126 posts tagged with Comedy and music.
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Sometimes things are okay
After nearly twenty years contending with
pastel trickster gods [previously],
limited-animation cryptids [previously],
absurdist undersea novelty songs,
assorted devious traps,
and most recently a 40-minute magnum opus featuring a nonbinary pangolin anthropologist, tutelary weasels, a lovelorn starfish, and a world-ending cube [previously], Charlie the Unicorn finally enjoys a moment of peace. [more inside]
WELCOME TO THE WOOORLD OF TOMORROW
March 28, 1999: Futurama. It seems to go on and on forever. In fact, the pilot episode of the original run aired 25 years ago tonight, kicking off what would become one of the smartest and most hilarious comedies in TV history. So celebrate with an overview of character intros, ★ key scenes, clips, ♫ songs, and other links, why not? [more inside]
I am Doctor Van Helsing / I never let anyone else sing
Gilbert & Sullivan's Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula, a highly condensed operetta by Mitch Benn [SLYT, 9:33]
Fellow Babies, If You Ever Wondered
What if you took EVERY DJ break Howard Hesseman ever made, as Dr. Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati, and just ...followed his lead? Would it be possible to construct a three hour radio show, with Fever as host? [more inside]
aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh you've got a
Beautiful Mind [slyt] is about that moment when you find someone who really understands you. The shock of recognition. Or perhaps the schemes that become possible? [more inside]
Sitteeem
Sitting is the opposite of standing. Sitting is the opposite of running around. Sitting is a wonderful thing to do. On September 10 2023, an earworm was born. [more inside]
Love Honk
“I had a dream last night that there was a new popular form of music called Love Honk. Every song was basically just smooth jazz or soft rock instrumentals, but where the lead singer or main instrument should have been playing, there was just a loud, constant car horn.” My fellow Nordics will probably be reminded by Silverspots’ Cohost post of the Ylvis sketch Car Horn Classics (English subtitles in captions).
Mick Smiley Made the Best Ghostbusters Song, Then He Disappeared.
You know the scene in Ghostbusters where the power's been shut down, the ghosts have broken containment, and they start to run amok in New York? The distinctive, eerie song- "Magic" by Mick Smiley- that accompanies it exists only in the film and on the soundtrack; it was never released as a single and Smiley never released it himself. But who even is Mick Smiley? In 2016, Josie Riesman tracked him down and got his story.
Everybody Movement
Planet of the Bass - DJ Crazy Times ft Ms Biljana Electronica As we proceed further along the Goncharov timeline, a 90s Eurotrash classic has been unearthed. Though if you missed the actual way you encountered it, someone uploaded their VHS copy. [more inside]
Ask Me Another (In memoriam eotvos)
In Feb. 1927, Justin Spafford and Lucien Esty published Ask Me Another [alt.], a trivia book that let readers compare scores with Anita Loos, Dorothy Parker, John B. Watson, Ruth Hale, Alice Duer Miller, and others. Interview with Esty and Spafford (cont.; cw: stereotyping). By March, 100k copies were in print. By April, a second volume was in print, appearing later in an omnibus. By May, it inspired a comedy song and parody book (or two). The same year, it inspired music history / theory quizzes with scores from prominent musicians. Newspapers ran brief quizzes supplanting the crossword puzzle rage, itself deeply rooted in trivia puzzles (see also 19th C. question books or Renaissance memory / conversation games such as "Vittorie d'Hercole"). Last month, before passing away, Mefi's Own eotvos described a planned project for an online edition.
“I'd like to take you now, on wings of song as it were…”
Last month Tom Lehrer put all his songs online for free streaming or downloading, and relinquished all rights to them. You can browse them by album, title or category, and also download the sheet music for each song. But get those songs fast, because the website is only staying up for a limited time yet.
LEA Project: The ARG, The Musical
LEA is EthiCo's own Learning-Enabled Algorithm: an anticipatory artificial intelligence program built with next-generation machine learning. That's just our fancy way of saying that she's designed entirely around you! She can automate your daily purchases, manage your hectic schedule, and even suggest the perfect time for you to sit back and chill out!The LEA Project: An interactive, musical horror-comedy from composer, writer, and sound designer Eric Matthew Richardson.
Whether they all would self-identify as nerds is hard to say
“I don’t rail against PC culture and all that because I think when somebody is accused of being politically correct, that usually just means they’re being sensitive to other people’s feelings.” -- ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic: The Great American Novelty
"It's almost like the sound of somebody slipping on a banana peel."
