Bashing Bush = Boffo Broadway Business!
by Stage RightI know that as the guy on the “Broadway Beat” I should have a take on the Will Ferrell one-man show due to start previews at the Cort on Inauguration Day, “You’re Welcome America, A Final Night with George Bush”, but, so far, I’m just bored with the idea.
Sure, it’s going to be a 90-minute SNL sketch, but instead of the opening sketch that always grabs you and pulls you in to watch through “Update”, I expect it’ll be like one of those sketches thrown in after the second song from the musical guest. And it will feel like they never quite figured out how to end it… you know, those excruciating sketches which force you to say “Why am I still up watching this?”
I like Will Ferrell… he almost always makes me laugh. But, there is something about his Bush impression that has gotten pretty mean. He always played W in that stereotype kind of dim, frat-boy kind of way. But when he looked into the camera and said “Strategery” during the mock debates against Darrell Hammond’s awesome Al Gore, he had an earnestness that made the caricature endearing. Now, his Bush has lost the charm and it’s just not as fun to watch.
Here’s a promotional video, see if you agree:
So he’ll run for his limited engagement. And the show will cost about a nickel because there’s no cast, and the crew will be minimal. The Cort is probably going for about $1.25 per week these days because there are so many new vacancies on Broadway and the Shuberts are probably just happy to have a booking in one of their lesser booked houses. So, I’m sure money will be made by all involved. In fact, HBO is going to broadcast one performance live so the fees for that probably cover expenses going in.
But, the whole thing is a bit pathetic. I’d hoped Will Ferrell would have gracefully left this behind, but he seems determined to milk the last drop from this impersonation. It feels a little like Tim Conway’s 17th “Dorf” video, I think it was “Dorf on Luge” or “Dorf on Curling” or something like that. It’s a far cry from the very classy Dana Carvey and his respectful admiration for Pres. George H. W. Bush.
His press office is sending out signals that there will be “surprises” in the show. If he is smart and if he wants to appeal to the other half of our country, he will re-inject some heart into the character he has created. Something is different when you see an actor live in the same room as you rather than on the screen in your living room. A mean joke at the President’s expense might be funny with a studio audience, but in a Broadway house, there is an intimacy that demands a modicum of pathos from an actor, especially when basically a one-joke bit is stretched to 90 minutes. I hope Mr. Ferrell rises to the challenge.
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28 Comments
Inner meanness never translates into good comedy. You have to tweak the vitriol with a bit of heart or it’s just bitter.
I loved his last movie Step Brothers, it was exactly the kind of movie I expected and it delivered in spades. But right at the opening credits, he included a mangled quote from Bush to start things off on a sour note. If Barack ‘57 States’ Obama can be forgiven (and with 24/7 microphone coverage, who wouldn’t sound stupid every once in a while?) why nail Bush as a moron for a relatively minor mistake. They’re still pounding Quayle 20 years later, so it doesn’t bode well for the Bush legacy.
Unfortunately, it leads me to believe Ferrell is not the kind of person I’d want to spend any amount of time with, which runs counter to his appeal.
Why do I get the feeling this is going to be the one-man version of Rosie O’Donnell’s NBC variety show from November? (maybe because the words “subtle” and “Will Ferrell” aren’t even allowed in the same dictionary)
LULZ BUSH IS TEH STUPAD OMG OMG ROFLCOPTER
For years, I’ve been “laughing behind my hand” every time I’ve heard a liberal repeat that mantra that is so sacred to the left: “Bush lied.”
The definition of a lie is the act of making a statement, avowing it to be true, all the while knowing that the statement is, in fact, false.
For Bush to have “lied” about WMD, we have the silly requirement that somehow he possessed incontrovertible evidence that, in fact, there were NO WMD anywhere in Iraq. Is that silly, or what?
The CIA and British and Israeli intelligence agencies were reporting that WMD were there. It is a fact of history that British Intelligence had issued an intelligence report to our CIA stating that they had learned that Sadam had approached Niger about purchasing yellow-cake uranium; British Intelligence stands by that report to this day.
Bush and those in the Senate with the necessary clearance were informed of all this intelligence. All were convinced, and Democrats as well as Republicans are on record emphasizing their confidence in that intelligence. It’s absurd to think that Bush somehow had positive proof that none were there. What he reported to the U.N. and the American public is what he was informed by the best intelligence available at the time, which he had no choice but to believe was true.
Bush’s statements before the war were NOT acts of “making a statement, avowing it to be true, all the while knowing that the statements were, in fact, false.”
Bush most certainly did NOT LIE!!!
Perhaps an illustration of a lie, consistent with the actual definition of a lie, will make the point more clearly:
Once upon a time, a president stood in front of TV cameras, and addressed the American public by shaking his finger at the cameras and declaring “I. DID. NOT. HAVE. SEXUAL. RELATIONS. WITH. THAT. WOMAN!!” while, as he was speaking, a black dress was hanging in a closet in an apartment in the Watergate apartments on which there was incontrovertible evidence that that president knew full well that his declaration was, as he pronounced it, in fact totally false.
