Season 439 - Mockumentaries



"Potato's In The Paddywagon" from the hilarious movie "A Mighty Wind" and performed by the "Main Street Singers." I had fun with this one although it took a while to get through it and not to screw up the words too badly. Try not tripping on "Sheriff Dan Pike picked Potato for the Polka," the first time through! Played my Duke 10 tenor banjolele, which I dearly love.
 
I was seriously thinking of doing my favourite Neil Innes song from "The Innes Book of Records" -which is "I like Cezanne, says Ann". A catchy little number that is a great intro to Cezanne's oeuvre.

Unfortunately, I didn't find the right words or chords. The NI Fan site does NOT have that song - despite a link to it saying it does.

I got to thinking of doing a tribute to the song and wondering what would have happened if Lennon & McCartney had been true to their art school backgrounds and had written a tribute to Claude Monet to the tune of Janie Bradford and Berry Gordy's "Money" that the Beatles recorded early on.

Here is what might have resulted....

 
When I was in college around 1980, the Boston radio station WBCN would have a show every weekday at noon called "The Mighty Lunch Hour". It always started with some hit song that had the lyrics changed to be about eating lunch. So in 2008, when my daughter was listening to The Script's big hit "Breakeven (Falling to Pieces)" a lot, I started going around the house singing this.


 
some more Partridge Family!
this, the theme song from the show via Two Little Woodpeckers
featuring joo's gorgeous art and a photo of her best friend from her childhood -
'Mouth' (pronounced 'Ah Chew' in her native teochew language)
so it sounded like you were sneezing every time you called his name :)
 
Thanks for hosting Brian! Mr. Ukefoot said he wanted to see us performing live, so I tried the rare live take here. Unfortunately I could only do this one take as my foot stomping after midnight was problematic for my friend downstairs :) I hope everyone is well ~

 
Ricky Gervais’s character David Brent from the original UK mockumentary TV series ‘The Office’ was so utterly, brilliantly and deliberately cringeworthy! This song is from the follow-up film that saw Brent investing his life savings in a quest to make it as a rock star. When I’ve more time I’ll add the hilarious original video underneath this one. Cheers for hosting Brian!



Edit: And below is the utterly fabulous original! Only David Brent would haggle over the price of a sprig of lucky heather at such a moment of opportunity! And check out the position of the huge branch in the opening shot!!! :D

 
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First time I met Ricky Gervais he was still trying to be a rock star, IRL. He was wearing black tights & fronting a band that I'm sure was called "Ricky Gervais & the Commodores," though I can find no trace of a band by this name. I think he was already working as our receptionist, and we put him on one night in the music bar.

Last time I ever ran into him (almost literally, I was on my motorbike and he was crossing the road in front of me), I asked what he was up to right now. "Oh, I'm doing some writing." He said. Turned out of course that what he was writing was "The Office".
 
And, hello, yet again, Brian! You said that original parodies were welcome this week. I haven't got a muse, like Berni ... this just came to me in a moment of temporary insanity. I used "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" for the music. It is VERY topical!

 
First time I met Ricky Gervais he was still trying to be a rock star, IRL. He was wearing black tights & fronting a band that I'm sure was called "Ricky Gervais & the Commodores," though I can find no trace of a band by this name. I think he was already working as our receptionist, and we put him on one night in the music bar.

Last time I ever ran into him (almost literally, I was on my motorbike and he was crossing the road in front of me), I asked what he was up to right now. "Oh, I'm doing some writing." He said. Turned out of course that what he was writing was "The Office".

great stuff, Paul
 
Ok I'm caught up on listening and the playlist is up to date.

We've a great group of songs representing Mockumentaries and Fake bands from the following sources:
Spinal Tap
The Rutles
Walk Hard
Bob Roberts
Hard Core Logo
A Mighty Wind
Parks and Recreation
Tenacious D
B. Rex
David Brent
Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes
the Partridge Family
the Monkees

and on top of that we've had some classic Monty Python tunes, and some very hilarious original parodies.

I'm so impressed by this community. You always rise to the challenge with amazing creativity!
 
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First time I met Ricky Gervais he was still trying to be a rock star, IRL. He was wearing black tights & fronting a band that I'm sure was called "Ricky Gervais & the Commodores," though I can find no trace of a band by this name. I think he was already working as our receptionist, and we put him on one night in the music bar.