Why "Yakety Sax" makes anything funny and has morphed into the soundtrack of political failure (SL Salon) [more inside]
let's never go back to dinosaur island
Tom Cardy: Jurassic Park 12: It's Dino time! slightly NSFW for some lyrics + closed captions, tom cardy [previously]
Look, he made us some Content
Bezos III (Gregorian Chant) /
Living in the Future /
Is it gonna end? YES When? NEVER /
I Just Want to Feel Good /
JEANS™ /
Maybe I'll Feel Better /
Five years /
Trying to be funny /
UV teeth /
[What have we done to our children?] /
The best-case scenario is Joe Biden /
S P I D E R 🕷️ /
"It's very upsetting that The Future is in front of Now." /
This Isn't a Joke /
[Never go outside again] /
How to make a peanut butter sandwich /
"Our doing isn't done and our done-ing isn't did." /
"The unspeakable fear of never hitting the wall." /
I'm sticking with ✨Jeffrey✨ /
"MY PHONE MAKES ME SAD, AWWW." /
All Eyes on Me (Early Demo) /
"It's only a problem if you go outside." /
"The thing that I'm writing about *is* an ending." /
Goodbye (alternate ending) /
The Chicken /
A sneak peek at the ICU /
I don't know what's happening /
>> One year after the original virtuosic special premiered on Netflix, Bo Burnham returns with THE INSIDE OUTTAKES, a kaleidoscopic, stream-of-consciousness retrospective consisting of over an hour of new songs, new vignettes, fake ads, behind the scenes clips, musical outtakes, confessional pieces, perfectionist tableaus and so much more (including something from yours truly). [more inside]
They knew that I would be reunited with my ancestors instantly
The wildly inimitable Chris Fleming sings his Boba (Tea) Manifesto. When you talk to me in the morning, / I talk like the owner of a wolf sanctuary, / but after boba, I talk like the owner / of a boutique children's clothing store.
I had a virtual wife who loved me; we had a virtual extended family
It slaps, it's funny, it's sharp as hell, and there's a cowboy and a Sims character in it. What more could you want? It's Love Online, by Bungalow Jonathan.
No knowledge of German required
Since its first release in 1961 the hymn “Danke” by Martin Gotthard Schneider has been one of Germany’s most popular Christian songs. But in 1993 comedian and theater director Christoph Marthaler made it a comic centerpiece of his popular play Murx den Europäer, often reprised. Marthaler’s version has itself been covered, such as by the Hafnarfjörður Brass Band and the male choir Voces Masculorum.
Dear English Language
25 Playwrights and their Plays, 1700-1799
Mary Pix (1666-1709): Manchester Metropolitan University recently posted a complete performance (production credits) of Mary Pix's comedy, The Beau Defeated (1700). The play was also adapted by the Royal Shakespeare Company under the title The Fantastic Follies of Mrs Rich (trailer), reviewed by Aparna Gollapudi: "Pix's successful play ... features two wealthy widows search of new husbands--Lady Landsworth pursues the disenfranchised younger brother, Younger Clerimont, to assure herself that he is indeed as honest as he is handsome, while Mrs. Rich is determined to marry into aristocracy ... The play includes many classic elements of Restoration comedy, such as the amorous widow, the bumbling country squire, and the extravagant fop; but it also looks forward to eighteenth-century comedy in its valorization of sober moderation, moral behavior, and economic prudence." [more inside]
Could I interest you in everything about "Inside"?
Bo Burnham started out as a geeky kid writing parody songs in his room, but the success of his work on YouTube soon launched him into a career in comedy, where he quickly won the respect of comics thrice his age. Three innovative specials and one acclaimed coming-of-age film later, Bo seemed to disappear from the scene for years... only to return in spring 2021 with INSIDE [trailer], a striking one-man/one-room pandemic comedy masterpiece, inventively cinematic in style, which devolves from clever social media parody to incisive sociopolitical critique to dystopian internet horror to a heartbreaking elegy for a dying world as it parallels his own emotional breakdown. Two months later, with six Emmy nominations and a nationwide theatrical release this weekend, there's plenty of Content to chew on -- a full track breakdown, lyrics, commentary, analysis, and beyond. Want it? Good. There's [more inside]
Some memorable days from the early ‘90s
Just some tik toks.