That, my friends, is an example of a bald-faced liar. I challenge anyone to produce a documented example of George Bush ever rising to that level of “lying”.
Somebody should tell the Will Ferrells (and especially the Keith Olbermanns) of this world that they make absolute fools of themselves every time they repeat that best-loved mantra of the left.
Psst! Your editor called, said to fix the Playbill link to correct the spelling to, “You’re”.
Thanks!!
The saddest thing about GW is his ‘new tone’. He promised to make nice, which he did, and he never fought back. The dems decided that rather than accept the offer of equanimity, they would take free shots on goal for eight years. They have no conscience and they have no soul.
I agree, the LIE business was a constructed dem effort. The yellowcake was quietly found in Iraq and quietly shipped for processing. Bush could have had a press conference about it, but chose not to make it political.
His character will be missed.
lIBERALS SURE BLABBERING A LOT ABOUT TOLERENCE BUT SURE DONT EVER PRACTICE IT EVER
Ferrell’s turn from charm to harm is a direct result of proximity to the show’s executive producer, Adam McKay whose joyless writings can be witnessed at the Huffington Post.
Yeah, they’ve had their successes together, but McKay defiantly aspires to snuff Ferrel’s transcendent comic spirit and make him a cliche of the times. The Bush dig in “Anchorman” was unfunny (FYI, I loved Colbert’s White House Correspondents Dinner hit at the president) and gratuitous.
This is how sharks are jumped.
Billy, you’re right on…
After Gore’s loss in 2000, the left fell off a cliff into an infantile, petulant, ranting, whining, hissy-fit temper tantrum. That rage has continued throughout Bush’s administration. Throughout the left, juicy “facts” are disseminated to the glee of all. These “facts” spring from the warped imagination of the faithful. Most often divorced totally from the truth (can you say Dan Rather?), they are believed and excitedly repeated to the extent that, were they only true, they produce great glee and pants-wetting satisfaction for Bush haters anywhere. Spend a little time at http://www.dailykos.com, http://www.mediamatters.com, or http://www.huffingtonpost.com if you don’t believe me.
For those interested, the “surprise” in his skit is that according to an article on Yahoo, Ferrell said that his performance will hold “Bush accountable for what happened during his watch”. Surprise? I expected nothing less. The surprise would have been if he injected heart or honor in his performance. I suspect that somewhere after the 1st half hour, we’ll get a serious moment where he ‘apologizes’ for all the bad things he’s done. It will probably be as overwraught and silly as the scene in “Final Days” where Nixon gets down on his knees and prays.
Only the deranged would pay $100 to listen to the same retread monologue generated a gazillion times over during the the last eight years.
And yet, Ferrell and his audience are under the impression that they are the Enlightened Ones.
90 minutes of this? Oh-my-God!
This promo was not in the least bit funny. There was no comedy there. Whoever wrote this is way off the mark if they want to parody Bush.
There is not one jovial snicker, not even a mangled word at an opportune moment. And there are wierd cultural references – Tango and Cash? – and run-on sentences that kill the joke (what little there is) “so buy a ticket, come to the theatre, sign a loyalty oath, be stripsearched, and join me for a special night….”
And the ending is just embarrassing. Perhaps there isn’t really much new ground to cover, but surely a professional writer could do better than that.
I agree Ferrel has lost some nuance in his one-dimensional – no half-dimensional, impersonation.
As Hitchens said, the Bush-has-a-low-IQ joke is “the joke that stupid people laugh at”.
Ferrel’s brand of comedy is about making fun of men and masculine values. In Ferrel’s world the only man not worth making fun of is a
1. Metrosexual
2. Feminist
3. Effeminate Testosterone-challenged Intellectual Male
4. Any “Man” of the Left
He is very funny though his impersonation of Harry Caray is awesome.
http://cubs.fandome.com/video/26578/SNL-Will-Ferrell-as-Harry-Caray/
Even though I get sick of the “Frat Pack’s” Man-as-Child Movies or let’s stomp on Masculinity…there are still some great parts. (You will notice the women in these films have very little flaws)
If they must persist with this line of comedy then they should do a comedic scene by scene remake of the Patrick Swayze move “Roadhouse” with Will Ferrell as the Patrick Swayze bouncer character. If this happens I want credit for this idea.
They might as well do it while its still somewhat relevant. From now on the media’s assignment will be to make Obama into a superhero.
I never understood the deal with Carney’s impression of Bush. It was horrible.
Last year I watched the DVD of “The Concert for New York City,” and Ferrell was one of the comic performers. He appeared as Bush, doing his usual shtik of Bush as (to use Mr. “Right’s” phraseology) a “dim frat-boy.” But it was interesting how in the aftermath of 9/11, the crowd reaction seemed to be a little more sympathetic, as was Ferrell’s portrayal. It was as if to say, “Yeah, he’s a dim frat-boy, but he’s OUR dim frat-boy, and now he’s going to kick some Islamofascist @ss!” It didn’t take long for times to change.
