HAHAHA! Good one, Subby!

*clicks link*

WTF is this shiat?

Now that's just jealousy, subby.

well yeah, dane cook hasn't released an album of new material since 2009.

That's hilarious.

Good for him.

/Mark Twain's probably turning in his grave...

FTFA: "When he was finally awarded the prize, a bronze bust of Twain, Ferrell promptly dropped it on stage and tried to pick up the pieces."

FTFwebsite: "The Mark Twain Prize recognizes people who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th century novelist and essayist best known as Mark Twain. As a social commentator, satirist and creator of characters, Samuel Clemens was a fearless observer of society, who startled many while delighting and informing many more with his uncompromising perspective of social injustice and personal folly. He revealed the great truth of humor when he said 'against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.'"

Ferrell's a funny guy, and I like his stuff more than the other Easter Island heads, Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey. And "Stranger Than Fiction" (2006) and "Everything Must Go" (2010) were good movies, but, Jesus.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the bipartisan committee that awards the Kennedy Center Honors:
http://www.kennedy-center.org/about/kctrustees.html



We should probably consider ourselves lucky they didn't try to give this to Hal Holbrook and Albert Einstein. ("Yes, I know they're like Mark Twain, ma'am.") Someone probably had to make little flash cards with smiley faces and frowny faces. ("No, Mme. Justice, Mr. Chaplin died in 1977.") Who are these humorless people? ("I know, I think it's amazing the way they all get out of that little car, too, but I think--oh, yes, Governor, I agree. Those floppy shoes are funny--but we're looking for something different.") They probably spend their evenings ringing for the maid to find the VHS tape of the Carol Burnett show after too many sherries ("I'm looking for something a little racy, Myrlie. Go find that red spitfire.") Maybe the members under the age of 60--the ones that chose Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Tina Fey and Steve Martin--were gone that day, ("That iPhone machine is at the store, and they all went to pick one up. Let's take our vote now. All in favor, ring your bell or tap your cane.") I think they were probably looking for someone less controversial, ("No, Mr. Ambassador, I believe there is someone inside the giant mouse suit. No, sir, a different person in Florida and California. No, sir. I don't think there is magic involved.")

Here are two better choices:

The strategery worked!

Pochas: The article has a point about his dubya impersonation. And this:

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is some of the funniest political humor of all time. All you snobs looking down your nose don't know funny, as is usually the case with snobs. Mark Twain isn't funny! There I said it. In fact nothing in modern history is funnier than the comedy of today because comedians today have the fewest culutural restrictions. You know cause stuff that is considered funny today would have been considered vulgar by Twain loving snobs of the past.

You are right that the only reason Ferrell got this award is for his Dubya impersonation.

The rest: you are entitled to your opinion. Even if it is wrong.

You want to give that to someone who deserves it? Get Louis CK on the phone.

Pochas: Here is some of Twain's "humor" from "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". In it, the narrator retells a story he heard from a bartender, Simon Wheeler, at the Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California, about the gambler Jim Smiley. Twain describes him: "If he even seen a straddle bug start to go anywheres, he is bet you how long it would take him to get to-to wherever he going to, and if you took him up, he would foller that straddle bug to Mexico but what he would find out where he was bound for and how long he was on the road."

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Yup I just read this whole yawnfest unfortunately and not one single lol. Twain isn't funneh!

A lot of Twain's stuff is much better with delivery. Remember, Twain was the heavy hitter of the lecture circuits in his time, and he was really able to pack them in like George Carlin did back when he was alive. Sadly, we don't have much surviving of Mark Twain's original lectures today, but probably the closest modern equivalent would be Hal Holbrook's "Mark Twain Tonight!" performance, which readapted his writings to the stage.

Will Ferrell has the same problem as Mike Meyers. Both can produce funny material, but neither seems to have a sense for when the joke is done and it's time to move on.

Impersonators? Then why not just give it to Rich Little or exhume Vaughn Meader.

And, as a whiny liberal, I would like to see ... PJ O'Rourke, Dennis Miller, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, Garry Trudeau, Chris Rock, Chris Buckley, Bill Maher, Louis Black, Louis CK (who someone mentioned above but is closer to Ambrose Bierce or Bill Hicks than Mark Twain). Mark Russell or Yakov Smirnov would be a better choice than Ferrell. And if we're choosing someone who merely plays a character for political effect, then why not "Larry the Cable Guy"?

Why was Ferrell chosen? Because he was a draw. He pays the bills. He looks good on TV. He can bring stars to stud his affair. It's a crass calculation, even for Washington. I'd rather see the thing have integrity in a small venue in Hartford or Hannibal, Mo. The counter is this: Ferrell's a voice people listen to, and he has the ear of the people. He resonates across more than a cable channel or a Broadway stage. Yes, well, welcome to America. America had 50 million people and 38 states in 1880. Mark Twain was a newspaper man who wrote books, and that was the only medium there was. It was easier then to seize the imagination than it is now. We are, if you hadn't noticed, splintered by the media we choose to reflect our opinions.

So just give it to Fred Armisen next year. His Obama's a hoot, and blackface seems appropriate choice for Mark Twain.

Gosling: Does Dave Barry have his yet?

Not yet according to PBS.org.

One of his best roles