I’m a huge fan of “Mad Men,” so when we did our show for iO West’s 12th Annual Improv Comedy Festival and had as our special guest Stephanie Drake – aka Don Draper’s secretary Meredith – I thought it would be fun to do something about the big kiss she’d had on the midseason finale just a week earlier. Especially since we all know that right now Jon Hamm is the one exception that all straight guys would make…
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!!
This sketch didn’t go quite as well as I hoped – I don’t think the audience was that familiar with “Scandal,” and some of the dialogue wasn’t as precise as it needed to be – but I do love watching Grasie Mercedes play Olivia Pope!
A story about how passengers on Virgin America can now buy each other drinks gave me an excuse to bring back Top Story! Weekly’s favorite hero pilot who crash landed a plane in the Hudson River saving 155 people’s lives!
When Justin Bieber hosted “Saturday Night Live” about a month ago, Tillery Johnson happened to be in the cast of Top Story! Weekly that week. And since Tillery bears an uncanny resemblence to Biebs I wrote a sketch about the afterparty with Justin indulging in the pot and sizzurp and naked butt Instagramming of which he seems to have been so fond lately. It didn’t make it in that week, although I got good feedback. But when Till was in the show again the weekend of Biebs’ 19th birthday, I resubmitted it – this time, with the addition of Brian Vestal’s awesome Mark Wahlberg (who had just been in the show a few minutes earlier). Enjoy!
We all wish Ron Jeremy a swift recovery from his heart aneurysm. Of course, the prospect of the most famous male porn star ever going into an emergency room did have comic possibilities. Matt Epstein and I both wrote on this. Most of this sketch is Matt’s – “pantsectomy” is mine and a few other things. It is really funny, though, since the cast totally committed to it.
When every country in Europe except the UK printed those topless photos of Kate Middleton, it was time to dust out the broad stereotypes and have some fun! This didn’t land as well as I had hoped but it was still fun.
When the story of John Travolta being accused of sexually harassing masseurs broke, Matt Manser suggested a he said/he said song parody would be in order. And since probably the most famous song from “Grease” fit the bill, I went to work. There’s a couple of line flubs, but there’s some stuff I’m really proud of – especially the perfect scan of “John Travolta” to “Summer Lovin'” in the opening lines, and the “Look Who’s Talking” reference.
We needed another sketch for our show this week, one with a lot of good parts for the ladies, so I threw together this piece about George Clooney’s fundraiser for President Obama that gave the cast a chance to show off their impersonations.
Mike Hughes' blog 
Watch “TS!W 720: Stephanie Drake Talks About Kissing Jon Hamm on “Mad Men”” from Top Story! Weekly Episode 252: “Hidden Cashed Out”
June 6, 2014I’m a huge fan of “Mad Men,” so when we did our show for iO West’s 12th Annual Improv Comedy Festival and had as our special guest Stephanie Drake – aka Don Draper’s secretary Meredith – I thought it would be fun to do something about the big kiss she’d had on the midseason finale just a week earlier. Especially since we all know that right now Jon Hamm is the one exception that all straight guys would make…
TS!W 720: STEPHANIE DRAKE by Michael Hughes
Starring Stephanie Drake (Stephanie), Phillip Wilburn (Phillip), Josh Rachford (Josh), Tommy Bechtold (Tommy) and Bennie Arthur (Supergirl)
Directed by Kristina Adelmeyer
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Tags:Alice, Alice Nelson, Ann B. Davis, Bennie Arthur, Brady Bunch, Don Draper, guys kissing, Jon Hamm, Josh Rachford, Mad Men, Mad Men Season Finale, Mad Men Season Finale 2014, men kissing, Meredith, Meredith Kisses Don Draper, Michael Hughes, Mike Hughes, Phillip Wilburn, Stephanie Drake, The Brady Bunch, Tommy Bechtold, Top Story! Weekly, Top Story! Weekly guest stars, TS!W 720
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