The Five Funniest Tiny Desk Concerts
February 8, 2020 10:06 AM   Subscribe

Weekend diversion! Stephen Thompson from NPR Music curates a video playlist of the five funniest Tiny Desk Concerts. The performers are Fragile Rock, Reggie Watts, "Weird" Al Yankovic, Dan Deacon, and Neil Innes. Total Playtime runs about 1h15m.
posted by hippybear (17 comments total) 29 users marked this as a favorite
 
At one point, you'll see Fragile Rock empty a bag of "bloodied" socks, tossing them into the crowd, before breaking into the song "Socks Are Murder"

Came for the Weird Al, stayed for the Fragile Rock.

That was great. Thanks.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:16 AM on February 8, 2020 [3 favorites]


Oooh. I think this’ll go on tonight’s watch list.
posted by obfuscation at 12:14 PM on February 8, 2020


I've rewatched Dan Deacon's TDC quite a lot. For somebody who seems so abashed and nervous onstage he puts on a hell of a show.
posted by ardgedee at 12:52 PM on February 8, 2020 [5 favorites]


I credit Reggie Watts for making me more attuned to listening for barely audible sounds related to the consumption of liquid during the morning news on NPR.
posted by vverse23 at 2:55 PM on February 8, 2020 [2 favorites]


Neil Innes. Awww...
posted by ewan at 2:58 PM on February 8, 2020 [3 favorites]


The genius of the Dan Deacon set is that he engineers ways to take the attention off himself performing and still keep the audience actively engaged with the music and specifically the joy of what he creates. That piano at the beginning was fascinating but as the crowd dance stuff evolves the whole thing turns into something well beyond what I expected when it started.

This whole group of sets is delightful.
posted by hippybear at 3:32 PM on February 8, 2020 [3 favorites]


(I've watched it all three times now. Yay for weekends!)
posted by hippybear at 3:37 PM on February 8, 2020


Not my chair, not my problem...
posted by Windopaene at 4:58 PM on February 8, 2020




If you're looking for more high-energy tiny desk fun, the Monsieur Periné set is an absolute blast.
posted by MrVisible at 5:26 PM on February 8, 2020 [2 favorites]


Honorable mention: Ok Go got brought in for the time the Tiny Desk Concert (and a lot of NPR I guess) moved to a new office.
posted by fomhar at 7:31 PM on February 8, 2020 [5 favorites]


Came here thinking "Fragile Rock" was a typo, left disappointed that there were no underground muppets having a singalong.
posted by jozxyqk at 8:50 PM on February 8, 2020 [6 favorites]


MetaFilter: Disappointed that there were no underground muppets having a singalong.
posted by schmod at 6:05 AM on February 9, 2020 [5 favorites]


Fragile Rock does involve puppets, however. Like, literally, it's a band of puppets performing.
posted by hippybear at 8:26 AM on February 9, 2020


The songs themselves are presented completely seriously, but Neko Case's 2013 Halloween Tiny Desk starts with Neko in a gorilla costume, being carried in by a "zookeeper," which is just hilarious and delightful.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:10 AM on February 9, 2020


I enjoyed this gateway to learning more about (my home town's) Dan Deacon and his process: Dan Deacon - The Making of 'Mystic Familiar'
posted by spbmp at 5:18 PM on February 9, 2020 [2 favorites]


I've been to a couple of Dan Deacon's concerts, and they are a crazy great time. Please always go to them to maximize the amount of happiness that humans can experience.
posted by nicething at 8:26 PM on February 9, 2020


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