"Snig'let: Any Word That Doesn't Appear in the Dictionary, But Should."
Are you old like me and remember Sniglets? Sniglets were words that described indescribable items or acts of minutia, and were created by comedian Rich Hall on HBO's early comedy Not Necessarily The News.
If you are old like me, you remember Rich Hall, the tall, skinny guy who looked like he could have been David Letterman's younger grimacing cousin. After his time with Not Neccessarily, he had a one year stint as a cast member ofSaturday Night Live in 1984-1985 alongside a stellar, all star cast that included Martin Short, Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, Julia Louis Dreyfus and Harry Schearer.
Rich now lives in England and took his bag of Sniglets with him, but the memory lives on for those of us who are starting to forget where we left our shoes. (There must be a Sniglet for that.) Check out Sniglets Twitter account over at @SnigletsOFCL
When word got out that Martin Short will be hosting the December 15th broadcast of SNL with musical guest Paul McCartney, it brought back some awesome memories from when he was a cast member. Like this:
SNL has taken a hit with the departures of Kristen Wiig, Andy Samburg and now Abby Elliott. This means one thing: SNL auditions and showcases in comedy clubs and theaters are buzzing throughout the land
VH1 provides a list of talented up and coming performers from the Upright Citizens Brigade that should be highly considered. This list is so fine, I am totally ticked off that I didn't write it myself. Also, the fact that James Adomian, one of the funniest most talented comedians around, with a truck load of hilarious characters isn't already on this show (hello...he's living in New York now...) is pretty ridiculous.
And special props for the Sasheer Zamata suggestion. She's a member of the awesome improv group Doppelganger, one of my favorite performances at the past few Del Close Marathons.
Not too long ago, Broadway Video, the production company that brings you SNL and so much more, launched Above Average, a new comedy channel on YouTube. The channel provides original, fresh baked comedy from their brains to yours, and features both new and familiar faces in the comedy world.
I previously posted one of their funny shorts, Belle and Bernice: Living in the City. Here's another series starring Abby Elliot called The Assistant. This interview episode is very near and dear to my heart.
Also on YouTube is the Puddin Strip channel: Check out Puddin', a weird and twisted series of comedy shorts created by Matt Oswalt, starring Eddie Pepitone and a host of guest stars such as Patton Oswalt, Tom Lennon, James Urbaniak, Dana Gould, Weird Al Yankovic, Steven Webber and Robin Williams.
Tom Davis passed away today at the age of 59. He was one half of the legendary SNL comedy duo 'Franken and Davis'. I was unaware that he was suffering from tonsorial squamous cell carcinoma. In other words, he had head and neck cancer.
As Al Franken became a political pundit and Senator from Minneapolis, Davis remained in the background, helping out with the Ghostbusters III script and working on a book. However, drug addiction was his nemesis, and Davis spent three years in rehab.
Last night's season finale of Saturday Night Live not only marked the end of the season, it was Kristen Wiig's last show as a cast member. Mick Jagger, Foo Fighters and Arcade Fire sang 'Ruby Tuesday' to the departing fledgling movie star, and many old friends like Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, Steve Martin and Jon Hamm joined in for the farewell.
One of my favorite human beings in the universe joined Lawrence Welk, the ladies from the Finger Lakes and their mutant sister:
And - one of the best SNL Digital Shorts ever -Part 2:
The results are in on Lindsay Lohan's appearance on Saturday Night Live, her first legit appearance on television since the law came down on her. Although reviews weren't that great, the ratings were extreme good, and it was reported on The Today Show that Lohan was a real pro all week by coming to work on time, being very present while there, and thanking everyone personally at the SNL after party - where she did not drink, by the way.
Although some of her performance was a bit shakey, I think we couldn't have asked Lindsay for more. Her acting muscles are a little underused, and the fact she was so eager to be back on the SNL stage was a positive. She had some fun moments, as proven in the Real Housewives of Disney video below.
It's been hard not to know the troubled waters in which Lohan has placed herself. However, we all love a good come back story, and here's hoping Lindsay does a Robert Downey Jr, and finds the path to a clean life and a prosperous career.
To the home schooled, and the coddled; to the losers who receive "esteem trophies", to the self entitled and the unearned; this is for you. (Because we need more singers and pop stars than doctors and engineers.)
If anyone can tell me where to find last Saturday's SNL sketch with Justin Timberlake in that bottle suit reprising his hilarious street advertisement guy, please let me know. In the meantime, here's something awesome.
SNL had a surprise in store last night. Robert Smigel's The Ambiguously Gay Duo returned, with a twist: The animation turned into live action - with cameos from Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Jon Hamm, Jimmy Fallon and Saturday's host Ed Helms.
"Mr. Richard Feder of Fort Lee New Jersey writes in and says, 'Dear Rosanne Rosanna Danna,
Have you ever seen a UFO?
Do you believe we are not alone?
Did you see 'Star Wars'?'
Well, Mr. Feder, you ask a lot of stupid questions from someone from New Jersey..."
When I was in the 7th Grade, I'd make my friends at the cafeteria lunch table laugh at my impression of the frizzy haired, painfully frank and funny Rosanne Rosanna Danna. She was a creation of my hero Gilda Radner, whose ability to conjure that sweet wonder of a child in her characters captivated the child I was at the time, as well as millions of comedy fans around the world.
Back during the original cast of SNL, before a VCR entered my house, I'd use a tape recorder to audio record sketches off our old television set. (The TV looked like furniture. My father refused hung on to it for years, claiming, "I saw Neil Armstrong walk on the moon on that tube!") On Sunday mornings after a live SNL broadcast, I'd listen to those comedy gems and memorize them, much in the same way one memorizes a song. The sketches that still resonate in my brain are the Gilda's characters: Rosanne, Judy Miller, Lisa Loopner.
I can still recite 80% of the Weekend Update bit paraphrased started above. It continues. Rosanne goes on to talk about seeing what she thought was a UFO, but it was really a drive in movie theater screen off the side of the road showing a french porn film called "Le Sex Shack":
"Off to the side of the road, I saw he worlds biggest buttocks!
Two big cheeks dancing all over the expressway!
There it was! In living color...a rectal eclipse!
I thought I was gonna die!"
In 1979, when Gilda was riding high from her popularity on SNL, she took her bag of funny creations to the Winter Garden Theater on Broadway in her show, Gilda Live!. Produced by Lorne Michaels and cast with familiar SNL faces such as musical director Paul Schaffer and comedian Don Novello, it had a successful run, and was filmed as an HBO special that aired the following year.
Here's a clip from the Broadway show:
Gilda's fight against Ovarian Cancer is well documented, especially in her book, It's Always Something. In her incredibly brave fight against the disease, she helped launch Gilda's Club, a place for people fighting the illness to congregate, find solace and to live life. (Visit http://www.gildasclub.org/)
'Gilda Live' is immortalized on DVD for everyone to love today on Netflix., or to purchase on Amazon.
We lost Gilda in 1989. The world is all the more funny for having her in it.
