Monthly Archives: April 2013

Gone but not forgotten

There are times, at my cynical peak, when I fear that the pure comedy sketch is becoming extinct. Out of the big three that I play on the show, Stand-up, Musical and Sketch comedy, the latter is the thinnest of the lot. Thankfully there is a plethora of classics to play… from Monty Python, The Royal Canadian Air Farce, The Frantics and others, but I get a bit annoyed at the imbalance. By that I mean, when you look at my playlists, even though I don’t really play the same pieces over and over again, I am forced to go with the same artists to get the proper symmetry. Let’s face it, those artist mentioned above are the absolutely cream of the crop but I do not want to run them into the ground. Could you imagine EVER getting tired of Monty Python?! I do NOT want to be the first idiot radio DJ to make you sick of the best comedy sketch group the world has ever seen! I look high and low for anything recent that may be considered a solid playable comedy skit. I like The Whitest Kids U’ Know, Kurt Weitzmann and a few others but I need MORE!
I have not given up, I will continue to peruse the present comedy scene and see what pops up. Until then, please peruse this zany little piece by the vastly underrated, late, great, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore!

They just don’t make them like they used to!

An interesting dilemma

It wasn’t until recently that I began noticing that some comedy artists are better at other things than what they are famous for. A good case in point would be the talented Louis Szekely, better known as Louis C.K.. Louis is famous for being a stand-up comedian, but I must be frank here… for the most part, I do not like it. Very little of it could be played on a radio based comedy show. It is too disjointed, rambles a bit (okay, a lot) and it does not really have a punch line that separates the men from the boys. On the other hand, it is undeniable that he has a great sense of humor. The stand-up that I have seen from him did not impress me but the videos that he has made are really humorous.
This is a short one, and I promise to bring you the larger ones in the future, but it shows you what a man like Louis thinks about in his spare time. One of the many reactions to this may be…”What a jerk!”, and you wouldn’t be wrong.
Talk about sparing no expense to get a laugh…

I’ll bet that chopper cost him a pretty penny!

More Spring themed nonsense from the depths of Hades

No, not really. Just kidding about the Hades part. It is about Spring though. A fishing tune no less. This area still has ice on the lakes but that won’t be for much longer. The anglers will be here before you know it. This is a decent little ditty about fishing this time of year. These folks don’t really perform live that I can see. Their studio work is above average though. I can think of, at least, five or six great tunes that they have created that deserve airplay
and accolades. As I mentioned, they do not perform, so this is a dead video. Try it out for just the audio, it is very funny. I have actually done what the guy mentions at the end. Please don’t tell anyone.

Behold that which is Bananas at Large.

It’s Spring…yes it is!

It IS Spring, but you’d never know it around here in New Hampshire.
I still have snow on the ground and there is some unsettled weather coming up in the days ahead.
It’s just a matter of time though.
To start the season off I strongly suggest a healthy dose of one of the most entertaining
satirists that ever lived.
He was way ahead of his time when he produced the bulk of his material back in the 1950’s!
(I still can’t wrap my mind around that…woof!)
This particular piece always gets a certain number of complaints from the type of folk
who do not understand satire.
This is funny, brilliant and a classic example of the talents of Tom Lehrer!

Satire at its finest!
Do you agree?

America’s Pastimes…?

I am a HUGE George Carlin fan. He was Numero Uno in the stand-up department. Still is. This is one of the best pieces that I can think of to bolster my claim. I have seen a few variations of it and this is one of the better ones. Which sport do YOU prefer?

All things must come to an end

My beloved, boneheaded, rascal of a dog, Roscoe, passed away this week. He was not doing well, having been diagnosed with cancer just a few weeks ago he fell fast and hard. Being a Golden Retriever he was a huge brat, but a fun loving rascal of the first degree and a wonderful companion. I wanted to dedicate something to him but couldn’t think of what. A friend of mine recommended a pretty good song but I wasn’t sure I could find a video to go with it. But I did…

Roscoe would have agreed completely!

Live at the Hollywood Bowl

It is no secret that Monty Python is my favorite sketch comedy group of all time. As far as I’m concerned it’s not even close. Great cases can be made for the comedic output of others, such as The Royal Canadian Air Farce, The Frantics and The (Radio Free) Vestibules, not to mention The Dead Alewives, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore and Synaptic Anarchy Playhouse…but when you bring out the classics like Dead Parrot, The Argument Clinic and Crunchy Frog you pretty much leave the competition in the dust. This little gem is from the infamous (’cause I said so) Hollywood Bowl gig that the gang did back in…a while ago (god, I feel so old).

The timing is off but that’s to be expected at a live performance. The original four are in their glory here. I would love to have been at that show! The next time I do this piece I’ll have the one with Rowan Atkinson in it.