Posted on 12/17/2008 10:09:36 AM PST by Reaganesque
Skippyjip, who says he is not a huge fan of Will Ferrells, calls a rehearsal version of Ferrells 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 theyve 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 Ferrells new one man Broadway Show Youre 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 Ferrells material (about an hour and a half of it, all told). Hes in character, as Dubya, from minute one. Theres some audience interaction, but everything is very scripted. This show was presented by Funnyordie.com, and the (small) cast was a veritable whos 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 anyones guess. I wouldnt 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. Hes too funny to be relegated to the Internet and UCBs 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 theyre yknow on an actual stage with an actual helicopter, and Im pretty sure Carters shoe-thrower was an impromptu add-in just for tonight. It went over huge, but the event wont be topical come January 20th. And if this shows 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, well never forget the man who was the shoes intended target. Nor will we forget his historic blunders and incalculable missteps.
Im 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 wouldnt matter anyway. In the show, Ferrells 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 shows 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 dont want to go see Will Ferrell come up with the funniest combination of words he can think of and then yell them Again. Ive seen that before.
But thats not what this was. This was thought out. It was deliberate, well crafted, and smart. It was also very, very funny. And even though its not all that different from what weve seen Will Ferrell do, it was an outright treat. Will Ferrells 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 hes 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 doesnt want you to spend an hour and a half laughing at strategery or miss-underestimate. He doesnt 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. Its 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 Ive also been suitably impressed.
Even our worst Clinton haters didn't sink this low.
I hope every republicans takes note of what happens when one extends their hand to these hyenas.
Hyenas? I'm thinking diamondbacks.
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.
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.
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.
With Will Farrell? I doubt it. A less funny person there is not.
Would they say the same about an Obama show?
It’s official...BUSH IS THE NEW NIXON.
Did you write and finance a Broadway play that was covered live by HBO? Bit of a difference.
Nothing more than jackals, in my view...
One of, if not the, most over-rated entertainers in America. Ever. He's NOT funny. He's boring.
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I was sad because I had no shoes to throw, until I met a reporter who had no feet.................
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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.
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.
God Bless President George W. Bush. I hope I’m still around when they carve his face into Mount Rushmore.
Seeing Will Ferrel’s name in the credits is enough to keep me from seeing a movie.
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