I was like "I know a guy who can eat a whole grape."
October 20, 2014 12:31 PM Subscribe
Marcel the Shell is back.
Previously. Also: Jenny Slate gives an interview on Letterman partially in character, with predictably adorable results.
Previously. Also: Jenny Slate gives an interview on Letterman partially in character, with predictably adorable results.
you have just made my whole WEEK
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 1:00 PM on October 20, 2014
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 1:00 PM on October 20, 2014
They've started showing Marcel the Shell shorts at my local independent theater as the pre-show "cartoon", in front of both blockbusters (Guardians of the Galaxy) and artier fare (Jodorowsky's Dune). They kill the audience every time.
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:15 PM on October 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Strange Interlude at 1:15 PM on October 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
marcel!
posted by rebent at 1:19 PM on October 20, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by rebent at 1:19 PM on October 20, 2014 [2 favorites]
Awesome! I've had a Jenny Slater FPP on the back burner for a while.
posted by Room 641-A at 2:00 PM on October 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Room 641-A at 2:00 PM on October 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
"That's the hot zone."
posted by BrashTech at 2:03 PM on October 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by BrashTech at 2:03 PM on October 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm having a very weird moment right now, but I just hatched this idea of Marcel the Shell as a metaphor for disability. You're tiny and you fall off stuff and it's embarrassing and you can't really get around your own house or have a dog or eat cheese and your best friend lives far away but you still tell jokes and sing songs. I don't know. I like Marcel, he's adorable. He's probably a good metaphor for everything.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 2:26 PM on October 20, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by Snarl Furillo at 2:26 PM on October 20, 2014 [5 favorites]
Slate. Not Slater. Ugh.
posted by Room 641-A at 2:40 PM on October 20, 2014
posted by Room 641-A at 2:40 PM on October 20, 2014
Jenny Slate and Marcel are pure, uncut squee. Thank you.
posted by basicchannel at 2:42 PM on October 20, 2014
posted by basicchannel at 2:42 PM on October 20, 2014
Snarl, I really like that. In the Letterman link, Jenny Slate talks about how she started coming up with the character on a night when she was really scrunched into a small room with too many people, and she felt small and squished. I think part of the reason Marcel is so compelling is that s/he does sort of tap into that feeling of being tiny and sort of vulnerable, but also having one's own spirit and personality.
posted by lunasol at 2:43 PM on October 20, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by lunasol at 2:43 PM on October 20, 2014 [2 favorites]
I love Marcel the Shell.
"Want to know why I'm always smiling?" "Why?" "Because it's worth it."
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:02 PM on October 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
"Want to know why I'm always smiling?" "Why?" "Because it's worth it."
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:02 PM on October 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
What most fascinates me about Marcel The Shell is how different it is from the rest of Jenny Slate's work. On Parks & Rec she plays the crassest human being imaginable. She starred in what I'm pretty sure is the only romantic comedy about abortion, so far. Her standup is extremely blue. Until the last year or two, her main claim to fame was being fired from SNL for swearing on air.
And, yet, Marcel the Shell. We contain multitudes.
posted by Sara C. at 4:03 PM on October 20, 2014 [5 favorites]
And, yet, Marcel the Shell. We contain multitudes.
posted by Sara C. at 4:03 PM on October 20, 2014 [5 favorites]
Oh golly, for the last three years or so I randomly hear "guess what I wear as a hat? A lentil" in my head, for no apparent reason other than to make me giggle. Now I have new material, thanks!
posted by iamkimiam at 4:03 PM on October 20, 2014
posted by iamkimiam at 4:03 PM on October 20, 2014
Sara C.: "On Parks & Rec she plays the crassest human being imaginable."
Would you say she was... the woooooorst?
posted by mhum at 4:19 PM on October 20, 2014 [8 favorites]
Would you say she was... the woooooorst?
posted by mhum at 4:19 PM on October 20, 2014 [8 favorites]
I love Marcel the Shell!
Guess what… one time I went to a hotel and guess what my bed was made out of?
What?
A muffin.
Like a fancy hotel?
It was but we split the room and we actually slept 8 to the muffin.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 5:43 PM on October 20, 2014 [4 favorites]
Guess what… one time I went to a hotel and guess what my bed was made out of?
What?
A muffin.
Like a fancy hotel?