Last time I ever ran into him (almost literally, I was on my motorbike and he was crossing the road in front of me), I asked what he was up to right now. "Oh, I'm doing some writing." He said. Turned out of course that what he was writing was "The Office".

Wow! He’s one of my absolute comedy heroes! Him and Trent! :)

Two questions spring to mind:

1) Was there anything about the younger Ricky when you knew him that gave any kind of inkling that he was destined for the kind of success he’s achieved?

2) Which one of the characters in The Office (or any of his other shows for that matter) did he base on you, Paul? (My money’s on Gareth! ;) )
 
Ricky Gervais’s character David Brent from the original UK mockumentary TV series ‘The Office’ was so utterly, brilliantly and deliberately cringeworthy!

And below is the utterly fabulous original! Only David Brent would haggle over the price of a sprig of lucky heather at such a moment of opportunity! And check out the position of the huge branch in the opening shot!!! :D



OMG Hilarious and quite good. And has anyone noticed that Ricky could be a vampire with those canines?
 
Thanks again for hosting Brian! I've discovered some really funny stuff exploring options, including this one from "A Mighty Wind" Joined here by Marc and our wonderful friend Bob! We were pleasantly surprised by the vocal presence despite wearing masks. Be safe and be well, kev ~

 
Just watched the entire movie (A Mighty Wind) - poor quality visuals, but they didn't ruin the brilliant pastiches and the hilarious dialogue.
Thanks for the tears of laughter rolling down my face still, Kev!
 
Just watched the entire movie (A Mighty Wind) - poor quality visuals, but they didn't ruin the brilliant pastiches and the hilarious dialogue.
Thanks for the tears of laughter rolling down my face still, Kev!
If you haven’t already seen it Berni I also highly recommend another Christopher Guest film, Best In Show (even better than Spinal Tap I reckon).
 
I just found that Fear of a Black Hat is available to watch on Tubi (a streaming service my cable company offers for free). I'm a half hour into it right now. It's like the rap equivalent of Spinal Tap.
 
um...just gonna leave this here and we'll grab our coats....
a mockumentary original for the season
via Two Little Woodpeckers
i think i just threw up in my mouth a little bit... :)
 
Our host seemed intrigued when I mentioned on the Saturday Zoom chat, so I thought I would record it again. File this under sub theme 1 - fake bands. I bet this was in the first handful of seasons contributions I made, nigh on 4 years ago. An unforgettable Simpsons classic.

 
Just watched the entire movie (A Mighty Wind) - poor quality visuals, but they didn't ruin the brilliant pastiches and the hilarious dialogue.
Thanks for the tears of laughter rolling down my face still, Kev!

Glad we inspired you to check it out Bernie! Knowing you and your creative approach to songwriting, it does seem right up your alley :) I'm imagining songs forthcoming already ~
 
Wow! He’s one of my absolute comedy heroes! Him and Trent! :)

Two questions spring to mind:

1) Was there anything about the younger Ricky when you knew him that gave any kind of inkling that he was destined for the kind of success he’s achieved?)

No. But you gotta remember my entire life back then consisted of dealing with rock'n'roll stars & rock'n'roll wannabes. He held his own in that company (he got promoted after a year or so as receptionist to booking bands as our Ents Officer); but there was nothing that would make you think that he was going on to follow anything other than the normal career path of someone who held that kind of position: namely, go into tour promotion. If anything, my money would have been on his partner, Jane (Fallon), who'd shared receptionist duties with him.

If you ever watched that Simpson's episode he features in, that's how he was like at work. Funny enough, but always slightly snidey with it. 'Comedy' Rick is just a bigger version of himself.

2) Which one of the characters in The Office (or any of his other shows for that matter) did he base on you, Paul? (My money’s on Gareth! ;) )

I'd like to think we got on well as colleagues, but I've never watched anything other than the odd clip from 'The Office', or any of his other shows fo that matter; because, for example, whenever I've watched 'The Office', I don't see David Brent, I just see Ricky: a less self-aware version of Ricky, to be sure, but it's still him. If you remember his appearance at the Concert for Diana, that wasn't David Brent. That really was him, fulfilling that lifelong ambition of playing Wembley Stadium.



As for me being a character in 'The Office'? I'll leave that to you and others to judge, but from what I've seen of it, I'm not sure that any of the characters in 'The Office' matched any of the people we worked with. In any case, long before he started writing, I'd left rock'n'roll & Ricky behind, to go work for the UN.
 
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