Will Ferrell wore Elf costume to hockey game just to get a little weird with it

In case you haven’t noticed, Will Ferrell is weird. He’s a weirdo. He doesn’t fit in and he doesn’t want to fit in. And one of his most iconic characters, Buddy the Elf, apparently knows all about the epic highs and lows of professional hockey.

Whether he anticipated the reaction or not, Ferrell put on one of the best Christmas shows of the season when he randomly appeared as a rather bedraggled Buddy at a hockey game between the Los Angeles Kings and Philadelphia Flyers in December. Gone was the elf’s bright-eyed optimism and unflappable belief in the Christmas spirit; life in New York had replaced all that with a (candy) cigarette and unkempt hairdo. 

Ferrell recently appeared on Jason and Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast to discuss Buddy’s new look. “Buddy the Elf got laid off, I think, from the North Pole,” he quipped. “He’s having a pull from his beer, smoking a cig. That was just… I get these weird ideas every now and then. We’re season ticket holders for the L.A. Kings. We have seats right on the glass. I told my wife, ‘Over the break, it would be funny if I just got a Buddy the Elf costume and didn’t shave for a week, and I’m just sitting there with a candy cigarette and I’m just gonna sit there for a period and see how people react.'”

The idea of Ferrell shopping for a knockoff costume inspired by his own character is almost as funny as the viral moment. And it really did go viral. “The reaction was insane!” Ferrell continued. “Like, what is he doing? Is he promoting something? But occasionally I just like to do weird things like that just to stir it up.” Thank goodness the real Ferrell hasn’t let the world turn him into a no fun cotton-headed ninny muggins.