Comments on: Dana Gould plays the Larry King game on "Kevin Pollak's Chat Show"

Dana Gould plays the Larry King game on "Kevin Pollak's Chat Show"

judson — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 07:44:29 -0800

What came next was 8 minutes of comic brilliance. On Kevin Pollack's Chat Show guests are invited to do a bad impression of Larry King reveling something embarrassing about himself. Many are very funny, but Gould's amazing comic riff should go down in comedy history. Keep an eye on Kevin as he nearly faints from hilarity.

By: kcds

kcds — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 07:52:16 -0800

That's good, right?

By: Windopaene

Windopaene — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 07:55:09 -0800

Ummm, OK... Good to see comedy participating in the race to the bottom.

By: three blind mice

three blind mice — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 07:56:55 -0800

Is there a good impression of Larry King?

By: bicyclefish

bicyclefish — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 07:57:58 -0800

The curse of high expectations claims another victim.

By: subdee

subdee — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 07:59:11 -0800

I thought it was funny...

By: echo target

echo target — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 07:59:24 -0800

Guess you had to be there.

By: box

box — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:03:57 -0800

Down with the King.

By: (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates

(Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:04:13 -0800

For ~10 minutes of live interview improv comedic brilliance, I thought it was okay but nothing groundbreaking. For stupid fun that veers into brilliant, I might nominate this.

By: cortex

cortex — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:05:11 -0800

It helps to like Kevin Pollack and to have bought into the Larry King Game before, because as essentially a long form riff on that established schtick (which is usually just a "coming up on the show, and also here's an inappropriate self-disclosure" bit and then out) it's a nice sort of stepping-up of the game. It's not meant to be highbrow comedy.

By: judson

judson — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:06:54 -0800

I'm all about the lowbrow.

By: Edogy

Edogy — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:06:58 -0800

I thought it was pretty good. Low part for me was the longish gag about Larry's invention in the middle, but I laughed a lot on either side of that bit. Steven Hawking's keyboard shortcuts. Heehee.

By: subdee

subdee — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:08:19 -0800

Holding that serious face! While making up Larry King's unorthodox sex life! And the Stephen Hawking bit totally was genius. Plus, all though false ends and the bashful smiles at organizer Kevin Pollack (not the camera). I just remembered how much I like Dana Gould.

By: kmz

kmz — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:08:41 -0800

I've never really cared for Larry King's show but he's been great on his appearances on Craig Ferguson: January 18, 2011 Part 1 Part 2; March 29, 2011; July 8, 2011.

By: Horselover Phattie

Horselover Phattie — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:09:15 -0800

I thought Pollak's role in the over indulgent and sadistic "Red State" was funnier, if only because he got shot in the head after only about a minute of screen time.

By: GallonOfAlan

GallonOfAlan — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:13:57 -0800

Deduct 50% if you have no idea who in the hell Larry King is.

By: nanojath

nanojath — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:14:53 -0800

After he'd gone from "killing women" humor to "fat women" humor in the first minute and a half and I had yet to so much as crack a smile I gave up on it.

By: JanetLand

JanetLand — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:15:26 -0800

I'm in a really bad mood and that made me laugh. That's all I ask for.

By: kmz

kmz — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:15:51 -0800

Speaking of Craig (and BTW, the second January 18 clip has a great role reversal when Larry and Craig switch seats), he's also done the Larry King Game. And despite being a big fan of both Craig Ferguson and Geoff Peterson, I never found this clip as hysterical as many others do.

By: unsupervised

unsupervised — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:18:04 -0800

I laughed. Guess I failed the "You like that? WELL I DON'T!" challenge. Interesting Dana Gould fact: He's married to Sue Naegle, the head of HBO programming, which explains why Boardwalk Empire and Steve Buscemi were forefront on his mind in that clip. Game of Thrones was her baby and in podcast interviews he's said that she basically bet her job on her championing it. Speaking of podcasts, Jackie Kashian's Dork Forest brought Dana Gould and James Urbaniak together to geek out over Old Hollywood & Broadway. Don't miss their fight over who has the best hanging out with Vincent Price story. They each have more than one.

By: It's Raining Florence Henderson

It's Raining Florence Henderson — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:22:57 -0800

Sue Naegle, the head of HBO programming... Game of Thrones was her baby and in podcast interviews he's said that she basically bet her job on her championing it. Well, now I have a new hero.

By: edheil

edheil — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:25:14 -0800

Yeah, I had to stop at the "fat women are gross" joke. Sorry Dana.

By: cortex

cortex — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:26:24 -0800

And despite being a big fan of both Craig Ferguson and Geoff Peterson, I never found this clip as hysterical as many others do. Oh man, corpsing corpse.

By: hydrophonic

hydrophonic — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:28:08 -0800

Deduct 50% if you have no idea who in the hell Larry King is. Larry King is an American television host that is only watched by comedians

By: Ideefixe

Ideefixe — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:38:46 -0800

This would go down in the history of comedy? Must be a very shallow pool.

By: public

public — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:42:55 -0800

Let's not?

By: mintcake!

mintcake! — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:45:07 -0800

Holy crow unsupervised, that Urbaniak/Gould throwdown looks fantastic. Downloading now - thanks.