What it was like hearing Smells Like Teen Spirit for the first time in 1991
What it was like hearing Creep for the first time in 1992
What it was like hearing Cherub Rock for the first time in 1993
What it was like hearing Freedom by Rage Against The Machine in 1993
What it was like hearing Smells Like Teen Spirit for the first time in 1991
What it was like hearing Creep for the first time in 1992
What it was like hearing Cherub Rock for the first time in 1993
What it was like hearing Freedom by Rage Against The Machine in 1993
Careful who your friends are
Tom Lehrer Goes Public (Domain)
The complete lyrics and (most of the) music of Tom Lehrer is now available for official, public domain download... at least until December 31, 2024.
Puerto Rico and Guam are not countries
Ladies and gentleman, I've suffered for my music, now it's your turn.
Musician and actor Neil Innes, who joined the boys of Monty Python for their films (singing "Brave Sir Robin"), their stage shows (From the Hollywood Bowl: "I'm the Urban Spaceman", "How Sweet to be an Idiot", "Protest Song") and their side projects ("The Rutles"), passed away yesterday at the age of 75.
Top-Selling Singles by Decade, 14,500s BCE - 2010s CE
Archie Henderson is a musical historian. In this twitter thread, working with Adrian Gray, he lists top-selling singles of selected decades starting with the 2010s and going back from there. Way back.
Lemming Soufflé düh Shenanigan
Greig Johnson (previously) offers a beginner's guide to playing the ancient, elegant instrument known as the shenanigan. More of his work can be found on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
a musically funny point of view
Trump - the Cantonese opera
The all singing all dancing Chinese Trump opera (BBC video) Just for grins...and a perspective on Trump from Hong Kong.
Retro grooves, weird moods
Turning the Tables is a radio show broadcast from the bank of the French Broad River in Madison County, western North Carolina. Every Saturday night, host Drew Dobbs debuts an hour-long custom mix of a particular artist or microgenre. Past shows have spotlighted John Prine, Sidney Poitier, Carl Sandburg, Burning Spear, the semi-musical stylings of Walter Brennan, nature recordings, truck driving songs, Moms Mabley, Thurl Ravenscroft, and the soundtrack of the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon. [more inside]
TEN MINUTES REMAINING
Our Debut Album is the podcast where two comedians have one hour to write a hit song. Once a month, Dave Shumka and Graham Clark of Stop Podcasting Yourself get together and write a song they hope will be a hit. After 12 months, they’ll have a debut album. [more inside]
First you take an eensy bit of white rum...
Taffy Bennington is a powerhouse of silly. Taffy Bennington is a singing, dancing, rollerblading, multi-wig-owning sensation whose songs about the founder of Bitcoin, mixed beverages, cats and Game of Thrones are sure to scintillate your senses and paralyze your funnybone with her medium-to-superb production values and her exhausting number of non sequiturs. One time she was even in a movie. I'm told she smells like flowers. She's on YouTube, Instagram and Twitter. If you're looking for a profile, here is a completely serious interview. [more inside]
Surf II: End of the Trilogy (that's the joke, and maybe the best one)
Long ago in "The Good Old Days", surfers ruled. It was bitchin'! That was before the threat of chemical pollution, nuclear waste and the horror of Buzzz Cola....And so opens Surf II (YT, trailer): The Nerds Strike Back (via), a 1980s teen gross-out surf parody with added nudity*, stocked with some notable actors, and a soundtrack suitable for a surf film from 1984. Currently placed somewhere between one of the worst movies ever (next to another 1980s "sex comedy," Lunch Wagon [nsfw trailer]) and on the other extreme, just as funny as Naked Gun [trailer]. The film is considered an acquired taste, but if it might be your taste, you can watch it on YouTube (disregard the title, there is no second part). [more inside]
Content Warning: Kuso
"My intention was not to make the grossest film of all time, but to show ugly in a time where everyone is trying to be beautiful," says Steven Ellison aka Flying Lotus, the director of Kuso (imdb, wikipedia, trailer) in an interview to Film School Rejects. Talking to The Fader, Ellison describes the movie: "One day I watch it and it’s a slapstick comedy, one day it’s a musical, and others it’s a bizarro horror. It’s kind of all over the place in that sense. I think, if anything, the music fans will be happy. They can always close their eyes and listen to the music." [more inside]
Maybe.. but I got you pegged ha HA
Frasier Intros Compilation (Every theme and animation used) [YouTube] |
For completeness [YT] |
18 Things You Might Not Know About 'Frasier', Kara Kovalchik, Mental Floss
Oh my God, shoes.
