Watch “The Koch-O-Nuts” From Top Story! Weekly Episode 244: “Stupid Retirement Tricks”!

With a story about how the Koch Brothers want to fund a right-wing improv troupe, and a cast full of talented improvisers who’d be fully able to appreciate every bad improv move I mocked, this one was a lot of fun to write and direct!

THE KOCH-O-NUTS by Michael Hughes

Starring Eileen Mary O’Connell (Eileen), Blake Hogue (Blake), Colin Contreary (Colin), Stacy Rumaker (Stacy), Sean Cowhig (Sean) and Derek Reid (Audience Member)

Directed by Michael Hughes

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Watch “The Miracle That Saved Obamacare” from Top Story! Weekly Episode 228: “It’s Kind of a Big Deal”!

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.

Bob was great. And he liked us!

THE MIRACLE THAT SAVED OBAMACARE by Michael Hughes

Starring Artemis Pebdani (Abigail), Bennie Arthur (Charlie), Tammie Smalls (Gwen), Stacy Rumaker (Shoshanna), Jen Cain (Karen), Tommy Bechtold (Young Boy), Derek Reid (Balthazar) and Phillip Wilburn (Boss)

Directed by Michael Hughes

Watch “Healthcare.Gov Is A Real Scandal” from Top Story! Weekly Episode 223: “ERROR 404: Healthcare Not Found”

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!

HEALTHCARE.GOV IS A REAL SCANDAL by Michael Hughes

Starring Grasie Mercedes (Olivia Pope), Kipleigh Brown (Kathleen Sebelius),Mitchel Baldwin (Jeff Zients), John Druska (Huck) and Josh Rachford (President Fitzgerald Grant III)

Directed by Adam Campbell-Schmitt

Watch “A Supreme Performance” from Top Story! Weekly Episode 144: “Stop! In the Name of Health Care!”

Thinking about how to approach the Supreme Court argument about the health care bill in a comedic way, I thought I could combine it with the other great meme of last week: Megan Draper’s dance at Don’s birthday party on “Mad Men.” Of course, the success of such a conceit depends upon the audience recognizing what’s going on, and I don’t think many folks in our audience got the reference – maybe because “Mad Men” airs at the same time our show goes up! Still, Grasie Mercedes did a great job with the dance.

A SUPREME PERFORMANCE by Michael Hughes

Starring Grasie Mercedes (Megan Draper), Brian Vestal (Chief Justice John Roberts), Jen Cain (Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg), Brent Pope (Justice Antonin Scalia), Mitchel Baldwin (Justice Samuel Alito) and Marco Ragozzino (Justice Anthony Kennedy)

Directed by Michael Hughes

Watch “Know Your Debt Ceiling” – with Jimmy Pardo and Andrés du Bouchet from “Conan” – from Top Story! Weekly Episode 112: “Dancing on the Debt Ceiling”

Phillip Wilburn and Matt Moore went to a taping of “Conan” and chatted with Jimmy Pardo, who was booked as our guest comic for the July 31 show. Jimmy said he’d also do a sketch, and Phillip suggested one where he played a game show host. Since his “Conan” colleague Andrés du Bouchet was also in the cast it was a natural to put him in the sketch along with Matt and Phillip. I did a first pass, Phillip and Tommy Bechtold polished it up, and the result is the six minutes of hilarity you see here.

KNOW YOUR DEBT CEILING by Michael Hughes, Phillip Wilburn and Tommy Bechtold

Starring Jimmy Pardo (Jimmy), Andrés du Bouchet (Dexter Farnsworth), Matt Moore (Woodrow Carter), Phillip Wilburn (Regis Philbin) and Brent Pope (Announcer)

Directed by Michael Hughes