By: nevercalm

nevercalm — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:46:23 -0800

I never watch the Craig Ferguson show, but every clip I see on youtube has me crying with laughter. I'm just always in bed too early and too lazy to look on his or torrent it or whatever. I never watch or listen to the Kevin Pollack show, because apart from The Usual Suspects, I've found his other work pretty annoying and disappointing. Also because I want to take that/those hat/hats off his head and stomp it/them. The Larry King thing is pretty funny though. Maybe I'll have to give Pollack another shot. It's a shame this post wasn't about the Larry King bit as a whole. When's too late to append a more inside? Ever?

By: Bookhouse

Bookhouse — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:49:05 -0800

My favorite Kevin Pollack bit is when he did the Aristocrats as Albert Brooks. (NSFW natch)

By: TheWhiteSkull

TheWhiteSkull — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:57:04 -0800

Wow, tough room.

By: mintcake!

mintcake! — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:59:35 -0800

I really never need to hear the harmonica again ever, but I would watch an entire hour show of Craig & Geoff riffing. Every time they boil the "ever been there/got a place there/what do yo do there/come by some time" bit down to a few seconds of high-pitched gibberish I kind of laugh out loud. Geoff's in-his-head hatedown of Kristen Bell in Paris is the best thing I've seen on TV in a long time. Pollak's chat show totally depends upon the guest for me. KP's schtickiness ("pencils down...") can grate a little, but every third or fourth KPCS show is amazing. I'm glad the guy's doing it and enjoying some consistent success. ...and that Samm "Lil' Wolverine" Levine is part of it. I like that dude.

By: zarq

zarq — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:59:43 -0800

edheil: "Yeah, I had to stop at the "fat women are gross" joke. Sorry Dana." That's where I stopped, too.

By: PinkMoose

PinkMoose — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 09:02:20 -0800

I was hoping for Judy Gold.

By: murphy slaw

murphy slaw — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 09:09:24 -0800

Dana was okay, but Greg Proops knocks it out of the park.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 09:24:53 -0800

That was... not very good.

By: The Bellman

The Bellman — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 09:27:22 -0800

Holy crap, rewrite the post with "Greg Proops" and "one minute and eight seconds" and it will actually be true. That was nothing short of brilliant. I miss Whose Line.

By: 4ster

4ster — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 09:31:33 -0800

By: jwhite1979

jwhite1979 — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 09:47:55 -0800

Were comedians doing Larry King impressions before Norm Macdonald, or did this stuff start with him?

By: pracowity

pracowity — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 09:49:53 -0800

OK, I started laughing at the Hawking stuff. I don't know if it got better or it was just Stockholm Syndrome.

By: Philofacts

Philofacts — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 10:52:17 -0800

What's notable about this King impression is the total effect: not just the banalities, the inappropriate, too-much-information stuff King does, the extremely odd segués, etc., but the mannerisms, the way King looks around, etc., and the timing... Many of the other impressions capture King as he sounds on the radio, but this one captures more of the total look of the TV version as well. Pollack is reacting to that, I think.

By: freebird

freebird — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 11:08:02 -0800

ca- ca- ca- ca- ca- CAKE BOSS

By: joechip

joechip — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 11:20:32 -0800

For ~10 minutes of live interview improv comedic brilliance, I thought it was okay but nothing groundbreaking. For stupid fun that veers into brilliant, I might nominate this. Paul F Tompkins is a gem. If you're going to watch just one part of this video, skip to 7:32 and watch the section where the Cake Boss explains his relationship with books and the library. It's pretty deft improv.

By: unsupervised

unsupervised — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 12:00:50 -0800

Paul F. Tompkins sharing time! Jimmy Pardo (whose unique Rickles-esque brilliance is best seen long-form on his podcast Never Not Funny) hosted a live version of The Match Game with a rotating panel full of comics (in the clip I'm about to link to: Dana Gould, Andy Richter, Dave Foley, Janet Varney, Scott Auckerman and Paul F Tompkins). Although Pardo does not do voices, he insists on reading questions involving "Old Man Perriwinkle" in a terrible old man voice. Paul F Tompkins began giving grandiose introductions to this character that became more and more elaborate until they culminated in: The Old Man Perriwinkle Ramp Up!

By: mrgrimm

mrgrimm — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:44:02 -0800

Many are very funny, but Gould's amazing comic riff should go down in comedy history. Use the full name. I just came in here to see if it was (long-time favorite) Elliott Gould. It's not.

By: aught

aught — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:20:31 -0800

My favorite Kevin Pollack bit is when he did the Aristocrats as Albert Brooks yt . (NSFW natch) Now if only he'd do it using his Shatner impression.

By: bongo_x

bongo_x — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:40:44 -0800

I am always fascinated by how differently people experience things. Comedy, probably even more than other arts, is certainly subjective. I found this to be about a 2-3 on a 1 to 10 scale for the minute and a half I watched it, meaning I didn't hate it, but there's no way I would watch any more of it for pleasure, or if I had a choice in the matter.

By: bleep

bleep — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:45:00 -0800

Whoa, the real news is that there is apparently a clip of everyone I've ever heard of doing this. I've never heard of this show but they get everyone! I think Seth MacFarlane wins for most accurate voice.

By: bleep

bleep — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:56:11 -0800

Jon Hamm's is short but accurate in voice, content, mannerisms and humour. Is there nothing that man can't do?

By: joe_monk

joe_monk — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 16:43:22 -0800

I like his Walken impression better...

By: sarahj

sarahj — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:27:30 -0800

This.

By: tumid dahlia

tumid dahlia — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 03:38:36 -0800

And despite being a big fan of both Craig Ferguson and Geoff Peterson, I never found this clip as hysterical as many others do. Oh man, that was beautiful.