Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

...Will Ferrell’s Broadway Show YOU’RE WELCOME, AMERICA: A FINAL NIGHT WITH GEORGE W. BUSH!!
Ain't It Cool News ^ | 12/16/08 | "Hercules"/"Skippyjip"

Posted on 12/17/2008 10:09:36 AM PST by Reaganesque

“Skippyjip,” who says he is not a huge fan of Will Ferrell’s, calls a rehearsal version of Ferrell’s upcoming stage show about George W. Bush “well-crafted,” “smart” and “very, very funny.”

Co-written by Ferrell and his “SNL”/“Anchorman” collaborator Adam McKay, it opens Jan. 20 and closes March 15. HBO will telecast it live, likely on or near closing night.

I love that they’ve already got a guy throwing shoes from the audience!

Hey Harry,

Long time reader, but this is my first scoop/review.

I just saw a staged reading of an early version of Will Ferrell’s new one man Broadway Show “You’re Welcome America: A Final Night With George W. Bush.” The show opens at the Court Theatre on Inauguration Day, and tonight was a sort of test “screening” of Ferrell’s material (about an hour and a half of it, all told). He’s in character, as Dubya, from minute one. There’s some audience interaction, but everything is very scripted. This show was presented by Funnyordie.com, and the (small) cast was a veritable who’s who of Funnyordie and UCB favorites, with Owen Burke reading stage directions, Seth Morris as a secret service agent with a deep-seeded love of The Dance, and Chad Carter as a shoe throwing audience plant.

Whether The Agent will remain a part of the Broadway production is anyone’s guess. I wouldn’t be surprised (or disappointed) to see a full chorus of Dancing Secret Service agents keeping the audience entertained while Dubya dons a flight jacket or loses his grey suit in favor of jeans and a cowboy hat. That being said, I think they would be remiss not to include Seth Morris among said Agents. He’s too funny to be relegated to the Internet and UCB’s Harold shows. Give the man some screen time, or at least a meaty Broadway contract.

Obviously Owen Burke will not be needed to describe “George Duyba being lowered by a helicopter onto the stage” once they’re… y’know… on an actual stage with an actual helicopter, and I’m pretty sure Carter’s shoe-thrower was an impromptu add-in just for tonight. It went over huge, but the event won’t be topical come January 20th. And if this show’s apparent thesis holds water (that Americans have short attention spans and are altogether too forgiving of our leaders’ malpractice), we will have long since forgotten the shoe-hurling Iraqi Journalist and his fate (still TBD). But if Will Ferrell has any say in things, we’ll never forget the man who was the shoe’s intended target. Nor will we forget his historic blunders and incalculable missteps.

I’m not going to give away too much of the funny, but since what I saw was a working version and is likely to change dramatically, it wouldn’t matter anyway. In the show, Ferrell’s Bush stumbles through the telling of his childhood adventures, his collegiate misdeeds, his Gubernatorial days in Texas and on through the 2000 election debacle, September 11th, the subsequent coercion of the press and congress, and the consequent invasion of Iraq… oh, we get a small smattering of Hurricane Katrina to boot. Does is sound like a fairly comprehensive history of our 43rd commander in chief? It is. Does it sound like a scathing portrayal of a sitting US President? It is. More so than I would have expected from the relatively non-controversial Mr. Ferrell. Fact and fiction are blended together generously, but Ferrell does an expert job of winking away the fiction, and letting facts land with painful resonance. The kind of resonance that makes you feel a little ashamed for not noticing anything earlier. Or worse: for noticing and looking away.

Let me say, at this juncture, something that will no doubt open me up to ridicule and dismissal amidst the talkbackers (if you use this): I am not a big Will Ferrell fan. I used to be, kinda, or at least allowed myself to be dragged along for the ride. As America embraced Will Ferrell, I had a sneaking suspicion that we were being tricked. He was the funniest part of SNL for several rocky, rocky years in the show’s history, but was never enough to actually keep me tuned in weekly. I dug him in Old School, where he was used sparingly, and admittedly fell for Anchorman upon my first viewing. Then I got sick of that character. You know the one: the “way less important or talented than he believes himself to be guy who talks very loudly” character. The one he ALWAYS plays. And by the time Step Brothers came out, I found myself thinking “I don’t want to go see Will Ferrell come up with the funniest combination of words he can think of and then yell them… Again. I’ve seen that before.”

But that’s not what this was. This was thought out. It was deliberate, well crafted, and smart. It was also very, very funny. And even though it’s not all that different from what we’ve seen Will Ferrell do, it was an outright treat. Will Ferrell’s Dubya is so good because Dubya is a lot like those other characters. He has the same smug arrogance peppered with utter stupidity that Ron Burgundy or Ricky Bobby has. What Will Ferrell can do, because he’s Will Ferrell, is to bring those alarming comparisons into strict focus, and (more importantly) to that remind us that WE LET HIM GET AWAY WITH IT ALL. We made Ricky Bobby our president. We elected Ron Burgundy for a second term. Ferrell doesn’t want you to spend an hour and a half laughing at “strategery” or “miss-underestimate.” He doesn’t even want you to spend the full hour and a half laughing. He actually wants you in there thinking. Thinking about what we allowed one man and his administration to do to our country and the world. It’s a sophisticated show that will only become more so as it continues to develop in the month to come.

