R.I.P. Davy Jones of the Monkees

I was saddened today to learn of the death at age 66 of Davy Jones of The Monkees. Please, take a minute and a half to watch Davy's completely charming audition tape. I believe the offscreen voice belongs to producer/director Bob Rafelson.



RIP, Davy.

Always working for a concept: Father Guido Sarducci and the search for God

Father Guido Sarducci and James Belushi chat about God in an airport lounge on SNL.

Hello, long-neglected blog readers! Recently, while browsing through Saturday Night Live clips online, I found a remarkable sketch from the show's 1983 season called "Airport Friend." Despite that unpromising title, it contains one of the more profound ideas I've heard on a comedy show.

In this scene, Father Guido Sarducci is stranded at an airport, waiting very impatiently for his flight. He reacts badly to news of an additional delay, throwing down his bag and kicking an ashtray. Enter Bob Armstrong (Jim Belushi), a pleasant-tempered doofus in a tacky suit. The fictional airline, TransEastern, has paid Bob to be the priest's "friend" during the delay. At first, Sarducci is brusque with the phony friend and tries to shoo him away, but eventually he takes pity on the man, who is just trying to do his job. Belushi explains that he works for jerks. Sarducci says he works for jerks, too, at the Vatican. Everyone in the world, they agree, works for jerks.

The exception is the Pope, who works directly for God. God isn't a jerk, says Sarducci. God is a concept. Yes, this is a phrase that also crops up in John Lennon's song, "God." And that's what leads Father Guido Sarducci to his epiphany: "You can put a man on the moon, but we'll always be working for a concept."

Recently The AV Club did a nice article about profound comedy. The usual names came up -- George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Louis C.K. -- but one name absent from the roll call was Don Novello a.k.a. Father Guido Sarducci. Honestly, Novello has probably made me ponder the big questions of life and death more than any other comedian has. I've listened to his 1986 album Breakfast in Heaven dozens of times. I wish I could find a video for the title track from that LP, a thoughtful and very funny monologue about the afterlife. But in lieu of that, here's Father Guido's concept for a "five minute university" in which he teaches us that "God is everywhere. Why? Because He likes you."



The AV Club's Nathan Rabin once pointed out that the Sarducci character "represents the very humane, approachable face of the Church." He's the one comedian who makes me hope that God actually does exist.

The Funday Sunnies! Comics for the terminally depressed!

Celebrating America's richest vein of laughter and despair: Newspaper comics!

Hello, everybody!

My main man, Zomby, has been on a vision quest in Nepal these past few weeks, which explains his near-total absence from the blog. When (or if) he gets back, I'll be happy to bring you his further exploits. In the meantime, I thought I'd bring you a variety of Sunday comics, each one with the subtly dispiriting, downbeat antihumor of Zomby!

Enjoyment is not the proper reaction to these comics, per se. You really should be shaking your head and sighing deeply after each one.

Capitalist Cut-Ups

Ruprecht, The One-Armed Cat

Dennis the Fundamentalist

Only One Punchline!

The Dullards

Suburban Ennui

Creepy Love

Crude MS Paint Portraits of Celebrities!

My attention span has gotten so bad lately. I can't even watch a TV show anymore and give it my full attention. Recently, my TV-watching hobby has been creating very crude, childlike portraits of celebrities in the venerable MS Paint program.

Here are a few examples. See how many you can identify.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Answers (sort of) in the comments section!

(today's zomby) AND THE FUNNIEST JOKE WILLIAM SHATNER HAS EVER HEARD!

Dear blog,

Sorry I've been neglecting you lately. What can I say? It's been a busy week -- a busy, exhausting, soul-draining week. Anyway, as advertised, here is yukmeister William Shatner in the obscure 1984 TV show Funniest Joke I Ever Heard:



How do I love this clip? Let me count the ways.

• It's William Shatner and therefore guaranteed comedy gold.
• He's on a goddamned horse for the entire thing.
• Before he even tells his joke, he gives us some personal background information ("I love horses.") and promises us that the joke is going to be "great."
• He takes a minute and a half to tell this joke, which turns out to be terrible. This confirms a theory I once heard which posits that joke-telling is not about humor but rather about controlling another person's time.
• The delivery of the joke is pure Shatner. He speeds through many of his words, lingers over a few others, and puts pauses where they absolutely do not belong.
• Instead of just making the joke's main character a generic, unnamed baseball manager, Shatner chooses to make him Tommy Lasorda. So much for timelessness.
• Shatner cannot resist playing up the drama of the baseball manager's desperation. ("He's losing his shirt! He's losing his mind!") In fact, Shatner delivers the entire joke with the fervor of an Old Testament prophet.
• When, at long last, the punchline arrives, it is baffling. Shatner says the words so quickly that they're almost unintelligible. You figure he's going to say something like "Kentucky Derby," but instead he blurts out "Hialeah." Hi-ya-wha?

For the record, "Hialeah" refers to Florida's Hialeah Park Race Track, which apparently used to be quite a famed horse racing venue. Wikipedia says it's defunct or at least semi-defunct and might be turned into a ballpark for the Florida Marlins. The park's official website sees things a little differently.

Either way, now you know what William Shatner's favorite joke is.

(today's zomby) AND THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING FOREIGN LANGUAGES!

Hey, Zom! Instead of feeding your face, why not feed your head... with smartness? Here's a brief(ish) clip from the 1969 film The Wonderful Land of Oz, explaining the importance of being bilingual. Study this clip carefully, and you will also learn about things like acting, set decoration, costume design, and how to direct a movie that people other than immediate family members are going to see. Enjoy!

(today's zomby) ZOMBY RETURNS IN BOTH COLOR AND BLACK-AND-WHITE!

Hoo-boy, folks. I know it's been a while since I've posted anything new to the blog, especially new Zomby!!! cartoons. But here are two new ones to make it up to you:

As it turns out, pills are not candy.

Thanks to the good folks at the Long Island Regional Poison Control Center, here's a fun little PSA from 1983 featuring a vocal quartet comprised of singing pills. I wonder if this is what went on in Judy Garland's head all the time.

And in case some of those lyrics sound awfully familiar even though you didn't grow up in or near Long Island during the 1980s: