Ricky Gervais Meets Larry David

Posted in Curb Your Enthusiasm, Fun and Crazy, Larry David, Seinfeld on July 20th, 2011 by Willie

If you’ve been following the site lately, you’ve noticed that I’ve been alternating its content between rock and roll and Larry David.  Larry is just one of my biggest comedy heroes, and his newest 8th season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is off to a roaring start.  The trailers for season 8 point to an appearance by legendary British comic Ricky Gervais, creator of “The Office.”  For anyone who has followed Rickey, you know that he loves “Seinfeld” and considers George Costanza the greatest sitcom character of all time.  I found this incredible 6 part interview of Rickey sitting down with Larry, where they have an enlightening and hilarious conversation about comedy, and delve deep into each others pasts.  It is so entertaining, insightful, and funny, and it’s guaranteed to be the best thing you watch today, so enjoy.





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Classic Larry David

Posted in Curb Your Enthusiasm, Fun and Crazy, Larry David, Seinfeld on July 18th, 2011 by Willie

Larry David’s rise to full on stardom was a long an interesting road.  He started off as a standup but got his first big break as a writer and performer on ABC’s answer to SNL, “Fridays.”  After “Fridays,” Larry made it to SNL as a writer for the 84-85 season.  He only ever got one sketch on the show, and it aired in the show’s last spot.  Right around the time “Seinfeld” got going in 1989, Larry had a bit part in Woody Allen’s “New York Stories.”  As”Seinfeld” grew in popularity, Larry could be seen and heard in bit roles throughout the show’s run, all in relative complete anonymity.  “Seinfeld” gave Larry massive showbiz and financial clout, but he was still not a star by any means.  When he launched his hugely successful HBO show “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Larry the performer really took off.  As “Curb” enters its eighth groundbreaking season, Larry has also officially taken his place as a pop culture icon; an anti-hero waging a war against awkward social moments, instances of perceived unfairness, and sleights against himself.  With Larry being such a big star now, it’s fun to look back at his more forgotten moments when he was still finding his comedic voice, and when he had much much crazier hair.  Below I’ve assembled some clips from “Fridays” and from his appearance in the Woody Allen movie for all you Larry fans out there.  Enjoy.

Clip #1 showcases Larry’s recurring character, Saully Mullens, from “Fridays” where he plays a hapless temp worker sent in for assignments way outside his realm of expertise. In this clip, Larry fills in for the US Secretary of State.

Clip #2 again finds Larry in a temp role, this time filling in for Gloria Steinham at an E.R.A. rally. I don’t know about you, but to me, Larry seems to be a cross between Woody Allen and Harold Ramis, all with a tough guy NY accent.

Clip#3 features Larry and Michael Richards in a sketch where a group of friends remember how much they tormented and teased each other. In the early days, its clear to see Larry’s natural nervousness and unease with performing, but also the enthusiasm and joy he was experiencing doing it.

Clip #4 is Larry’s small role in “New York Stories.” I’ve never seen this movie, and have no idea what is going on, but it’s clear that this scene probably inspired the “Seinfeld” episode where Kramer scores a line in a Woody Allen movie. “These Pretzels are Making me Thirsty!”

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Curb Your Enthusiasm, Season 8!

Posted in Curb Your Enthusiasm, Fun and Crazy, Larry David, Seinfeld on July 8th, 2011 by Willie

Larry David is coming back, this Sunday, to HBO.  Seinfeld, Larry’s first masterpiece of television an amazing 9 seasons, so it’s equally incredible that Curb Your Enthusiasm is about to enter its 8th glorious season, and by the looks of it, Larry hasn’t lost his touch one bit.  The write up today in the nytimes proclaims that the new season is just as brilliant as any other, and these trailers I’ve provided below seem to indicate the truth of such statements.  From what I gather, Larry travels back to New York City, comes across Michael J. Fox, Ricky Gervais, and even former disgraced Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner!  Unreal.  I am dying with anticipation for these episodes.  DYING!  My enthusiasm will not be curbed…Check it out!


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Elton John, The Measure of a Man, End Credits of Rocky V

Posted in Elton John, Fun and Crazy on July 5th, 2011 by Willie


Yesterday was July 4th, and the movie channel AMC celebrated by having a Rocky marathon. I’m a sucker for the Rocky movies. The original Rocky (1976) is clearly a masterpiece. It was subtle, bleak, realistic, hopeful, and filled with great original characters. Rocky II continues the tone of the first, but is more serialized and a little bit redundant. Rocky III and onwards are full blown cartoons of 80s excess. The worst movie of the bunch, Rocky V, is an absolute train wreck of a movie. In 2010, Stallone admitted he made the movie out of greed.  In an attempt to make Rocky more of the everyman he originally was, they radically change his life. First off, Rocky loses all of his money on account of Paulie (Burt Young) making some bad investments. This forces Rocky to move back to the Philly inner city with his family and start over. If I remember correctly, even Adrian (Talia Shire) goes back to work for the pet store she worked at in Rocky I. Insane. All Rocky would have to do, considering he established himself as the greatest American boxer ever, is make a few endorsements and he’d back on his feet financially. Anyway, Rocky begins training some stupid young boxer, his kid Rocky Jr. (Stallone’s real life son Sage) begins to resent him, and it ends with Rocky kickboxing Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison) all over the streets of Philly. It’s incredibly bad. However, the one thing that always got to me about Rocky V were the end credits. It’s a montage of all the Rocky films up to that point, with Elton John’s “Measure of a Man” playing in the background. The song, in proud Rocky tradition, is sappy, sentimental, cheesy, and overblown. Still, like the Rocky movies, its kind of touching and very memorable. I had no idea that this was Sir Elton until this morning when I looked it up. I also didn’t know this song was nominated for a Golden Raspberry for worse song in a movie…it lost…Hah! Well, to me, this is proof that the song isn’t that bad, so I’m sticking on my website despite the haters.  Enjoy.