Shoes - ten years ago Liam Kyle Sullivan created "Shoes", one of the first viral hits of the YouTube era featuring his Midwestern teen girl character Kelly. Now he sits down with Vice to talk about YouTube fame, touring, how it came about, and what came after.
SPIKE JONES!!! (gunshot, slide whistle)
Here's a full Spike Jones special from 1952. Here's another one. Here is a short series of clips with his costars talking about Spike Jones and Live TV. Also from the Spike Jones Show: Tchaikovsky - Poet and Peasant Overture - I'm Going To Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter - 12th Street Rag (featuring the bottom half of Elvis) - Flight of the Bumblebee - That Old Black Magic - The Black And Blue Danube - The Shiek of Araby (warning: a bit culturally insensitive) - Clink! Clink! Another Drink - the "All Girl Band" Medley - Hits Medley (with Jim Backus at the start!) - and their famous version of Cocktails For Two. There's plenty more among the uploads from YouTube user SpikeJonesEstate. A documentary, The Spike Jones Story - Part 2. The best of Spike Jones. [more inside]
"Nothing is forbidden anymore." —Enrique Iglesias, "Bailamos"
Reginald D. Hunter's Songs of the South
In a three-part series on BBC2 in the UK over February and March, Reginald D. Hunter travels across the (USA) south and explores the music and culture. There is a bunch of intriguing clips in advance. [more inside]
The Roundest Pickled Egg
A song about a pickled egg, by British comedy musician Elliot Mason, which devotees of Devo, Information Society, the Tiger Lillies, the sketch show Jam, and/or vintage Dr. Demento may enjoy.
Kreezus - Local Business Comedy
"This is it, baby. Hold me."
A decade after Halo 2 (and a day before the MCC), enjoy this loose timeline of essential Halo fandom: Halo.Bungie.Org /
Halo at Macworld '99 /
Red vs. Blue /
The Halo Trilogy in 5 minutes /
The Cortana Letters /
HBO's cutscene library and dialog databank /
Main Menus /
Kitty Cat /
Warthog Jump (and BOLL's Warthog Launch game) /
How Not To Be Seen /
Fan Art /
Panoramas /
The Music of Marty O'Donnell (prev.) /
Video Games Live: Halo /
Analysis by Stephen Loftus /
Who was Brian Morden? /
I Love Bees and the ARG radio drama /
Halo 2 Trailer /
Halo 2 E3 '04 Demo /
Full Halo 2 making-of documentary /
Voice acting /
Conversations from the Universe /
The Beastiarum /
Surround Sound Test! /
Geography of New Mombasa /
This Spartan Life /
The Solid Gold Elite Dancers /
Creepy Guy at Work /
Gameplay May Change /
Master Chief Sucks at Halo /
Another Day at the Beach /
'06 Bungie Studios Tour /
Halo 3 Trailer /
Starry Night /
Believe /
HALOID /
No Scope Was Involved /
100 Ways to Die /
"Bungie Favorites" gallery /
Mister Chief /
OONSK /
OneOneSe7en /
2553 Civilian 'Hog Review /
Griffball /
ForgeHub /
405th Cosplay /
Neill Blomkamp's Landfall /
Weta's Real-life Warthog /
Halo Legends anime anthology /
List of Halo novels /
Halopedia /
Halo 3 Terminal Archive /
DDR Dance /
Animatronic Elite project /
HBO's "Guilt-O-Lantern" contest /
Keep It Clean /
We Are ODST /
Sadie's Story /
Halocraft /
"A Fistful of Arrows" fan comic /
RvB Animated (and CGI) /
Project Contingency /
Halo Zero /
Halo 2600 (prev.) /
Reach Datapad Transcripts /
The last Halo 2 player on Xbox LIVE /
Bungie's Final Halo Stats Infographic /
Key & Peele: Obama on Halo 4 /
Top 10 Halo Easter Eggs / Behind the scenes of Halo 2 Anniversary
No Mozart Tonight
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to apologize from the bottom of my heart...for this appalling breach of taste." Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett made three television specials together and, from the looks of it, had an absolute blast. (PDF) [more inside]
How bout them Oar Doovers, ain't they sweet?
