What's Up With That?

I have the day off today, and I have to talk for a moment about the What Up With That SNL sketches.

If you’re a student of the art and science of humor, there’s so much to study in these sketches. They’re a firehose of frenetic absurdity that doesn’t make any sense, but they’re so damn funny, and I feel like a master’s comedy thesis could be extracted from them.

Every performance is perfect from start to finish, executed with amazing technical precision that looks like it takes months to rehearse, and it comes off completely natural and spontaneous. Every one is jam-packed with referential and visual humor, and you can just tell everyone involved in the scene is at the peak of their craft.

Anyway, I have a general appreciation for artistic things that take tons of chances, look like a lot of work to pull off, and turn out perfectly, and those sketches are that.

Secondarily, Lindsay Buckingham is one of the great underrated rock guitarists out there. That acoustic rendition of Big Love he did for The Dance (the bit that was in the sketch) was also that.