Saturday Night Live: Comedy Daycare

I like to think of Saturday Night Live as a daycare for comedians with Lorne Michaels as the overruling nanny for all the little kids who don't know any better. After 40 years on air, it's a proven staple on our television line up. It's popularity has only risen in recent years because of Internet video sharing, and sites like YouTube, in which 4-6 minute videos are all anyone's attention can handle. Not only that, but we've seen the success of past SNL comedians and the all the brilliant work they've done after leaving the show. With people like Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy and countless more, the potential for success after leaving the show is very high. So like I said, it's a daycare. Young, talented comedians come in and play around with their funny and creative ideas. They grow and step into their comedic talent, mastering impressions and nailing their punchline timing. It's very obvious which cast members are brand new and which are the veterans. All the while, Lorne Michaels watches over with an insightful eye and approves or disapproves of whatever skit is being pitched. He turns these no name youngsters into show runners and head writers. It's a given that some skits will work and others will completely miss the mark, but that's part of the growing process for all these comedians.
 After leaving daycare, many of these talented jokesters have gone on to write and/or star in our favorite television shows. Most recently, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have finished their long running shows, 30 Rock and Parks and Rec. In addition, many of SNL's recent departures are now putting their footprint on the industry. Fred Armisen, who was on SNL for 13 years, is now in his 6th season of Portlandia, which he created. Last Man on Earth, Fox's new hit comedy, stars Will Forte who spent 10 years at SNL. Andy Samberg, digital short genius and 8 year cast member, is now the star of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and recently hosted the Emmys. Kristen Wiig gifted the world with Bridesmaids, and Seth Meyers is the host of Late Night. These recent SNL grads are only at the beginning of their post-SNL career and have a lot of room to grow. 

All in all, we should thank Lorne Michaels for creating such a program to help these comedians grow. Who knows if Tina Fey would have ever written Mean Girls or if Will Ferrell would have starred in dozens of hilarious comedies. Maybe? Probably not. So for all those new cast members who are awkward and mess up their lines, you may have your own show in 5-10 years. Hell, you may even host The Tonight Show.

Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids is a wedding comedy from 2011. The main character, a thirty-something named Annie’s (Kristen Wiig) life is falling apart. Despite her love for baking, her retail cake shop failed miserably, leaving her finances in bad shape. She now works a dead-end job as a jewelry store clerk, which she loathes. She is also forced to share an apartment with two bizarre roommates, who don't respect her personal space. On top of that, she is in a dysfunctional “friends with benefits” relationship with misogynistic Ted, who treats her solely as a last-resort sex partner. The only positive aspect of her life at the moment is when she finds out that her best friend Lillian of 16 years is getting married. Annie is initially happy for her, however, soon things take a turn for the worst when Annie starts to become overtaken with jealousy. As Annie observes Lillian’s wedding party, she feels inferior.  The other bridesmaids are all wealthy and married, both things that Annie is not, and she envies this. One of the bridesmaids in particular, Helen (Rose Byrne), really gets under Annie’s skin, and competition for Lillian’s affection and attention ensues.

As Annie seems to be losing the competition for being crowned Lillian’s maid of honor at every turn, another positive change enters her life in the form of police officer Nathan Rhodes. She becomes infatuated with him initially, however eventually gives up on the relationship due to the other failures in her life. As Annie continues to try to one-up Helen, she keeps pushing herself further and further away form Lillian. She suffers a mental breakdown, and struggles to turn her life back around, since she has left a train of ruins. However in the end, she is able to make it up to Lillian, as well as Rhodes, and the wedding party is brought closer together as they finally learn to co-exist peacefully.

The Skeleton Twins

Last fall I ventured to Cinemapolis to see The Skeleton Twins (directed by a film starring former SNL cast members Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader. Before entering the theater, I knew very little about the film except that Kristen and Bill were the two main characters (that was reason enough for me). It was a truly powerful performance; I left the theater in a stunned silence.

The premise of the film is about a set of twins reunited after having near death experiences on the same day. Maggie (Kristen Wiig) and Milo (Bill Hader) were estranged for ten years, but Milo's attempted suicide forced Maggie to take him in. There is a lot of back and forth between them that uncovers some of why they became estranged in the first place. The film ends on a very postive note, but I don't want to spoil the ending!

Skeleton Twins tackles a myriad of social issues that are relevant today, such as homosexuality, cross-dressing, and suicide. At times the darker parts of movie were upsetting but I think they tackled the issues with proper sensitivity.
Everything about this movie was stunning. The acting was superb, which does not surprise me one bit since these two are obviously great.

Everything felt very real, which is the most important thing. It was actually very refreshing to see them in serious roles such as these ones--I'm used to seeing them in ridiculous SNL sketches so it was very cool to see them be so serious.


Overall, it was a truly lovely film and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Here is the trailer for anyone interested!

Who Said Women Werent Funny?

After seeing the very funny movie Bridesmaids featuring Kristen Wiig, star from the hit comedy show Saturday Night Live, I knew this film would have an interesting yet big impact on the entertainment industry.  Kristen’s character Annie, as well as her co-stars Melissa McCarthy (Megan), Maya Rudolph (Lillian), and Rose Byrne (Helen) together create such an ensemble in which each characters’ uniquely developed personalities contributed to the recipe of comedy perfection.  With comedy expert and producer Judd Apatow and director Paul Feig also on the team, this film lead to break several barriers in terms of social norms specifically in terms of societies perception of women.  It relieves the always perfect, put-together image we are so used to seeing on the big screen and portrays the very vulnerable, more unguarded reality through frequent profanity and scenes relating to unusually spoken about or seen bodily functions if you will.  Nonetheless, this movie has become the foundation for women in comedy for future productions and even current movies such as The Heat.

            Also directed by Paul Feig, The Heat, takes us to a whole new level of comedy.  I can honestly say I have never seen a movie more funny than this one.  The jokes and sarcasm are endless and the chemistry between Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy is brilliant.  Id recommend everyone to check it out because I guarantee you will laugh at one point or another.  The characters, of which they play, are quite unfiltered and keep surprising you with clever remarks from opening scene to finishing credits.

Whip It

Whip It directed by Drew Barrymore, is a movie about a girl, Bliss (Ellen Page), from a small town, Bodeen, Texas. She feels like her life is going nowhere until one day while she is out shopping with her uptight pageant addicted mother she notices a flyer on the store's counter about the roller derby in Austin, Texas. Bliss and her best friend, Pash (Alia Shawkat), decide to go check it out. They meet Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig) and she introduces them to the world of roller derby. Bliss instantly falls in love with the sport and the story continues as she follows a different path and begins to make new discoveries about herself.


This is a really great movie because I really enjoyed the actresses' performances in this movie and the fact that it was Drew Barrymore's first time directing. She made the movie very unique and it definitely drew me into the plot.


References:
The Wizard of Oz (1939),2001: A Space Odyssey (1968),"Family Feud" (1976),Slap Shot (1977), Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977),Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983), 'Crocodile' Dundee (1986),"The Oprah Winfrey Show" (1986), Fight Club (1999),Spider-Man 3 (2007)