I follow up Christopher’s comment by pointing out the “Obama-creep” metastasizing to every sector of the media. In addition to the fist-bumping Obama issue of Spiderman, check out your grocery aisle pabloid journalism racks for examples of Obama worship.
You can also try searching “Obama” on such sites as the National Enquirer. [Make sure to note the pre-election and post-election difference in tone.] Here is a sample of the “scandalous” muckraking these pitiless rags engage in “Obama hush-hush Secrets”: http://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/65751
After today’s final press conference, I’d actually rather spend a few hours watching the real GW than any imitator.
That being said, I always found Farrell’s GW to be rather harmless. I’ve seen him in person – it’s not really hate filled, it’s just the standard buffoonery that American comedians have been doing to our presidents since the country began.
Well, since Ferrell has never made me laugh (maybe a couple of times in Anchoman), this looks like it’ll be more of the same. Will Ferrell is the Jerry Lewis of our time….except without any trace of the funny.
Dicebucket
Good points, also a certain president said this “Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction and we have to go in there and get them” in 1998.
8 years of BDS put into a nice 90 minute package. Where’s my wallet! I’m guessing you could go in there with a checklist and mark off every liberal smear against Bush made by the left. I saw Step Brothers and realized I’m sick of Will Ferrell’s movies which come in only two flavors,he either plays a naive but well meaning nitwit or a mean spirited nitwit.
I’ve asked liberals if any of them thought the attacks on Bush went to far. Their irony free response is that the attacks were justified because of what he did but it’s wrong and mean to do it against Obama. The truely funny stuff will watch the left come unglued if Obama gets even half of what Bush did yet not realize they set the bar this low.
As an amateur comedian, this kind of crap infuriates me! Any two bit slacker off the street can walk into a room full of liberals, say “Hey, Bush is really stupid” and get a standing ovation. That’s not comedy, its idiots having their preconceived bias’ validated.
I judge good political comedy based upon how easily the joke’s basic premise could be moved to another politician, political party, or issue.
For example, several weeks ago James Taranto on his blog at WSJ had a great joke about Bush being the most traveled President in history, suggesting one possible reason was he weirded out over the prospect of sleeping in the same bed his parents did it in.
I bet that joke would have worked with John Quincy Adams.
The basic joke itself is funny. If you can’t separate the humor from the target, the joke itself isn’t funny. It’s using a crutch. And I’m tired of the last eight years watching and listening to hacks think they’re the funniest guy since Steve Martin, just because they rattle off a joke about Bush’s public speaking.
CAN WE FINALLY GET SOME DECENT POLITICAL HUMOR!
“…you know, those excruciating sketches which force you to say “Why am I still up watching this?”
Yep, I know what you mean. “…van down by the river – van down by the river – van down by the river” and “…geg OFF the SHED – get OFF the SHED – get OFF the SHED” Repetition is no substitiute for comedy, doesn’t make an amusing moment funnier, and only becomes repetitive. I tuned SNL out a long time ago. This new show may have been funnier a couple of years ago, but, much like Oliver Stone’s “W,” seems ill-timed at least and pointless at worst. Who’s it aimed at? Good lluck.
“…instead of the opening sketch that always grabs you and pulls you in to watch through “Update”, I expect it’ll be like one of those sketches thrown in after the second song from the musical guest. And it will feel like they never quite figured out how to end it… you know, those excruciating sketches which force you to say “Why am I still up watching this?””
Get out of my head!
There’s something about Will Ferrell that just makes my skin crawl. There’s also something about immature leftists who blame their miserable existence on George Bush that makes my skin crawl.
So, I guess I’ll take a pass on the supposed comedy hour.
If they make fun of the prophet Mohammed, call me because I want to see it.
I hate most of Will Farrell’s films and I have seen many of them. I hated Night at the Roxbury and Anchorman. That dig at Bush in Anchorman, while a reference possibly to Animal House’s dig at Nixon, made a very stupid film unfunnier. It is of course the PC, “mainstream”, thing to cast digs at Bush including a claim that he is stupid. It requires no thinking, and no critical thought at all.
Will they be making fun of Obama with the same zest and gusto. Well probably not, because he is too smart remember? It was so hard to write comedy about him according to the Liberal writers of the late nite shows. I would like to make fun of them. I wonder why we don’t see something like a Clinton Broadway show where “he” is held accountable? Oh yeah, Phil Hartman died and nobody had the guts or the courage.
Talk about preaching to the choir also since he is going to do this on Broadway. Will Ferrell, President Bush isn’t going to care when he leaves office because that is what he is. All of you fools he shrugs off as somebody exercising their first amendment rights yet he has his own rights to disagree with you.
Great blog! Most blogs on this topic are not even close in detail as yours is. If you keep posting I’ll definatly be comming back.
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