Norm MacDonald and the Golden Age of Sports Parody

Last night I finally got around to watching the premier of Sports Show with Norm MacDonald, a new show on Comedy Central that will be airing Tuesdays at 10:30 EDT.

Having read the title of the show, I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that the show is funny and about sports. What you might need me to tell you, though, is that the show is really good and you should be watching it.

One of the things that I find most appealing about the show is the simplicity of its structure. It begins with 10 minutes of Norm doing Weekend Update style jokes about relevant sports topics, transitions into a pre-recorded sketch comedy segment, comes back to the studio where Norm does about a 5 minute editorial on one topic and finishes with him spouting off random jokes for the last 90 seconds of the show. I like this structure so much because it’s not trying too hard to be something new and innovative. The writers on the show seem to be much more concerned with the substance of the jokes rather than the form in which they are delivered.

I knew that a lot of people were excited to see Norm return to his Weekend Update roots in the first segment of the show. I’m a little too young to have enjoyed Norm’s heyday on SNL so my expectations weren’t all that high going in, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the opening segment. The jokes were well written, and Norm clearly thrives at doing quick, set-up to punchline jokes. I’d say just about every joke got an audible laugh from me, (with the exception of the Tyson rape joke, that just seemed a little dated) which is a lot more than can be said about most late night shows.

The sketch comedy portion of the first episode was perfectly amusing. This week’s sketch consisted of Norm “disguising” himself as Blake Griffin and going to a Clippers practice. (See clip below) As you know, I’m a bit biased towards Blake Griffin, so I probably enjoyed this segment more than most people did. Although if you watch the clip and don’t come away thinking that Blake Griffin is just as charming and hilarious as he is ferociously athletic, well then you’re a fucking crazy person.

I’m most excited to see what the show’s writers are able to do with this sketch comedy portion of the show going forward. Given what I’ve seen from Norm in interviews, stand up shows and movies, I’ve always thought that he had fantastic comedic timing, which is precisely what’s needed to take comedy sketches from “amusing” to “hilarious.” This is especially true if the show is going to continue incorporating professional athletes and other non-comedians into the sketches, as Norm’s ability to successfully interact with them will mean everything.

The editorial segment of the show, while very good, was by far the weakest part. (See clip below) Norm just didn’t seem as comfortable talking about one subject for an uninterrupted 5 minutes as he did spouting off jokes on a variety of topics in succession. Despite this sense of discomfort, the segment was still plenty entertaining (and poignant, but more on that in a minute) and I’m sure that it will get even better as the show goes on.

Sports Show with Norm Macdonald	Tuesdays, 10:30/9:30c
What The H? - Tiger Woods
www.comedycentral.com
Sports Show Norm Macdonald Sports News

All in all, I was very impressed with this first episode of the show, and I have a feeling that it is only going to get better as the season goes on. So if you like sports and you like laughing, you owe it to yourself to take in a few episodes.

Also, be sure to visit the show's blog here. It has a bunch of web exclusive video clips, and is updated throughout the day with short, funny blog posts.

Now for a bit of a digression.

As I was watching the show, I realized that we are currently living in a kind of Golden Age of making fun of shit when it comes to sports. It feels like everywhere you turn, there someone saying snarky or sarcastic things about something having to do with sports. See: With Leather, Kissing Suzy Kolber, Deadspin, Onion Sports Network, Sportress of Blogitude, The Basketball Jones, Sports Pickle and what I’m sure are many other blogs/shows/podcasts that I’m note even aware of.

The ubiquity of sports parody makes me feel much better about being a sports fan, because I firmly believe that the more we make fun of sports and the people who play and discuss them, the more intelligent and nuanced our ideas about sports in general become.

Just as the Daily Show and The Colbert Report are able to use humor to chip away at the shell of bullshit that gets built around American politics by the forces of punditry and sound bites; those who parody sports are able to pull the games we watch out of the clouds, where they are so often sent by those who want to turn sports into a stage on which to hold various morality plays and struggles of good vs. evil.

These people who make fun of sports are here to counteract this overly sententious discourse. They are here to remind us that in the end these are just games that we’re watching, games that are meant to entertain us and are played by men and women who are, above all else, just as flawed and human as the rest of us.

Take another moment to watch Norm’s editorial about Tiger Woods in the clip above. Yeah, he’s being funny, but he’s also forcing us to think about how ridiculous it was for us to turn Tiger Woods into some kind of paragon of everything that is good and decent in the world, and then throw a hissy fit when it turned out that he couldn’t live up to the image that had been crafted for him.

Norm’s just the latest in a wave of people who are using humor to encourage us to think more critically about sports, and we’re all better off for it.

Feel free to e-mail the author of this post at leyt345 at gmail dot com.

Watch This: Wainy Days

Good lord there's a lot of crap on Youtube these days. I know the whole point of the site is a space for anyone with a video camera to post their stuff, but I could really care less about some awful internet personality recapping pop culture news or some kid who is famous for making videos with his voice sped up so it's high pitched. Yuck.

And yet, there are glimmers of hope amongst the piles of garbage. One of those glimmers is the absurd yet hilarious web series "Wainy Days", an award winning "show" created by David Wain, writer, comedian, and one of the three stars of the awesome sketch group Stella, in addition to some various other acting and directing appearances.

The series is produced by a site called "My Damn Channel", which produces a number of web series, including another gem called "Horrible People" that is a biting satire of soap operas. It's written by and stars David Wain, a cult comedian of sorts known for his smart, absurd, and physical comedy. Wain got his start on the sketch comedy series "The State"in the early 90s, a show that is still revered for it's alternative humor. Since the show, Wain has written and directed a number of projects, most notably Wet Hot American Summer and Role Models.

"Wainy Days" originally debuted back in 2007, and is now in it's 4th season. Each season contains about 10 episodes at about 5 minutes each. The first season begins with David walking down the street and introducing himself before in a moment of hilarious absurd comedy, he shoves someone walking past him down and continues on without blinking an eye. Before long he's interrupted by Shelly (Elizabeth Banks), a beautiful woman who recognizes him more than he does her. She tells David that she just broke up with her boyfriend and wants to get together with him...right now. They decide to go on a date the next day, and David dances down the street a joyous man.

In the next episode Shelly and David get together for a drink and get to know each other. The scene is hilarious, as David orders a chocolate martini with "sugar-free chocolate liquor" and Shelly continues to drop hints that she wants to take him right then and there.

David Enjoys HIs Chocolate Martini

It isn't long, however, until Shelly's ex-boyfriend shows up, and she decides she wants to be back with him. Suddenly, their waiter wants in on the action, and the three of them leave to go have a 3-way, leaving David sitting at the table incredibly confused as to what just happened.

The rest of the first season deals a lot with David trying to find a good woman, only to have disastrous results each time. Unlike shows, movies, etc. with similar plots, however, Wain continues to make it absolutely hilarious. This is largely due to a combination of fantastic guest spots (including Michael Ian Black and Amanda Peet) and a perfect level of absurdity that keeps the stories fresh and funny.

"Wainy Days" is definitely one of the best web series out there right now, and it's very much worth watching. You can watch the first season here. So go check it out!