My hat is off to you, Mr. Ferrell. I may have been tricked, but I’ve also been suitably impressed.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bds; broadway; bush; bush43; comedy; farewelltour; ferrell; snl
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-36 next last
BDS in full bloom. Libs are going to keep George W Bush around for years to come so they can kick him around for the rest of his life. Their hatred of this man knows no sense of decency, propriety or limits. They are the very embodiment of hate and intolerance. I'm sure there will be "George Bush's Last Day" parties across the country and Libs will routinely make trips to Crawford, or where ever Mr. Bush ends up living, to deface and vandalize his home and property for years to come. Disgusting.

Even our worst Clinton haters didn't sink this low.

1 posted on 12/17/2008 10:09:37 AM PST by Reaganesque
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Reaganesque
The real irony is Bush made a real effort to be as good for the left as he was for the right.

I hope every republicans takes note of what happens when one extends their hand to these hyenas.

2 posted on 12/17/2008 10:13:45 AM PST by skeeter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: skeeter
I hope every republicans takes note of what happens when one extends their hand to these hyenas.

Hyenas? I'm thinking diamondbacks.

3 posted on 12/17/2008 10:15:44 AM PST by Zhang Fei
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Reaganesque

Hey, we held an Adios Clinton party and have been, and still are, kicking him around. Why deny the libs Bush?

Politics, baby. It ain’t for the thin skinned or weak.


4 posted on 12/17/2008 10:15:46 AM PST by FreedomFerret
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Reaganesque

Bush = Goldstein = Snowball. The eternal source of evil for the American Socialist.

He will be the image for the Two Minutes Hate longer than Reagan’s portrait was.


5 posted on 12/17/2008 10:16:02 AM PST by Old Sarge (For the first time in my life, I am ashamed to be an American)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Reaganesque

idiots such as Will don’t realize that the new freedoms brought by President Bush and our military allowed this moron “reporter” the freedom to throw his shoes.

Try that with Saddam Hussein.


6 posted on 12/17/2008 10:16:09 AM PST by ChiMark
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Reaganesque
“well-crafted,” “smart” and “very, very funny.”

With Will Farrell? I doubt it. A less funny person there is not.

Would they say the same about an Obama show?

7 posted on 12/17/2008 10:17:09 AM PST by Puppage (You may disagree with what I have to say, but I shall defend to your death my right to say it)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Reaganesque

It’s official...BUSH IS THE NEW NIXON.


8 posted on 12/17/2008 10:18:03 AM PST by CAPTAINSUPERMARVELMAN
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FreedomFerret

Did you write and finance a Broadway play that was covered live by HBO? Bit of a difference.


9 posted on 12/17/2008 10:18:22 AM PST by Reaganesque
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Zhang Fei

Nothing more than jackals, in my view...


10 posted on 12/17/2008 10:18:39 AM PST by astounded (The democrat party is a clear and present danger to America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Reaganesque
Will Ferrell

One of, if not the, most over-rated entertainers in America. Ever. He's NOT funny. He's boring.

11 posted on 12/17/2008 10:18:58 AM PST by Hardastarboard (Why do I find the Toyota "Saved by Zero" ads so ironic?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Reaganesque
"even our worst Clinton haters didn't sink this low"

How's that working out?


12 posted on 12/17/2008 10:19:20 AM PST by I see my hands (_8(|)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Reaganesque

I was sad because I had no shoes to throw, until I met a reporter who had no feet.................


13 posted on 12/17/2008 10:22:44 AM PST by Red Badger (I was sad because I had no shoes to throw, until I met a reporter who had no feet.....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FreedomFerret
"Hey, we held an Adios Clinton party and have been, and still are, kicking him around. Why deny the libs Bush"

Hey, because there is objective good and evil. Get it?


14 posted on 12/17/2008 10:24:04 AM PST by I see my hands (_8(|)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Reaganesque

Bush’s Final Day?

Someone needs to post that superb, but fictitious rant in which the President pretty much tells an unappreciative America to F**k Off.


15 posted on 12/17/2008 10:25:07 AM PST by EyeGuy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: skeeter
"I hope every republicans takes note of what happens when one extends their hand to these hyenas."

Like father, like son.

On inauguration day 1989, President G.H.W. Bush extended his hand to Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell. Mitchell shook it with the most evil grin I've ever seen.

Mitchell then proceeded to do everything in his power to bite that hand.

16 posted on 12/17/2008 10:26:31 AM PST by Henchster (Free Republic - the BEST site on the web!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Reaganesque
Somebody point out to this pinhead that there has not be a serious attack on American soil since 9-11, that the horrible treatment of "freedom fighters" at Gitmo ("OMG, panties on his head!") and the perfectly legally Patriot wiretaps stopped over seventy potential terror attacks in the US. And sadly, when the Dems get done gutting the perfectly reasonable security policies of the Bush years, and we do have a smallpox hit or a suitcase nuke, they will somehow, magically, blame it on W.
17 posted on 12/17/2008 10:29:23 AM PST by 50sDad (On the Left, compassion is measured by intent, not results.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Reaganesque

God Bless President George W. Bush. I hope I’m still around when they carve his face into Mount Rushmore.


18 posted on 12/17/2008 10:30:32 AM PST by karnage
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Reaganesque
Also, as someone who saw Bush referred to for eight long years as "the chimp" because of his looks, I dare anyone to publically hang that moniker on Obama. Two completely different sets of laws.
19 posted on 12/17/2008 10:31:37 AM PST by 50sDad (On the Left, compassion is measured by intent, not results.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Hardastarboard

Seeing Will Ferrel’s name in the credits is enough to keep me from seeing a movie.


20 posted on 12/17/2008 10:33:51 AM PST by ZirconEncrustedTweezers (God helps those who help themselves. The government helps those who don't.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-36 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson