Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Growing down.

More piratey, raveny, quartetly video goodness from the 2010 Graveyard, at the request of loyal S&P pubgoer, Robbie.

But before we quite get to it (Fester can you dust off the screen please? Thanks, I'll get everyone another round... oh where are those mixed nuts?).

As I was saying, before we get to it I want to give the littlest bit of an explanation for anyone who might not get the joke here -- I saw looks of utter bafflement on most of our guests' faces over Hallowe'en during this sketch/routine; but I also saw very fine smiles of recognition and amusement in many other faces.

So, I think a little exposition might help you find your way into the latter group.

Y'see... there's this really infamous recording that's been floating around the world since the '70s, of the great Orson Welles suffering a disdainful, self-important and hilarious meltdown during a recording session narrating ads for various food products.

The whole story (so far as is known) behind the incident can be read here, and (most of) the original recording can be heard here. You should probably take five minutes and familiarize yourself with the hilarity.

Remember too, that this was not the magnificently brilliant bastard of his glory days:
 ... when he looked a little like me, actually.

No, this was quite a bit later, when he was this bastard -- though still brilliant and utterly mad:
I sure hope to not look even a little like that.

Okay, so this 'Orson Welles Tape', or 'Frozen Peas Tape' has been memorialized in pop media in numerous references over the years, most notably in a hip and fantastically accurate (if cleaned up for cartoon-watching kids) episode of Pinky & The Brain.

Well(es), since my family are fans of that tape for generations now, and since I'd already recorded the Raven's 'Welles-ish' voice for other routines, I thought a meagre, shortened reference of my own couldn't hurt anything.

Ladies and gentlemen (and whatever else you are), I present the Pirates, Nevermore the Raven, and the Lean Bros. & Ghoul in
The Headless Orson!

I regret not using "always -- p-past that!" and "Yyesss!" from the original... but there are more Hallowe'ens to come -- I don't want to use it all up for a single display.

By the way, that's Kay Starr singing with Billy Butterfield's band in 1949.


DDSPeas... a big dish of peas...

2 comments:

  1. That was brilliant!

    You had me laughing at "North By Northwest."
    And by the time the line "Make it exciting like Don Pardo,"
    I was almost on the floor! I had almost forgotten the Orson Wells meltdown recording. This is a great riff on it. Something like this might work for Forry and Mr Raven if they should visit a certain West Coast convention.

    DDSP!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I may well have to do just that. I know most folks would get the reference, and it might be fun to piece the audio together to make it seem like Forry was actually going along with it.

    ReplyDelete