Someone came up to me tonight to comment on my last live comedy show, and like a lot of people, loved the live political musical parodies. Mind you, this was the night after the midterm elections, and we're in a blue zone here in Portland, Maine. Though my song about Mark Foley was new, I had written the others many months ago, yet people found them timely. There's a good reason for that...
http://www.liveimprov.com/political_comedy.htm
I and the people I am lucky enough to work with in producing live and scripted radio, stage and tv shows with have been cranking out anti-Bush, anti-government tyranny comedy for the last six years.
DEMO HERE:
http://www.liveimprov.com/political_comedy.htm
People really connect with it...some hate it, and you can guess who. But what I was leading up to above--the material from Oct. 2001, "The Search for Bin Laden," and its sequels, "The Search for the Republican Guard" and others, are as relevant now as they were then...simply because the Bushites have changed little, done little, and the same problems are festering.
Now, as a writer and comedian, that's a very fortunate turn of events. It keeps your material fresh for years! But sad to say, I wish it were otherwise. This must be how the jesters of the Hundred Years War must have felt, both blessed and cursed.
I have little doubt that the material will keep coming and will remain relevant. I wrote a parody of Steely Dan's "Reelin' in the Years" tonight for our our Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Day USO-Style Show (lyrics below). But the stuff from a year ago is still fresh. The Karl Rove song ("I'm looking over a fat Karl Rover, that I overlooked before...") to the tune of "I'm Looking Over Four-Leafed Clover;" "Iranian Uranium," sung to the tune of "The Banana Boat Song;" and much more.
Not to mention our Prosthetic Fashion Show sketch. And the new GI Joe, confused and traumatized, with the Abu Ghraib Grip. Wish you could be there.
LYRICS (as promised)
(to the tune of "Reelin' In the Years")
You're an everlasting bummer
And your star is fading fast
So you grab a piece of Iraq
Whose expiration date is past
You wouldn't know a value
If you held it in your hand
The way you speak is precious
You're a cute, dyslectic man
CHORUS:
Are you outin' all the queers
Are your buddies doin' time
Don't you know the end is near
We all know you're a slime
You been sayin' Rove's a genius
But his mind is just obscene
The last election showed you
He's simply cruel and mean
The speeches at the college
Left your dick limp in your hand
Your stunning lack of knowledge
Is embarrassing the band.
CHORUS:
Are you outin' all the queers
Are your buddies doin' time
Don't you know the end is near
We all know you're a slime
http://www.liveimprov.com/political_comedy.htm
copyright 2006 Dan Bernard