It was but we split the room and we actually slept 8 to the muffin.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 5:43 PM on October 20, 2014 [4 favorites]
Two essential deep cuts from the Jenny Slate catalog of greatness:
Niece Denise from The Kroll Show. It shows what an amazing comic actress she is, the way she can transform herself into this little girl who is simultaneously vulnerable and sweet and kind of gross and totally caricatured but also weirdly real. "May I see it, please? May I see it? May I see it, please?"
Catherine. This series is like nothing else. I've heard it compared to David Lynch and instructional videos to teach people English, and it's kind of like both of those things but not quite. It makes me think of watching grownup TV when you're a little kid, seeing shows about people in some boring office and being totally baffled and fascinated by all of their little codes and rituals. This series deserves its own post, really. Amazingly boring, and boringly amazing.
Slate is adorable, but she does have a real twisted streak. I remember her doing a standup routine about some ex-roommate she hated, and she said that the roommate had broken her pelvis, "and now she can't fuck!" Slate cackled when she said it, and the audience totally wasn't going there with her... and she obviously didn't care. You gotta figure that roommate was either totally evil, or Slate is not a gal you want for an enemy.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 5:51 PM on October 20, 2014 [10 favorites]
Niece Denise from The Kroll Show. It shows what an amazing comic actress she is, the way she can transform herself into this little girl who is simultaneously vulnerable and sweet and kind of gross and totally caricatured but also weirdly real. "May I see it, please? May I see it? May I see it, please?"
Catherine. This series is like nothing else. I've heard it compared to David Lynch and instructional videos to teach people English, and it's kind of like both of those things but not quite. It makes me think of watching grownup TV when you're a little kid, seeing shows about people in some boring office and being totally baffled and fascinated by all of their little codes and rituals. This series deserves its own post, really. Amazingly boring, and boringly amazing.
Slate is adorable, but she does have a real twisted streak. I remember her doing a standup routine about some ex-roommate she hated, and she said that the roommate had broken her pelvis, "and now she can't fuck!" Slate cackled when she said it, and the audience totally wasn't going there with her... and she obviously didn't care. You gotta figure that roommate was either totally evil, or Slate is not a gal you want for an enemy.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 5:51 PM on October 20, 2014 [10 favorites]
How did I not know about this???
posted by harrietthespy at 6:28 PM on October 20, 2014
posted by harrietthespy at 6:28 PM on October 20, 2014
Niece Denise from The Kroll Show.
I cannot wait for the return of PubLIZity.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:35 PM on October 20, 2014 [3 favorites]
I cannot wait for the return of PubLIZity.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:35 PM on October 20, 2014 [3 favorites]
Catherine. This series is like nothing else.
What did I just watch
posted by sweetkid at 7:47 PM on October 20, 2014 [2 favorites]
What did I just watch
posted by sweetkid at 7:47 PM on October 20, 2014 [2 favorites]
I think part of the reason Marcel is so compelling is that s/he does sort of tap into that feeling of being tiny and sort of vulnerable, but also having one's own spirit and personality.
Yeah, definitely. I think feeling vulnerable to the world is probably a universal feeling, ditto wanting other people to take you seriously even though you know you are or seem a little silly. Marcel obviously strikes a chord with a LOT of people. The door thing in particular struck me as SUCH a disability thing ("Oh, the elevator's out? Guess I'm not getting off the train here!") and I think you can read it that way without any trouble, or you can just read it as a cute shell with shoes on.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 8:28 PM on October 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
Yeah, definitely. I think feeling vulnerable to the world is probably a universal feeling, ditto wanting other people to take you seriously even though you know you are or seem a little silly. Marcel obviously strikes a chord with a LOT of people. The door thing in particular struck me as SUCH a disability thing ("Oh, the elevator's out? Guess I'm not getting off the train here!") and I think you can read it that way without any trouble, or you can just read it as a cute shell with shoes on.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 8:28 PM on October 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
Awesome, my four year old loves the Marcel book and cracks up every time I read it. In turn, I totally love Jenny Slate on Parks & Rec and the Kroll Show.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 5:55 AM on October 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 5:55 AM on October 21, 2014 [1 favorite]
« Older certainly not “95% unexplored” | You'll hear of a wife murdered before you hear... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by leotrotsky at 12:41 PM on October 20, 2014