“Weird Al” pays thoughtful, sincere tribute to his favorite comedy LPs
“Weird Al” Yankovic may be associated with one particular species of recorded humor, but he has a deep and abiding love for LPs of stand-up and sketch comedy, too, as he ably demonstrated during a recent visit to Late Night With Seth Meyers. The freshman talk show asked the veteran funnyman to compile his Top five comedy albums list for a video on its YouTube channel, and he responded with a quintet of records spanning from 1971 to 2007. While not exactly somber, Yankovic is serious and reflective while discussing these albums and their respective merits. His choices (and, yes, he does say how difficult it was to narrow them down to five) show a preference for dark, pessimistic comedy one might not expect from a man whose name conjures up images of Hawaiian shirts and accordions. Another Monty Python Record is praised, for instance, for ending with two sketches about cannibalism, while Patton Oswalt’s Werewolves And Lollipops receives commendation for a track in which the comedian ponders killing George Lucas with a shovel. Alongside some better-known titles, “Weird Al” also sneaks in a plug for the Credibility Gap’s A Great Gift Idea from 1974. Though somewhat forgotten today, the Credibility Gap were an inventive sketch comedy troupe who served as an important precursor to Spinal Tap. To reveal anything further about Yankovic’s list would be disingenuous. Just watch it.