The news has been so seriously lately that it’s been a challenge to come up with comedy about it. But with the Ebola outbreak, I thought mocking the hysteria among Americans might be the way to go. Plus it’s always fun to write a rant for Bennie Arthur!
A line flub turned into a happy accident that made the scene. When Bennie Arthur accidentally called Tillery Johnson “Henry Fonda” instead of “Henry Ford”, this sketch about the erotic letters Warren G. Harding sent to his mistress could have been derailed. Instead, because the cast was listening and paying attention, it became even more hilarious.
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!
The Paula Deen scandal was already headed into self-parody, so I thought that having her co-host the show with a black “friend” she barely knows would be a fun way to mine some comedy. Watching this again I was really happy with the result – it’s a little edgy but doesn’t go too far, and definitely makes the point I wanted to make about what Paula must truly think.
With Michele Bachmann retiring from Congress, it seemed appropriate to write another sketch about the Bachmann marriage and see Marcus hanging out with the “boys.” I’m always worried with sketches like this that the jokes about Marcus Bachmann being gay walk a thin line between proper mocking of hypocrisy and just being offensive, but after watching this I’m satisfied this sketch falls on the right side of the line.
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!
A little confession for you guys: I first wrote this sketch for a class I’m taking and decided to tweak it for TS!W. It’s inspired by my own difficulties keeping up with all the TV shows we “have” to watch these days (I’m only halfway through season two of “Breaking Bad”!). Probably better in concept than execution, but take a look and enjoy!
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Watch “Out of Africa” from Top Story! Weekly Episode 261: “Hawaiian Punch”!
August 14, 2014The news has been so seriously lately that it’s been a challenge to come up with comedy about it. But with the Ebola outbreak, I thought mocking the hysteria among Americans might be the way to go. Plus it’s always fun to write a rant for Bennie Arthur!
OUT OF AFRICA by Michael Hughes
Starring Bennie Arthur (Charlie), Sean Cowhig (Steve), Kipleigh Brown (Kathy) and Phillip Wilburn (Joe)
Directed by Michael Hughes
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Tags:Africa, Bennie Arthur, Ebola, Kipleigh Brown, Michael Hughes, Mike Hughes, Phillip Wilburn, Sean Cowhig, South Africa, Top Story! Weekly
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