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!!
Tickets are just $10, so make sure you get them now!! Not only will you see an awesome show, but you’ll help a great cause – part of the proceeds will go to the Chris Farley House, a residential sober living facility.
The festival runs from Sunday, June 3 till Saturday, June 9, with amazing shows and workshops every night. The cast of Top Story! Weekly will be hosting all week. And we’ll also be performing in other shows, and teaching workshops that you shouldn’t miss. Check them out after the jump:
Mitt Romney’s troubles connecting with Southern voters, the Puerto Rico primary falling on the same day as our show, and the fact that two of our cast members of Latin descent were in the cast gave me the inspiration for this look at Mitt’s attempt to be kinda Puerto Rican!
Mayor Villaraigosa negotiates the end of the “Occupy L.A.” protests the same week that Top Story! Weekly has Neil Garguilo (Principal Cox from MTV’s “Awkward” and iO West‘s Dr. God, and one of our regular cast members as well) in the cast? That makes it time to revisit one of our favorite recurring sketches – the telenovela with Los Angeles’ Mayor, “El Alcalde de la Pasion!!”
When Brett Ratner stepped down from producing next year’s Oscars due to some ill-advised comments, I thought that a scene set in the acting class we had done just the week before would be a good venue. And the real highlight of this sketch was the relationship between Phillip Wilburn’s Byron Shelbyford and Brent Pope’s put-upon Lee.
Neil Garguilo is one of my favorite actors to work with in the world. (In fact, he’s just plain one of my favorite people in the world.) And a guy as talented as Neil gets busy, so he doesn’t have as much time to do Top Story! Weekly as he or I would like. But he was able to do it this past Sunday, so I put together this sketch about Donald Trump’s allegedly racist comments and got to enjoy the magic that he and Phillip Wilburn have on stage together.
Fun fact: this sketch was performed within a half hour of President Obama’s announcement about the death of Osama bin Laden – look for the line at the top that was added to allude to that fact!
One of my all-time favorite recurring sketches in Top Story! Weekly is “El Alcalde de la Pasión,” where we depict L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as the star of a telenovela who is consumed with….PASSION! We haven’t been able to do it in quite some time since Neil Garguilo – who indelibly plays El Alcalde (and is one of my favorite people to write for in the world – in fact, who just plain is one of my favorite people in the world) – hasn’t been available on Sunday in a while. Fortunately, he was available this past Sunday – and with the layoffs hitting the LAUSD, the opportunity to make El Alcalde hot for teacher was too good to pass up!
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!
The second of two sketches I had in the great episode of Top Story! Weekly that featured an awesome set by Bobcat Goldthwait (watch the whole episode – it’s well worth your time). “El Alcalde de la Pasion” is a longrunning telenovela spoof about L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa that was created by Scott Garner. When the LA city council passed a boycott of Arizona – and with all the key players in the cast for this show – the opportunity was too good to pass up. Neil Garguilo, Artemis Pebdani and Phillip Wilburn are all brilliant in this sketch.
In this installment of “El Alcalde de la Pasion,” Antonio Villaraigosa discovers that if L.A. boycotts Arizona because of the state’s new immigration law, the boycott extends to everything from Arizona – including Cindy McCain!!!
To see all the sketches from Top Story! Weekly as soon as they’re posted, subscribe to our YouTube channel!
EL ALCALDE NO LE GUSTAN ARIZONA by Michael Hughes – from Top Story! Weekly Episode 53: “Like Oil and Water”
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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