Mr. Show: "If Education Had a Dick, I Would Suck it"
You might have heard old rumors and wives' tales surrounding a certain sketch
comedy once broadcast on HBO. You might have heard snippets of conversations
centered on two men as legendary as they are obscure. You might have heard that
these men put together said show and, for four incredible seasons, brought a
fresh and exciting perspective to the tired sketch-show vehicle, establishing
a viewer base of literally hundreds across the nation. You might have heard
that these two men were, in fact, known as Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, and
that this show was, in fact, known as Mr. Show with Bob and David. Hell,
you might even be a huge fan, continually weeping into your pillow each night
because it hasn't really been seen since HBO put it 'on hiatus' in 1999. Well
wipe away your tears, little one: Mr. Show is back (sort of) and better
than ever (sort of).
It seems as if, three years after the last original episode first aired, Mr.
Show is undergoing some sort of renaissance period, with a DVD of the first
two seasons released earlier this spring and an official book, Mr. Show:
What Happened?, just recently released in bookstores across the nation.
But the most exciting development (and the reason for this story) has been an
actual live tour going across the nation, featuring the eponymous Bob and David
as well as veteran cast members John Ennis and Brian Posehn and newcomer Stephanie
Courtney. It's known as the Mr. Show: Hooray for America! Tour, and I
had the pleasure of being able to attend the LA show on October 4, at the Royce
Theater on UCLA campus.
It's kind of tragic that some of the best television shows never find much
of an audience. It was that way for Monty Python's Flying Circus two
decades ago, and for Mr. Show it was the same. Being an HBO-only show
limited its viewing audience, but its midnight timeslot hurt it even further
(accusations have been made that many HBO executives never supported the show
even from the beginning). So if you haven't seen or heard of the show, don't
feel too bad - at least you're in the majority. Every show would mix pre-recorded
scenes with live sketches - each one segueing into the next like a cracked-out
stream of consciousness - and would always begin with some stage banter from
Bob (the one in the suit and tie) and David (the bald guy wearing flannel).
The live show was no different, with an opening video sequence starring the
President of Globochem Industries (who thanked the American people for all of
his successes, without which he wouldn't have been able to completely ruin the
world's ecosystem) which segued into Bob and David appearing onstage and, amid
the thunderous applause of a full house of college students, welcoming us to
the show and telling us how glad they were to be here, in Branson, Missouri.
Some of Mr. Show's strongest points lie in its originality and sheer
bravery to go where nobody else will: while most sketch comedies made endless
Lewinsky jokes and fit in an O.J. reference wherever they could, Mr. Show
told the stories of Coupon: The Movie (based upon the country's most
popular coupon) and Spank, the man who tried but could never defecate on the
American flag. Five sketches from the original show were used (including the
Hail Satan Network, a 700 Club-type televangelism show complete with southern
drawls), but the rest of the 90-minute show was entirely new material, all of
it hysterical. The main narrative thrust dealt with the aforementioned Globochem's
plan to develop a viable third party for the presidential race, which they name
TCBP (The Country's Best Party). For their presidential candidate they choose
David, who decides in the middle of a debate (in which one candidate declares
"if education had a dick, I would suck it!") to give $2,000 to everyone
that votes for him. He's elected by a landslide and builds a new White House
in Hollywood, where an MTV Cribs-style show tours his house and shows him quickly
signing "a bunch of stupid papers" so he can get back to partying.
Once the public discovers that David is just a Globochem puppet, he is left
with only one option: throw the biggest impeachment party the country has ever
seen, televised and featuring hundreds of guest stars ("Bruce Willis! Barry
Bostwick! Barry Bonds! The 1986 Chicago Bears!" etc). The scariest part
of all this was that I could see this exact sort of thing happening within the
next ten years, and it's a credit to the writers that they could develop such
a clever, believable plot and keep the hilarity flowing at the same time.
This overarching concept, of course, is strung throughout the performance in
little vignettes here and there; in between are lots of other skits, most completely
unrelated but just as funny. In one sketch the Christians, Muslims and Jews
decide to settle their differences in the Middle East by finding the oldest
grain of sand on earth and having a representative of each religion put their
finger on it until they blinked; another involved a team of scientists educating
a mentally challenged man on death row to increase his intelligence to a level
at which he could be legally executed. The show also featured some cameo appearances
from a few of Mr. Show's more popular characters, such as Ronnie Dobbs
(the only man to ever be arrested in all 50 states) and Three Times One Minus
One (a hip-hop group popular on the White People Co-opting Black Culture Network).
The only real problem with the show lay with the sound equipment, which apparently
has been acting up throughout the tour. Some of the early segments lost a lot
of their punch when a few of the mics blinked on and off; it was especially
bad for Bob, was only able to get one or two audible words in during some sketches.
The cast didn't lose any energy, however, cracking problem-related jokes and
finally taking a five-minute intermission to get them fixed once and for all.
After the show ended, Bob apologized for the technical difficulties, explaining
"see, David and I have this thing when we prepare for the show, where we
put the mics in the oven for 20 minutes, though we can never agree on whose
turn it is to take them out… David wasn't watching them, and I was busy
stirring up the show sauce, so, you know, these things happen."
One of Mr. Show's great qualities is that it rewards repeat viewings.
The first time you watch an episode, you're struck by the basic ideas and the
obviouspunchlines; but further viewings illuminate less obvious jokes, subtle
gestures and throwaway gags that just aren't often present on, say, Saturday
Night Live. But the blessing becomes a sort of curse for the live show,
as there's no opportunity for another viewing; half the time the roar of the
audience (or your own laughter) during a particularly funny line drowned out
the next few seconds of dialogue. At another show you might not've missed out
on much, but the Mr. Show cast could easily slip in another two or three
jokes in the fading seconds of laughter.
This didn't detract from the show much, though; even the technical problems
couldn't stop the performers from giving it their all, or the audience from
having a great time. The tickets weren't cheap, but, my friends, they were well
worth it; they might even be coming through here again (check www.bobanddavid.com
for details), so you really have no excuse not to dredge up a few episodes,
familiarize yourself with the material and trek on out to your local theatre
to see these guys (and girl) put on the funniest hour and a half of (mostly)
live material that you're going to get outside of Rap! The Musical. And
that's saying something.