Comedian Aziz Ansari played RAAAAAAAANDY (with eight 'A's) in the movie Funny People. It was a great movie, but somehow I missed the fact that Aziz was playing that character. There was a lot going on in the movie. In any case, Ria had me look at Aziz's tumblr page to see his debut of Jay-Z's BP3 track "Hate" presented in mixtape DJ form with obnoxious yelling. The difference being it was him commenting on things like how he's making a turkey sandwich in mixtape DJ style. Hilarious.
Then I saw some clips called RAAAAAAAANDY on the side and was intrigued. They were promoting Funny People and had Aziz playing the character in short clips, MTV style, and doing live standup at clubs. It was so stupid, it was hilarious. He also had a DJ bolstering his punchlines with air horns and "RAAAAAAAANDY!" samples.
Watch! Though, it's not really safe for work. But it's worth the wait.
I'm only putting the first two. The third is ok.
As a debriefing, here is a clip of Aziz on Kimmel. He talks about RAAAAAAAANDY, Kanye, pudgy Indian kids. There's a great bit about him getting asked about being excited about the success of Slumdog Millionaire. Even though he's not in it, but there's Indian people in it. Which means that white people must be excited about the critical success of productions starring white people all the time. Hilarity. His impressions of his little cousins somewhat confirm what I immediately thought about the RAAAAAAAANDY character; that it reminds me a lot of young male cousins that I have. Not incredibly deep.
RAAAAAAAANDY!
PS: Also, Parks and Recreation starring Aziz got picked up for another season (which I know is not news considering the season starts tonight) which is awesome. It felt like kismet when I am about to finish grad school in urban policy/planning and a show starring talented funny people comes out about it.
Update: Apparently I'm just pop culture-deficient. He described the character several times as Soulja Boy pursuing a comedy career. After finally hearing Soulja Boy, it makes perfect sense. Likely the lovechild of Dane Cook and Soulja Boy.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Monday, August 03, 2009
Better Off Ted
A cute and funny clip from Better Off Ted:
maw maw
Another great moment was when the legal department was coming up with explanations for hornets attacking a small percentage of women testing out a new cosmetic product. On a whiteboard was a list of possible explanations including "their pockets were stuffed w/ hornet chow". I laughed for a whole minute after catching that:
Initially I just wanted to post this clip because I love it. But I figure I might as well gab a bit about the show.
When the new ABC comedy Better Off Ted started its run this year, it was initially a difficult show for me to judge.
I like comedies with a bit of weird and the show was a bit non-traditional in that the setting is in a surreal corporate environment more detached from reality than other prime time shows. Other shows have surreal occurrences happening in real-to-life environments. Better Off Ted has surreal events happening in a surreal environment. I thought this would scare the salt-of-the-earth folks who give shows Nielsen ratings. Especially since a lot of jokes slip in through the dialogue or in the background. This was a plus.
The problem (for me) is that the show has a lot of narration from Ted, the lead character. He has to explain EVERYTHING. I can see this being a smart device to keep simple people from getting confused, but I can keep up with 23 minutes of light comedy. A lot of jokes were also (needlessly) explained away in the show, but I feel this is starting to come down a bit.
The writing is still pretty strong. Like I said before, it's a light comedy. It's not out there to completely weird you out or punch you in the stomach or otherwise test your limits like a cutting edge British comedy. It's still funny. In spite of the constant narration, the writers and actors really try and pack in the limited time with quality. In place of an opening title, there is a Veridian Dynamic (the corporation that is the background of the show) commercial; a parody of commercials from corporations selling themselves on a virtue when they don't seem to mean it.
Another plus is the strained friendship between Ted and Linda. You know they're going to get together but you won't know how or when. Linda is also a bit weird which makes her character compelling. Portia de Rossi plays her caricature-like boss character very stiff but in a surreal and comedic way. The hapless scientist duo, Phil and Lem, also have their moments as a bickering nerd couple.
As the season has moved on, I've grown to really like the show. It's almost like it had a chance to catch its breath. It's a bit more confident.
It has been renewed for another season which I think is great. The show's ratings seem to have declined over the summer after it was given a month off. I think TV needs a well-written comedy like this on the air.
Better Off Ted will be finishing its first season in August. Tuesday nights 9/8c.
Update: My vision of Hornet Chow (thanks to MS Paint).
maw maw
Another great moment was when the legal department was coming up with explanations for hornets attacking a small percentage of women testing out a new cosmetic product. On a whiteboard was a list of possible explanations including "their pockets were stuffed w/ hornet chow". I laughed for a whole minute after catching that:
Initially I just wanted to post this clip because I love it. But I figure I might as well gab a bit about the show.
When the new ABC comedy Better Off Ted started its run this year, it was initially a difficult show for me to judge.
I like comedies with a bit of weird and the show was a bit non-traditional in that the setting is in a surreal corporate environment more detached from reality than other prime time shows. Other shows have surreal occurrences happening in real-to-life environments. Better Off Ted has surreal events happening in a surreal environment. I thought this would scare the salt-of-the-earth folks who give shows Nielsen ratings. Especially since a lot of jokes slip in through the dialogue or in the background. This was a plus.
The problem (for me) is that the show has a lot of narration from Ted, the lead character. He has to explain EVERYTHING. I can see this being a smart device to keep simple people from getting confused, but I can keep up with 23 minutes of light comedy. A lot of jokes were also (needlessly) explained away in the show, but I feel this is starting to come down a bit.
The writing is still pretty strong. Like I said before, it's a light comedy. It's not out there to completely weird you out or punch you in the stomach or otherwise test your limits like a cutting edge British comedy. It's still funny. In spite of the constant narration, the writers and actors really try and pack in the limited time with quality. In place of an opening title, there is a Veridian Dynamic (the corporation that is the background of the show) commercial; a parody of commercials from corporations selling themselves on a virtue when they don't seem to mean it.
Another plus is the strained friendship between Ted and Linda. You know they're going to get together but you won't know how or when. Linda is also a bit weird which makes her character compelling. Portia de Rossi plays her caricature-like boss character very stiff but in a surreal and comedic way. The hapless scientist duo, Phil and Lem, also have their moments as a bickering nerd couple.
As the season has moved on, I've grown to really like the show. It's almost like it had a chance to catch its breath. It's a bit more confident.
It has been renewed for another season which I think is great. The show's ratings seem to have declined over the summer after it was given a month off. I think TV needs a well-written comedy like this on the air.
Better Off Ted will be finishing its first season in August. Tuesday nights 9/8c.
Update: My vision of Hornet Chow (thanks to MS Paint).
Friday, July 03, 2009
CSS: Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above [Sub Pop]
Easily one of the best songs of all time.
"You're so talented
I'm in love
let's make love
and listen to Death from Above"
CSS: Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above [Sub Pop]
"You're so talented
I'm in love
let's make love
and listen to Death from Above"
CSS: Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above [Sub Pop]
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