About the multi-talented Mason Williams [previously, and best known as composer of the iconic "Classical Gas"] -- Throughout his years in the Navy and college he wrote a series of poems he titled Them Poems. As he entered the folk music scene in the early 60's he wound up rooming with long time friend Ed Ruscha in Los Angeles. Some of the language from Them Poems is a consequence of creative word play that Ed and Paul Ruscha riffed on with Williams over the years. Ed Ruscha provided us with this recording [also released as "The Mason Williams Listening Matter", and reviewed here on allmusic by Eugene Chadbourne] from 1964. Recording starts around 35 seconds in. Also, here's Mason performing "Them Tummy Gummers" on Johnny Cash's variety show. Finally, Mason Williams Online.
2776: A Millennium of American Asskickery
Celebrate the (admittedly still in-progress) first millennium of American awesomeness on July 4, with the release of a new comedy-music benefit compilation titled 2776: A Millennium of American Asskickery. Proceeds go to OneKid OneWorld. The album tells the story of America's past, present and apocalyptic future. Put together by Daily Show writer Rob Kutner, Tonight Show writer Joel Moss Levinson, and Steven Levinson, the album features a stacked roster of indie musicians and comedians, including Will Forte, Aubrey Plaza, Patton Oswalt, Aimee Mann, The Sklar Brothers, Reggie Watts, Right Said Fred with Reggie Watts and Mayim Bialik, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog with The Rebirth Brass Band, Maria Bamford & Jonathan Katz, Andrew WK, Bobcat Goldthwait & Sally Timms, Paul F. Tompkins, Yo La Tengo with Ira Glass and Eugene Mirman, Neko Case & Kelly Hogan and more... [more inside]
A HUNDRED SEASONS AND A MOVIE, WW FOREVER RICK AND MORTY DOT COM
Are you a fan of inventive, black-humored sci-fi/fantasy animation? Desperate to fill the Futurama-shaped hole in your heart? Look no further than Rick and Morty, the superb new Adult Swim series from animator Justin "Lemongrab" Roiland and Community darling Dan Harmon. Inspired by a (terrible and very NSFW) Back To The Future knock-off, the show pairs a naïve young teen (Morty) with his cynical, alcoholic, mad scientist grandfather (Rick), each episode exploring a trope -- dreams, aliens, innerspace, parallel universes, virtual reality -- and turning it inside-out with intricate plotting, eye-catching art, and dark, whipsmart humor (with plenty of improvisation along the way). A ratings hit already secured for a second season, the show returns from an Olympics-induced hiatus tomorrow -- in the meantime, why not sample the six episodes aired so far: Pilot - Lawnmower Dog - Anatomy Park - M. Night Shaym-Aliens! - Meeseeks and Destroy - Rick Potion #9. Want more? Promo/highlight reel - AV Club reviews - TVTropes - Reddit - Rick & Morty ComicCon panel - Storyboard Test - Soundtrack samples - Play the "Rushed Licensed Adventure" point-and-click game
Richard Pryor: that clown can really sing the blues
Richard Pryor moved to New York City in 1963, where he performed regularly in clubs alongside performers such as Bob Dylan and Woody Allen. He even opened for singer and pianist Nina Simone, who talked of his early nervousness, when she put her "arms around him there in the dark and rocked him like a baby until he calmed down." You can see something of that young man in this clip of Pryor singing a bit of jazzy blues in 1966. The performance is also available on YouTube with slightly better quality, but faded in from different scene. [more inside]
Dinner, Lemmings, and the Hour
In 1972, National Lampoon expanded into recorded comedy with Radio Dinner. The album was largely a star turn for a young NatLamp contributor named Christopher Guest; when the magazine followed up on Radio Dinner's success by sponsoring an off-Broadway "satirical joke-rock mock-concert musical comedy semi-revue," he was tapped to perform in it alongside a drummer named Chevy Chase and a 24-year-old John Belushi. National Lampoon's Lemmings (original cast album) was another hit, running for 350 performances of Woodstock parody and Joe Cocker mockery. NatLamp editor Michael O'Donaghue decided the time was right to take the brand to a weekly radio show. He brought the stars of Lemmings back for it, together with Belushi's old Second City castmates Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Harold Ramis, Joe Flaherty, and Brian Doyle-Murray. Harry Shearer, Doug Kenney, and Richard Belzer helped round out the cast of The National Lampoon Radio Hour. [You should probably just assume that all YT links are NSF playing out loud at W.]
[more inside]