatic unboxing commercial. This commercial might not have come out in 2011. That’s okay, it’s not like this award has the same rigor as, say, the Nickelodean Kids’ Choice Awards.

4. I like tacos…

I really like the acting in this commercial, and especially the delivery of “I like tacos” to a crowd of bewildered, chewing coworkers.

3. That’s dumb

This is the commercial that keeps on giving. It’s like the Arrested Development of commercials: each time you watch, you’ll find some new hilarious aspect of it.

2. CUZ I’M BLACK OPS

It’s bizarre how good of a comedic delivery that Brian Wilson has.

1. Yeah dog!

I don’t think I need to explain this one too much.

I’ve always been fascinated by Charles Nelson Reilly. He was so classically funny, entertaining, clever, and charming. Before his death, he toured his one man show, originally titled “Save it for the Stage”, but later titled “The Life of Reilly”. He was a campy gay caricature before campy gay caricature became a hollow trope. He was not confrontational about being gay, nor was he ashamed. He was a an exceptional man. I wish I had a chance to see him perform in person before he died, but this is probably the next best thing:

The Life of Reilly | Part 1 The Opening from Charles Nelson Reilly on Vimeo.

You can watch the whole thing on CNR’s Vimeo account.

This is a sketch from Kids in the Hall, episode 10 of season 1.

Mark: Hey, see that moon? No, that one there.

Dave and Bruce: Ahh.

Mark: I think that moon is a bit of a spy. Yes I do.

Mark: There was a moon like that on the summer of my sixteenth year. Some say
I was sixteen but, heh, I don’t know. And there was a girl, too; her name was Marie. At night
together, we would walk down by the sea, and, oh my God, if you could’ve seen the body on this woman! The
way at night her long legs would stick into the moist night sand like God’s own barge poles! You
know? And I longed to tell her the feeling I had in my, heart for her, but the words would not
come; they would not come through my spotty adolescent face; they would not come through my
angry hair or my sweaty feet or any other part on this body that I now call a man! So the words
je t’aime were never passed between us. But, that moon, yeah that one there, it spied
on us then, as I think maybe it spies on us tonight, no?

Bruce: The moon is bright, over Lebanon tonight! The Lebanese moon looks down.
Shim! Sham! Shikam! Cattle explodes! Cow shrapnel drips off a tree, cascades into mother’s tear, for
little boy. Who goes on into battle and comes back dead or worse, comes back a man. Why don’t you
warn them moon? Why don’t you say “duck” or “scram?” But the moon will not. The moon just sits there
grinning, like a corpse at a Dean Martin roast. What are you laughing at moon? Why don’t you share
it with the whole class moon?

The moon laughs knowingly.

The moon laughs.

The moon.

The.

Dave: Gee, I wonder who owns that moon?

Mark and Bruce: Yes…yes…yes…yes!

Just to get this out of the way: the “Matt” of the title does not refer to me.

During my time at Ohio University, I was accosted on a street corner (probably Court Street, I don’t remember) by a wild-haired guy passing out fliers for a comedy troupe show. This group was known as Four Funny Guys and Matt.

My wife (then girlfriend) and I made the 1 hr trek back to Athens twice during my tenure at OU to see them. The first time because I had heard some buzz about these guys and I thought it might be a hoot to check them out. The second time because they were uproariously funny and clever. I think the second time was post-9/11 because for some reason there was a model of the WTC towers in the lobby of the auditorium. It’s odd what things I remember and what things I don’t.

Which brings me to present day: my living room. I’m watching Adult Swim or something, and all of a sudden this cell phone commercial comes on for Alltel:

It didn’t hit me at first, of course. I rarely pay attention to commercials, so it took a few times for it to hit me: a vague feeling of familiarity. I scoured what memories have survived my Scotch-soaked synapses. I felt like Philip J. Fry jumping up and down on the verge of grasping some obvious thing. Hey…WAIT A MINUTE. THAT’S THE GUY! He’s one of the guys from Four Funny Guys and Matt! In case you can’t tell where I’m pointing, it’s the pudgy guy in the yellow shirt representing “Sprint”.

Of course, I didn’t know his actual name. The only guy whose name I could remember from Four Funny Guys and Matt is–not surprisingly–Matt. But in fact, there may not have even been a “Matt” in the group at all.

Turns out that his name is Mike Busch and he has both a MySpace page and his own official website. Turns out that Mike Busch is the founder of the comedy troupe (which has since split up). I found more information about other projects that they are doing with a little judicious Googling. My guess is that we’ll be seeing a lot of these guys sooner or later.

From what I can remember about the shows I attended at OU, the group was very Kids-in-the-Halls-esque. Almost KITHensian, in fact. But as the “second half” of their show, they did “Whose Line is it Anyway”-style improvisation comedy, which was very entertaining and very interactive. I think one of my suggestions was even used, and let me tell you right now: I can’t remember what it was, but, man, was it zany!

The second and final show I attended actually featured a couple of other acts. Eric Moneypenny did an opening stand-up comedy set which was very good. He was good at impressions, he looked like Jason Biggs and has his own website: Ericmoneypenny.com. Apparently he has blown up too, touring with some of the biggest names in stand-up today (and Doug Benson as well). So, he’s got that going for him.

The other act was a musical comedy act (read: comedian with a guitar). He was very funny and very talented and provided the troupe with a great way to segue between sketches. It is this performer, who I wouldn’t even pretend to know the name of, who stands out the most in my memory. I can’t remember a single sketch, but for some reason I can remember this guy. In particular: one segue between sketches he played a rather violent and angry (as violent and angry as an acoustic guitar can get) song about Mr. Miyagi. We’re not talking a wacky Weird Al song or anything, it was more like “F!#@ YOU MISTER MIYAGI F!#@ YOU! F#*( YOU!” over and over with no further explanation for like 20 seconds. It was one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever seen. And as Mike Busch approached the microphone to start the next sketch, he gave this guy the most hilariously authentic look of bemused puzzlement. Like I said, it’s odd what things I remember and what things I don’t.

The other thing I remember is the wild-haired guy impersonating a penguin or something during the improv show and doing a rather painful looking slide on his belly across the stage floor and then off the front edge of the stage.

So yeah, now these guys are blowing up and starting to become famous. So uh, go Bobcats, I guess? Woo.