Monthly Archives: December 2009

Videocracy

YouTubery Friday: Snuff Box and Do Something!

It’s Friday! Procrastinate and count down to happy hour with these lovely bits!

Over Thanksgiving, my brother hipped me to the hilarious video below, which is a compilation of segments from the BBC comedy Snuff Box. You may recognize Matt Berry as Dr. Lucien Sanchez from Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. You may also recognize Rich Fulcher as Bob Fossil from The Mighty Boosh. But if you don’t know either of them from Adam, I think you’ll recognize funny when you see it.

To be honest, I know very little about Snuff Box, except what bits exist on the YouTube. But from what I can gather, it involves the misadventures of a hangman and his assistant, with liberal doses of British absurdist humor, very much in the Boosh vein. It also has many recurring gags, one of which is gathered here.

Matt Berry will help a young damsel in distress, usually carrying a heavy object for her. But the exact second she reveals she has a boyfriend, I mean, the exact second, he…well, I won’t ruin it. Suffice to say, the comedic timing and violence are both exquisite.

Last night, the hilarious Michael Kupperman tweeted “Do something!”, along with a link to the video below. I will give it no more set up than he did. Enjoy (seeing this in your nightmares)!

Holiday Triumphs 2009

Holiday Triumphs: Christmas Ads from 1985, Pt. 1

Let the record show I don’t hate everything about the holidays. When I was a kid, I had a VHS tape of holiday specials and other stuff recorded around Christmastime, 1985. I rediscovered it years later and loved to watch it over and over for the old ads, plus a truly awesome special about the 50th Anniversary of Loony Tunes.

This special featured various celebrities speaking about the beloved cartoon characters as if they were real people with whom they’d worked. It’s a bizarre panoply of famous folks, from Chevy Chase to Danny Thomas to David Bowie, who pretends to not know Bugs Bunny, then admits “we might be doing an album together”.

But the best clips come from Bill Murray, who, as always, was pure genius. I’ve actually made mp3s of some of his improv dialogue and put it on my iPod; whenever it pops up on shuffle, I am always delighted. You can view this special, in chunks, on the Loony Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2, but I just had to share a few of Mr. Murray’s best bits, even if it’s not the best quality video. In this first bit, Murray reveals a few behind the scene glimpses of the working relationship between Friz Freleng and Yosemite Sam.

In this second clip, Murray talks about the Loony Tunes characters he does and does not respect.

Billy Dee Williams also knows how to bring the funny. Here, he reveals the music he puts on when he wants to get a lady in just the right mood: Carl Stalling. His little gestures, as if saying, “ah yes, that’s lovely” as cacophanous cartoon music plays, are priceless.


Continue reading Holiday Triumphs: Christmas Ads from 1985, Pt. 1 →

Holiday Horrors 2009

Holiday Horrors: “Last Christmas”

For other Holiday Horrors posts, click here.

George Michael has much to answer for. When I was a kid, I recall his Faith album being a hot item amongst the sixth grade set for its SHOCKING videos, and providing much preteen giggle fodder with songs like “I Want Your Sex”. Who let him write a song with that title? Has anyone whose first language is English ever said that out loud? Was the alternate title “I Am Liking to Make Fuck Party”?

Last_Christmas.jpgBut one of his biggest crimes is the execrable “Last Christmas”, a horrible little tune that, much like “Wonderful Christmastime”, has received an unwelcome revival in the last few years. I blame those 24-hour holiday radio stations that pop up right after Thanksgiving. Even they can’t play “Jingle Bell Rock” every hour, so they had to dig up semi-forgotten Yuletide songs to fill up the spaces between “Blue Christmas” and Ronnie Spector’s “Winter Wonderland”.

Maybe it’s just me. I associate Christmas with being with my family. I don’t associate it looking for luv. But in the world of George Michael, Christmas is the day he gives his heart away. Unfortunately, the object of his affection regifted it the day after.

Here’s my question, George: What exactly did you expect from someone you met on Christmas? That’s not exactly the best day to forge a lasting, loving relationship. “I can’t believe someone I met while hanging out at a bar by myself on the biggest family holiday of the year turned out to be a skeeze!”

The original recording of “Last Christmas” is extremely fey and bloodless and full of wimpy synths. But Wham! sounds like the MC5 compared to its cover versions. Just peep the song’s Wikipedia page to see some of the winners who’ve taken on this tune. I defy you to defend any more than three people listed there.

Two stand out: 1) Crazy Frog, because apparently the demon-spawn who created him owned the rights to every song on the planet. 2) Carrie Underwood, because she performed it at the White House. “Merry Christmas, Mr. President! Here’s an uplifting song about getting railed during the holidays!”