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!
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…
This show was the first time in almost two years I had two sketches in “Top Story! Weekly!” This one was a look at the Lindsay Lohan fuck list, and an excuse for me to write for great impressions like James Warfield’s James Franco, Mark Gagliardi’s Colin Farrell (both of whom were on the list) and Tammie Smalls’ Wanda Sykes (who wasn’t, but could have been…)
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!!
I won’t lie: this episode of “Top Story! Weekly” wasn’t our strongest. But this sketch I wrote, in honor of the premiere of season 4 of “Downton Abbey” that very night, really hit. I guess if only one sketch in a show goes well, it’s nice that it’s the one you wrote!
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.
Justin Bieber peeing in a mop bucket in a restaurant was hilarious enough. Justin Bieber saying “Fuck Bill Clinton!” while squirting a photo of the president with cleanser made it even funnier. And the one way I thought to make it funnier still would be to make Clinton a jilted fangirl. Here’s the results – great work from Phillip and Jen.
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!
Mike Hughes' blog 
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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