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!!
Last Tuesday my Facebook news feed blew up with people commenting on a news story. Occupy Wall Street? The elections? Syria or Egypt? No – the decision by NBC to take “Community” off its schedule. Thus I was inspired for this sketch – and thanks to Wikipedia for filling in the gaps in my “Community” knowledge!
Trying to figure out how to get comedy out of last week’s big story – the death of Steve Jobs – it dawned on me that the way to approach it would be to focus on what happened at Apple the day before: the underwhelming launch of the new iPhone 4S. The audience reaction isn’t huge in this video – it was the opening sketch, and I think they were warming up – but I think it’s a pretty solid effort. After all, references to hoverboards are always funny.
So this came out good…Mitt Romney’s “Corporations are people, my friend” gaffe was too good a gaffe to pass up without tackling a comedy sketch on the subject. In a lot of ways it’s a showcase for the actual beliefs of Brian O’Connell, as the words Sammy says are all pretty much things I’ve heard BOC actually says. He’s fantastic in this, as is Christopher Biewer, calibrating his performance between a precise impersonation of Mitt Romney and a concept of what Mitt Romney would be like as a kids’ show host. And don’t overlook the stellar work of Matt Moore and Rebecca Stevens as the other kids in the house. I’m very happy with this one.
So after I wrote this sketch, I realized it had the same basic construct as the “Schwarzenegger meets his illegitimate son” sketch I wrote last week: a politician’s mannerisms, speaking patterns and tropes are mirrored unexpectedly by someone related to him. But the sketch came out well, and the audience dug it, and I don’t think most of them were at last week’s show anyway. Plus, I wrote a sketch about Ireland that wasn’t about drinking and potatoes and sexual frustration.
Let’s say you run a comedy show based on the news. Right after you read all the sketches submitted for the week and you’re putting together a running order, you learn about a huge tragedy striking. It’s a big story – you can’t ignore it. But you have to be funny without being disrespectful. What do you do?
If you’re me, and you’re trying to address the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, you ask your friends Matt Blitz and Phillip Wilburn to help write a sketch that uses the event to make fun of celebrities who are deserving of the ridicule. All in all, it turned out pretty well.
Unfortunately the video quality’s not as good as usual – but you can still enjoy the awesome work done by our special guest, Nicholas D’Agosto from “Heroes,” “Fired Up”, “Election” and the forthcoming “From Prada to Nada” and “Final Destination 5!”
You’ve seen Nicholas D’Agosto in movies like “Election” and “Fired Up” and on TV shows like “Heroes” and “The Office.” You can see him later this year starring in “Final Destination 5” and “From Prada to Nada” and in the new USA Network drama series “Eden.” And this Sunday, January 16 at 9, you can see him on the iO West Mainstage as he guest stars in an brand-new edition of LA’s best news-based sketch comedy show, Top Story! Weekly!
And if that’s not enough, our guest standup this week has appeared on shows like “The Late Late Show,” “Outsourced,” “Last Comic Standing,” “Comedy Central’s Premium Blend” and even “The Closer” – Tom Clark!
So don’t miss Nick, Tom and the rest of the Top Story! Weekly cast in an all-new show – named by CBS 2 in their “Best of Los Angeles” – based as always on the events of the past seven days!
Regis Philbin isn’t happy that President Obama chose to appear on “The View” instead of “Live with Regis and Kelly”…until Gelman makes sure that the Reege and Kelly get a chance to chat with Barack too!
To see all the sketches from Top Story! Weekly as soon as they’re posted, subscribe to our YouTube channel!
REGIS AND KELLY by Michael Hughes – from Top Story! Weekly Episode 63: “Chelsea Morning”
Mike Hughes' blog 
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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