Hey! It’s been a while! But when our show’s most loyal fan, Herb Koss, celebrated his 80th birthday a few days before our March 9th show I knew we had to do something to address it. Brian Vestal does an absolutely amazing characterization of Herb here – even if you don’t know him, you’ll really enjoy it!!
So the December 8 episode of Top Story! Weekly? No big deal. Our guest comedian was only BOB FREAKIN’ ODENKIRK!!!!!
So with a completely sold-out house, and a guest comedian who was one of the reasons I wanted to do sketch comedy, I made sure we brought our A-game. And I came up with an opener that is probably the most UCB-ish game sketch I’ve ever written for TS!W, based upon a suggestion from Phillip Wilburn that the Obamacare website could be a “Christmas miracle.” I went in a different direction, and it ended up opening the show.
My effort to write for myself – something I always encourage the actors to do – had its election week inspiration in the fact that we had the right cast to play the celebrity supporters of Mitt Romney. In the show, it followed a very successful porn-themed sketch, so the response wasn’t quite what I wanted – but I hope you enjoy it!!
TOSSED ELECTIONS AND SCRAMBLED THOUGHTS by Michael Hughes
It felt a little weird to do a sketch about a six-year-old girl. But the contestant in the National Spelling Bee was in the news – and the chance to have some fun with that character as played by Artemis Pebdani was just too tempting! I think it came out pretty fun – especially as part of our big Los Angeles Improv Comedy Festival show with Bill Burr!!
So the Octomom is doing porn. And Artemis Pebdani is in the cast so she can reprise her great characterization of Nadya Suleman. But you don’t want to make a cast member do anything tawdry. The solution? Have the Octomom take a job where she can show off her “stellar” child care skills!
I’m also really proud of the way we addressed the passing of Adam Yauch in this week’s show. Rather than do a sketch on it (not really feasible since the news broke after our submission deadline) or do a joke (which seemed inappropriate), all of our interstitial music in the show was by the Beastie Boys. I even used the opening bars of “Sabotage” to open the show in place of our usual opening. And what better way to pay tribute to a great musician, than with his music?
Wait – so you’re telling me that North Korea launched a rocket that fell into the sea? And that both Artemis Pebdani and Brent Pope are in the cast to play Kim Jong-Il and Kim Jong-Un? Yeah, I think I might be able to write something on that….
Our first show of 2012 was also our first show since the death of Kim Jong-Il. And given that we had our Kim, our Gaddafi, our Diego, and even our Chuck Beanster in the cast, the stars were aligned for the perfect sendoff to our favorite crazy bloodthirsty dictator. Even at 8 and a half minutes, it came out pretty “hilarious”.
I wrote this one pretty quickly – on a Saturday afternoon, actually, which is usually after our script is out. But the Del Close Awards meant I couldn’t get the script out Friday, and we needed more parts for women, and I had this idea about the controversy around whether “The Help” was another movie about how hard racism is on white people. The audience reaction isn’t as raucous as in other sketches, but I think they were on board, and Artemis Pebdani and Rebecca Stevens were great in this!
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Watch “TS!W 720: Herb Koss’ 80th Birthday from Top Story! Weekly Episode 240: “Crimea River”!
March 13, 2014Hey! It’s been a while! But when our show’s most loyal fan, Herb Koss, celebrated his 80th birthday a few days before our March 9th show I knew we had to do something to address it. Brian Vestal does an absolutely amazing characterization of Herb here – even if you don’t know him, you’ll really enjoy it!!
TS!W 720: HERB KOSS’ 80TH BIRTHDAY by Michael Hughes
Starring Brian Vestal (Herb Koss) and Phillip Wilburn (Phillip)
Directed by Michael Hughes
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Tags:60 Minutes, 80th Birthday, Amy Paffrath, Armando, Artemis Pebdani, Beer Shark Mice, Bennie Arthur, Blake Walker, Brent Pope, Brian Vestal, Christopher Biewer, Derek Reid, Grasie Mercedes, Herb Koss, I'm a Believer, iO West, Jared Nigro, Jen Cain, Jimmy Guidish, John Abbott, John Druska, Josh Rachford, Julia Wackenheim, Kipleigh Brown, Lauren Miller, Leo Margul, Markeia McCarty, Matt Moore, Matthew Harris, Michael Hughes, Micky Dolenz, Mike Besaw, Mike Hughes, Mitchel Baldwin, Monkees, Neil Garguilo, Opening Night: The Musical, Phillip Wilburn, Sean Cowhig, Stacy Rumaker, Tammie Smalls, The Amazing Race, Tommy Bechtold, Top Story! Weekly, TS!W 720, USS Rock n Roll
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