I've never seen this routine before and (unlike your Planes, Trains... recommendation, which I turned off at the end of the second act) I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks a lot and happy Christmas.
I’m old enough to have seen this masterpiece when it ran live. The only thing that really dates it is the 30 million-dollar ask. With all the smarmy billionaire a-holes we have today, that figure seems kind of modest.
I know it’s the most tired canard there is, but SNL used to be better at tight sketches with clean games. The Dana Carvey/Tom Brokaw sketch is another great example.
SNL was at its writing and creative peak from around 87-93 and no-one can convince me otherwise. The amount of talent was insane and so many of the sketches haven't aged terribly (like practically all SNL material from the past 15 years will if it hasn't already).
I remember this burned into my brain as an 11 year old watching it in reruns on Comedy Central (too young for SNL's airtime in the mid-80s, obviously. This was actually a very graceful job of breaking down the mechanics of the humor, tracking exactly with why it always stood out to me. It's the simplest, most elegant comedy sketch: A man sitting there simply talking. No goofy physical humor, nothing to bounce off of except the dialogue itself.
I’ve not read it, but a friend read a book by or about Steve Martin, might have been his autobiography, where it’s established that he was not naturally funny but studied the mechanics of comedy as you just did, analyzing things like irony and comparison and put together a career as one might build a car
I recognize many of the same points in Mark Twain’s humor pieces, particularly point #3 about being specific in your exaggeration. Don’t say “there are millions of fleas on me” say there are 31 million fkeas on me”. The specificity is an element of humor!
In some regards Martin's sketch reminds me of the architecture of "The Aristocrats"--starts out normie and very predictable, and then surprisingly and incongruously gets increasingly outrageous (within the constraints of broadcast TV), and then circles back to a surprising ending--although Martin's punchline is more front-loaded than "The Aristocrats".
Never seen it and it killed. Great bit. Merry Happy Christmas/Hanukkia....
I've never seen this routine before and (unlike your Planes, Trains... recommendation, which I turned off at the end of the second act) I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks a lot and happy Christmas.
I love the delivery on "30 million dollars a month to be given... to me" . The pause is great.
I’m old enough to have seen this masterpiece when it ran live. The only thing that really dates it is the 30 million-dollar ask. With all the smarmy billionaire a-holes we have today, that figure seems kind of modest.
Thanks for the fond Christmas memory; all the best to your young family this season and, of course, may your enemies die like pigs in hell.
Very nice. Could even be Trump's real wish list.
It’s Porizkova. Paulina Porizkiva.
I know it’s the most tired canard there is, but SNL used to be better at tight sketches with clean games. The Dana Carvey/Tom Brokaw sketch is another great example.
That sketch is an absolute powerhouse, written by the great Robert Smigel. And it's another good example of heightening!
But let's be fair: If you watch old SNL sketches, "tight" is not the first adjective that would pop to mind to describe many of them.
How would the Mikey Day war letter writing sketches fit into that? Does that count? (As an aside I think he’s a highly underrated cast member,)
Haha that’s fair. I guess the 8-minute sketch with 15 characters has always been a staple.
SNL was at its writing and creative peak from around 87-93 and no-one can convince me otherwise. The amount of talent was insane and so many of the sketches haven't aged terribly (like practically all SNL material from the past 15 years will if it hasn't already).
Hilarious! Not to get political, but can’t resist substituting “capitalism” for “the Romans” in the classic Monty Python sketch.
I remember this burned into my brain as an 11 year old watching it in reruns on Comedy Central (too young for SNL's airtime in the mid-80s, obviously. This was actually a very graceful job of breaking down the mechanics of the humor, tracking exactly with why it always stood out to me. It's the simplest, most elegant comedy sketch: A man sitting there simply talking. No goofy physical humor, nothing to bounce off of except the dialogue itself.
I’ve not read it, but a friend read a book by or about Steve Martin, might have been his autobiography, where it’s established that he was not naturally funny but studied the mechanics of comedy as you just did, analyzing things like irony and comparison and put together a career as one might build a car
The best thing is that it ends at 2 minutes and 41 seconds.
Well, there is that ‘revenge’ wish…
My guess is he wouldn’t include that if he was doing it these days, eh?
I recognize many of the same points in Mark Twain’s humor pieces, particularly point #3 about being specific in your exaggeration. Don’t say “there are millions of fleas on me” say there are 31 million fkeas on me”. The specificity is an element of humor!
I enjoyed the explanation much better than the actual bit. Didn’t laugh.
In some regards Martin's sketch reminds me of the architecture of "The Aristocrats"--starts out normie and very predictable, and then surprisingly and incongruously gets increasingly outrageous (within the constraints of broadcast TV), and then circles back to a surprising ending--although Martin's punchline is more front-loaded than "The Aristocrats".