PS: Youtube won’t let me embed the version with credits on my website, but I do have a link to it if you want to see the famous Rocky montage, just click these words.

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Finding Some "Lesbian Concentrate" at the Flea Market

Posted in Fun and Crazy on July 3rd, 2011 by Willie

I was at the Park Slope Flea Market yesterday and came across this gem.  It’s a vinyl LP called “Lesbian Concentrate: A Lesbianthology of Songs and Poems.”  I wasn’t gonna drop 15 bucks on it, but I sure as Hell was gonna take a picture of it.  When I got home, I did a little research and discovered this about this bizarre LP.  First, it was created as a response to anti-gay rights advocate Anita Bryant.  Anita is one of those sorry fools on the wrong side of history making a name for herself by crusading against people’s civil rights all in the name of her crazy religious beliefs.  Luckily Anita was the sort of woman who would get pied in the face on live TV, which praise Jesus, is preserved for all time for you to watch.

The other thing I learned about this goofy record is that it is frequently included on lists of the “worst” album covers of all time.  I find this incredibly stupid.  First of all, lesbian orange juice?  Fuck yea!  The cover is cool.  I suppose people just think the title and the whole “lesbianthology” thing is just really funny and odd.  Well, none of that makes it a BAD cover, just strange and far out.  Oh, in case you are curious, the whole “OJ” thing is based on the fact that “saintly” Anita hails from Florida.  And did I mention how much she sucks?  Haha, I’m sure she is a lovely woman…Anyway, also blessed be to youtube for having a track or two from the LP, which I’m also including.  The song is “Don’t Pray for Me” by Mary Watkins.  It’s a pretty funky track with some good lyrics.  Best line: “Stop quoting scriptures out of context, to stir up feelings of bigotry…HATRED AND BIGOTRY!”  Right on Mary, right on…

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Louis CK on Late Night with Conan O'Brien

Posted in Fun and Crazy, Louie CK, Youtube Favs on April 28th, 2011 by Willie

Welcome to part 48 of my youtube countdown!  Sorry music fans, I got a comedy video for you, and guess what, I’m not really sorry!  This is Louis CK, the funniest standup comedian alive, talking about how nobody is happy with the incredible futuristic society we were all born into.  I actually remember seeing this appearance on the Conan show years ago, 2004 I think, and NEVER forgetting it.  Luckily, the folks at youtube never forgot either.  Louis basically says everything that’s been on my mind about people in today’s world, and I won’t spoil it by repeating his brilliant and hilarious insights.  Please, do your soul a favor, sit back, and prepare to laugh, a lot.

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Kermit and the Cookie Monster

Posted in Fun and Crazy, The Muppets, Youtube Favs on April 6th, 2011 by Willie

To celebrate part 30 of my youtube countdown, I present you something truly wonderful.  In this classic clip from Sesame Street, we have Kermit the Frog and the Cookie Monster going head to head in an epic battle of wits.  Its just hilarious that Cookie Monster can’t be trifled with Kermit’s silly guessing game if cookies aren’t involved, and to get him to stay, Kermit has to continually sell out his morals.  It all ends with Cookie Monster pleading for Kermit to give him cookies, much like he is a crack head, and Kermit being so exasperated that he gives in.  It’s an almost demented metaphor for drug abuse, but, hey, its the Muppets, and its spectacular.  Enjoy.

 

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The Liberal, SNL

Posted in Fun and Crazy, SNL, Youtube Favs on March 15th, 2011 by Willie

Woohoo, another comedy video sets off part 19 of my youtube countdown.  This one, “The Liberal,” is from the height of the Reagan universe in the mid 1980s.  It starts off with one of SNL’s greatest dopey theme songs sung by what sounds a chorus of Phil Hartmans.  Anyway, the political themes and jokes expressed in this sketch are utterly timeless.  Conservatives still think poor people are lazy, liberals still believe in birth control, conservatives still accidentally shoot themselves, or their friends, hunting (see Cheney), and liberals are still on the run, abused, and shamefully hiding their core beliefs so as not to offend their conservative opposition.  This all adds up to an insanely genius sketch.  Enjoy.

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Eternity, the Game Show!

Posted in Fun and Crazy, SNL, Youtube Favs on March 1st, 2011 by Willie

Christopher Walken once claimed that he speaks the way he does because he constantly keeps waltz time in his head.  It explains a lot.  But perhaps nothing can explain this incredible sketch from SNL, which is also part 12 of my youtube countdown.  Written in SNL’s golden age, this sketch is what happens when you turn Calvin Klein’s “Eternity,” into a game show.  I really don’t have much to say about this video other then watch it, watch it hard.

 

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