Rish talks about things that he finds funny that others might not, and vice-versa. Then he and Big present the related sketch "Seasonal Disorder."
Warning: You might not find it funny at all.
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Logo by Gino "I Don't Think That's Runny At All" Moretto.
One of my most enjoyable gigs while doing Extra work in Los Angeles was appearing on the sitcom "Norm." I don't talk about it all the time, but it's in my top three, I'd say (the others being FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, and either SPIDER-MAN or the hillbilly cultists episode of "X-Files"). "Norm" was a sitcom with SNL alum Norm MacDonald, Laurie Metcalf, and Artie Lange about troublemaking social workers.
It was one of those shows shot before a live studio audience, and while we rehearsed it before the actual shoot, I was unprepared for just how funny the dialogue was that we, the background, were supposed to ignore. If I recall, we did the scene multiple times (even with the live spectators) because of crack-ups, and people trying alternate lines, and then . . . it was over, people were applauding, and we got to go home. I only worked on four or five sit-coms the whole time I was an extra (and "Frasier" didn't count because it was a taped remote at the Staples Center), but that was my favorite.
And now, Norm MacDonald has died at the age of 61. Cancer again, even in the midst of a pandemic.
I knew him from his work on "Saturday Night Live," where he anchored the Weekend Update desk, and would often throw the same joke into multiple episodes (about David Hasselhoff or Frank Stallone) to reward people who were paying attention. He was pretty great, until he was abruptly fired for making a few too many O.J. Simpson jokes, and replaced by the staggeringly unfunny Colin Quinn.
After SNL, he starred in multiple Adam Sandler productions, got his own movie (DIRTY WORK) that my roommates and I saw on opening day, did some television work (he had his own talk show, apparently), but mostly did stand-up and guest appearances on talk shows, where his talent was best displayed. He had a unique delivery and a rambling, seemingly-lost style, and I'll never forget his appearance on the last week of Letterman, where he ended his set with a tearful goodbye, despite admitting that "Mister Letterman is not for the mawkish, and has no truck for the sentimental," which are words of such Shakespearean poetry I've never forgotten them.
As usual, it has been nice to hear people who knew him go on about the man, and share funny stories or clips that make me laugh just as hard if I'd seen them before.
Sit-ups Today: 125
Sit-ups In September: 1563
Push-ups Today: 219
Push-ups In September: 1923
Words Today: 683
Words In September: 10,195
My nephew wanted to come along in the morning when I went to stores, hoping he'd find Pokemon and sports cards. He found neither. This sort of thing might be the reason:
I don't tend to get a lot of words written on Sundays. But I did drive over to the storage unit, looking for a figure I'd sold (I didn't find it-- I suppose I'll have to give the guy a refund), and stopped by the park for a few minutes, so I could lay out a blanket and at least try to write for a half hour or so.
I did alright, really, still working on the Lara and the Witch novel. I don't usually have a self-insert character in these stories (and most of the principles tend to be female anyway). But I thought I'd base the male opposite number Lara Demming meets in this one mostly on myself--who would I be if I suddenly could make things happen, both to the people I like and to those that I don't?--and that should be an interesting bit of self-analysis. If I can focus and keep writing it until the end, that is.
Next time I go to the library, maybe I'll waste some valuable time trying to find an obnoxious title for it.
Sit-ups Today: 111
Sit-ups In June: 2171
Tomorrow is probably my favorite day of June. Because it's June 21st--the longest day of the year. It's all downhill after that, baby.
Push-ups Today: 60
Push-ups In June: 2363
Words Today: 1268
Words In June: 16,049
I'm at the park right now. I decided not to to do the library today, thinking I'd just grab a blanket and sit out under the sun, and write for half an hour soaking up lithium, but then I saw my three year old nephew running around and I offered to take him with me. So, he's running around the playground, sometimes by himself, sometimes with other kids, having fun, while I sit here and try to write. It's that twin story again--which is now going to be novella-sized at least, since the inciting incident hasn't happened yet and we're three thousand words in.
As I get older, I am more and more distant from my teenaged years, and yet that's what I'm always writing about. This is the story of a teenaged girl (let's say seventeen, since that's the magical age Marty McFly was, and I have a 17-shaped scar on my knee) and her relationship with her sister. It has to be at least somewhat realistic, even though I'm old enough now to have a daughter who's long past her teenaged years. I have this problem often when I'm writing teens (it came up over and over again last summer when I was writing "Hatchling," which I really ought to make a priority to record--as soon as I make room on my one remaining SD card). I don't want to make their dialogue (or thoughts) too adult, and yet I'll be damned if I'm going to stoop to using teenage slang of today, which is way stupider than the things they used to say on "Leave It To Beaver," which struck me as supremely backward and old-fashioned.
I did use a slang term in the dialogue today that made me feel pretty clever, until I realized it was almost twenty years ago I heard a Californian use it, and the teenagers that used it back then have almost surely since died of old age.
When I actually was a teen, I'd chuckle at Stan Lee's use of faux-teen slang (like 'hep cat' and 'BMOC' and groovy) in the comics he'd written in the Sixties (I think he was around my age back then), so maybe I'm like that. But I am what I am, and maybe I should give my niece a copy of my teen-centric stories for her to make notes on . . . which I'll never do, so I guess I'm not so worried about sounding like an old man after all.
I made two mistakes on my run today. The first was to leave the Autoplay on on YouTube, so that that execrable Old Navy commercial played TWICE, causing me--the second time--to veer right into traffic, praying for a sudden respite.
The other mistake, though, was to leave the Autoplay on on YouTube, so that after the Seth Meyers clips I was listening to ended, a Jimmy Fallon "Tonight Show" monologue came on.
Now, cards on the table, I felt that Fallon (who was a contemporary of mine) was one of THE most talented cast members "Saturday Night Live" ever had, right up there with Tina Fey, Phil Hartman, Kate McKinnon, and of course, Terry Sweeney.* I followed his career with great interest, and was saddened when he broke his contract on SNL to go do movies, thinking TAXI with Queen Latifah would be his big break into movie stardom.
But wow, his "Tonight Show" monologue was bottom of the barrel, with one joke that I'd rate above a one star piece of shit ("From now on, all world leaders should be required to have at least one grandchild present for Zoom calls."**). I understand that comedy is subjective, and that the jokes that I regularly send to Big Anklevich from the Seth Meyers monologue might not even be funny to him, but wow, I don't know that the "Tonight Show" jokes would've cut it for the Jimmy Kimmel show.
I guess that's a pretty harsh thing to say. But then, I was never as handsome, funny, or talented as Fallon was, even at my peak (whenever that might have been). And according to Deadline, his ratings are the highest they've ever been . . . though I can't imagine who watches late night talk shows anymore, since that had been the domain of old people even back in the late Carson and Leno runs. Maybe it's women that watch Fallon, for much the same reason my generation watched "Baywatch."*** Oh, and lesbians are included in that as well, as I suppose they could imagine Jimmy Fallon was Rachel Maddow.
Push-ups Today: 60
Push-ups In April: 2469
Words Today: 985
Words In April: 16,541
*Eddie Murphy, of course, remains the most talented SNL alumnus of all time. Robert Downey Jr. does not count, because he sucked on SNL.
**And that's probably a two star joke.
***I didn't have "Baywatch" for self-pleasure purposes, myself. But I did have "Charles in Charge," thank Buddha.
