Dana Gould plays the Larry King game on "Kevin Pollak's Chat Show"
September 27, 2011 7:44 AM Subscribe
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.
Ummm, OK...
Good to see comedy participating in the race to the bottom.
posted by Windopaene at 7:55 AM on September 27, 2011
Good to see comedy participating in the race to the bottom.
posted by Windopaene at 7:55 AM on September 27, 2011
Is there a good impression of Larry King?
posted by three blind mice at 7:56 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by three blind mice at 7:56 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
The curse of high expectations claims another victim.
posted by bicyclefish at 7:57 AM on September 27, 2011 [20 favorites]
posted by bicyclefish at 7:57 AM on September 27, 2011 [20 favorites]
Guess you had to be there.
posted by echo target at 7:59 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by echo target at 7:59 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
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.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 8:04 AM on September 27, 2011 [10 favorites]
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 8:04 AM on September 27, 2011 [10 favorites]
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.
posted by cortex at 8:05 AM on September 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
It's not meant to be highbrow comedy.
posted by cortex at 8:05 AM on September 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
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.
posted by Edogy at 8:06 AM on September 27, 2011
posted by Edogy at 8:06 AM on September 27, 2011
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.
posted by subdee at 8:08 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by subdee at 8:08 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
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.
posted by kmz at 8:08 AM on September 27, 2011
posted by kmz at 8:08 AM on September 27, 2011
Deduct 50% if you have no idea who in the hell Larry King is.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 8:13 AM on September 27, 2011
posted by GallonOfAlan at 8:13 AM on September 27, 2011
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.
posted by nanojath at 8:14 AM on September 27, 2011 [10 favorites]
posted by nanojath at 8:14 AM on September 27, 2011 [10 favorites]
I'm in a really bad mood and that made me laugh. That's all I ask for.
posted by JanetLand at 8:15 AM on September 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by JanetLand at 8:15 AM on September 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
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.
posted by kmz at 8:15 AM on September 27, 2011
And despite being a big fan of both Craig Ferguson and Geoff Peterson, I never found this clip as hysterical as many others do.
posted by kmz at 8:15 AM on September 27, 2011
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.
posted by unsupervised at 8:18 AM on September 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
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.
posted by unsupervised at 8:18 AM on September 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
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.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:22 AM on September 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
Well, now I have a new hero.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:22 AM on September 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
Yeah, I had to stop at the "fat women are gross" joke. Sorry Dana.
posted by edheil at 8:25 AM on September 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by edheil at 8:25 AM on September 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
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.
posted by cortex at 8:26 AM on September 27, 2011
Oh man, corpsing corpse.
posted by cortex at 8:26 AM on September 27, 2011
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
posted by hydrophonic at 8:28 AM on September 27, 2011 [11 favorites]
Larry King is an American television host that is only watched by comedians
posted by hydrophonic at 8:28 AM on September 27, 2011 [11 favorites]
This would go down in the history of comedy? Must be a very shallow pool.
posted by Ideefixe at 8:38 AM on September 27, 2011
posted by Ideefixe at 8:38 AM on September 27, 2011
Let's not?
posted by public at 8:42 AM on September 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by public at 8:42 AM on September 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
Holy crow unsupervised, that Urbaniak/Gould throwdown looks fantastic. Downloading now - thanks.
posted by mintcake! at 8:45 AM on September 27, 2011
posted by mintcake! at 8:45 AM on September 27, 2011
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?
posted by nevercalm at 8:46 AM on September 27, 2011
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?
posted by nevercalm at 8:46 AM on September 27, 2011
My favorite Kevin Pollack bit is when he did the Aristocrats as Albert Brooks. (NSFW natch)
posted by Bookhouse at 8:49 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Bookhouse at 8:49 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Wow, tough room.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:57 AM on September 27, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:57 AM on September 27, 2011 [5 favorites]
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.
posted by mintcake! at 8:59 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
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.
posted by mintcake! at 8:59 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
edheil: "Yeah, I had to stop at the "fat women are gross" joke. Sorry Dana."
That's where I stopped, too.
posted by zarq at 8:59 AM on September 27, 2011
That's where I stopped, too.
posted by zarq at 8:59 AM on September 27, 2011
I was hoping for Judy Gold.
posted by PinkMoose at 9:02 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by PinkMoose at 9:02 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Dana was okay, but Greg Proops knocks it out of the park.
posted by murphy slaw at 9:09 AM on September 27, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by murphy slaw at 9:09 AM on September 27, 2011 [5 favorites]
That was... not very good.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:24 AM on September 27, 2011
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:24 AM on September 27, 2011
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.
posted by The Bellman at 9:27 AM on September 27, 2011
posted by The Bellman at 9:27 AM on September 27, 2011
Were comedians doing Larry King impressions before Norm Macdonald, or did this stuff start with him?
posted by jwhite1979 at 9:47 AM on September 27, 2011
posted by jwhite1979 at 9:47 AM on September 27, 2011
OK, I started laughing at the Hawking stuff. I don't know if it got better or it was just Stockholm Syndrome.
posted by pracowity at 9:49 AM on September 27, 2011
posted by pracowity at 9:49 AM on September 27, 2011
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.
posted by Philofacts at 10:52 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Philofacts at 10:52 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
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.
posted by joechip at 11:20 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
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.
posted by joechip at 11:20 AM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
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!
posted by unsupervised at 12:00 PM on September 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
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!
posted by unsupervised at 12:00 PM on September 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
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.
posted by mrgrimm at 1:44 PM on September 27, 2011
Use the full name. I just came in here to see if it was (long-time favorite) Elliott Gould.
It's not.
posted by mrgrimm at 1:44 PM on September 27, 2011
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.
posted by aught at 2:20 PM on September 27, 2011
Now if only he'd do it using his Shatner impression.
posted by aught at 2:20 PM on September 27, 2011
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.
posted by bongo_x at 2:40 PM on September 27, 2011
posted by bongo_x at 2:40 PM on September 27, 2011
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.
posted by bleep at 2:45 PM on September 27, 2011
I think Seth MacFarlane wins for most accurate voice.
posted by bleep at 2:45 PM on September 27, 2011
Jon Hamm's is short but accurate in voice, content, mannerisms and humour. Is there nothing that man can't do?
posted by bleep at 2:56 PM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by bleep at 2:56 PM on September 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
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.
posted by tumid dahlia at 3:38 AM on September 28, 2011
Oh man, that was beautiful.
posted by tumid dahlia at 3:38 AM on September 28, 2011
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