Review today - stupid retort yesterday -- Saturday Night You Bull Sessions

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Date Posted: 03:35:35 10/28/04 Thu
Author: CCS
Subject: Review today - stupid retort yesterday
In reply to: Patrick Lonergan 's message, "REVIEWS: Jude Law 10/23/04" on 19:07:17 10/23/04 Sat

Whoo, been a while since I mixed it up with this sort of business, but I'm back, hopefully for a whole bunch more reviews. I know I didn't get a sketch in last week, but I have some things planned, plus I had been watching the Red Sox and also it was my birthday. How awesome that the Cards went down in just four games? Super awesome? Yeah. That's what I thought. Ken Jennings almost lost tonight too.

<center>----road to the white house----
MJR II</center>

I'm glad November 2nd's coming because I'm starting to get tired of the debates and posturing and want to vote and get it over with. This sketch mostly went to show how dry the source is becoming... [ to the tune of REM's "Man on the Moon" ] Kerry's known for his flip-floppering, yeah yeah yeah yeah. Bush makes a few inappropriate racial jokes, yeah yeah yeah yeah. Here's a truck stop instead of St. Peter's... You get the picture.

<center>----jude law's monologue----
Jim Bevan</center>

Even before the true sketch portion of this piece got going, you had me. The reason was because of the skill in which you made fun of his movies - your sense of tone was impeccable in my opinion. The one liner about Bush and the medal was very clever, and would easily make it into any late night show's monologue. The impotent assassin character that was introduced was very funny and played along with the host terrifically. Seriously, this is perhaps my favorite fan monologue since Luke Wilson's a summer ago.

<center>----the perfect british tenant----
DRG4</center>

This follows the time-honored sketch comedy tradition of developing a simple premise built on a truth and then repeating it with increasing stakes. Here, the basis is that Americans often find the British to be more proper, and that this creates a mistaken feeling they must be all perfect gentlemen. The perception is exaggerated to a comic amount, and then the scene is allowed to build until hitting a climax. I know some are for and against classic structure and I'm not going to pick sides; that's a matter of personal taste. I just believe this sketch has it, and shows how it can work in a solid, if not terribly innovative, sketch.

<center>----The O'Reilly Factor----
MJR II and JP Ragan</center>

I still don't see why Jeff keeps coming back in our sketches, but that aside, I found this a very funny sketch. People comically interviewing themselves is no new tactic - I just watched Jim Gaffigan do it about two hours ago on the Late Late Show. But, it's done because it works. I think a very good job was done coming up with crazy dialogue that focused in and out on the fact that it was one guy interviewing himself. The added pretension to the character made for some really funny stuff. I think the only weak points of this sketch were the intro and outro, where some pointless, barbless insults were flung at random people. What you got in the middle is the pure gold; you don't need the dross around it.

<center>----weekend update----
Jack Farrell, MJR II and Prateek Srivastava</center>

This came a bit early in the update, indicating we could use some more sketches. Get writing people! Especially me! There were a bunch of funny jokes in here, some of my favorites being the overweight exercise remark (almost a throwback to the Nealon "Scientists in Denmark are reportedly working around the clock." style jokes), Nader's 10 state tour, and the electoral college remark. I didn't really appreciate Tina Fey's line being recycled in the flu vaccine/die soon joke. The commentaries were alright, but mostly just seemed to happen and then disappear.

<center>----breaking the habit----
JP Ragan</center>

This was a very funny scene built on a pretty unique premise. The comedic premise was established quickly, and then various scenarios to react to were brought upon Gary. In the process we got some hijinx with a smattering of humorous dialogue, especially the "Hurts like Van Helsing!" It did seem to run on and on, although the end did have funny stuff. There's no way you can cut the care bear, that's just too funny. The numbers are good as well. I would have cut Gary speaking in between those two bits, to wrap it up quicker. I like how you fade out to a song, it reminds me of that sketch on here about a year and a half ago where a sketch about internal organs was scripted to fade out with Foo Fighter's "Live-In Skin." It's a nice little flourish.

<center>----waiting----
Jen</center>

Am I correct in assuming this sketch was pretty much entirely written on the fly? I know Cake was not narrowed down as the band until Thursday night, and the name seems to be rather integral to the flow, so there's no way much of this could be very premidated. It really flows like that, very off-the-cuff and stream of consciousness. While creating a few funny mix-ups, it seems to lack something that perhaps involving it with another improved scene, the way many UCB sketches were written, might have brought in. The characters have some funny ticks, but many of them seem unexplored.

<center>----robert downey, jr. sings torch songs----
MJR II</center>

There were two things that needed improvement in this, in my opinion. First, a few of the targets (Gold, Camp) are a bit random, and mostly forgotten. It is funny to say someone's hair looks like a carnival, but how about someone a bit fresher? Good Charlotte perhaps? Second, the final word in each verse should be your big punchline. You're all set up with meter and a word to rhyme to, toss something unexpected or odd down. It's your 3-0 fastball over the plate, you shouldn't be bunting. To put it another way, don't end with a dumb, lame word like "me" or "will." You did it right in the first one where you end with "rap," but after that you just couldn't seem to stick a strong punchline in.

<center>----the rivals----
Jack Farrell</center>

Red Sox win. That's all I have to say here.

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Re: Review today - stupid retort yesterday -- CCS, 03:51:01 10/28/04 Thu