Welcome to the Winter 2008 edition of the director’s commentary to Lenny Dee. I’ll assume a close familiarity with the sketches, characters, and actors portraying them. What I’ll also assume is that you are so very eager to learn more, that you won’t even bother reading this. So let’s get to the commentary!
1. The Man with the Golden Mullet — One of the new sketch-writing practices we tried this term was a Secret Santa sort of thing. Everyone drew names out of a hat, and when I got stuck with John-Michael, I couldn’t have been happier. I decided not to make a sketch that had a traditional “narrative,” “characters,” or anything that could be considered “coherent.” U2 is played because I was listening to The Joshua Tree while writing the sketch. For a while we had toyed with a follow-up meta sketch involving a panel of experts discussing the meaning of the sketch. It would have included a guy from 1988. Maybe someday… The inside jokes you may have missed:
John-Michael brings back the mesh tank top later in the show. He made it work.
You’ll also see Jameson in a white sleeveless shirt similar to the ones on stage very soon…
2. Emogene Cop/Bad Cop — This was Tim’s idea, written specifically for Emogene. The entire structure of the sketch was drastically altered just a night or two before our Thursday opening, when it was decided that Nelson would encounter the little girl on the street, rather than having her explicitly interrogating him as the bad cop’s partner. I had a lot of fun coming up with mixed metaphors for the bad cop to threaten Nelson with. The inside joke you may have missed:
Recognize those aviator sunglasses?
3. Dex — Written by Jameson specifically for Chase. The sketch explains it pretty well, but you can find an original commercial starring “Dex” here. Dex knows, you guys. He really does. The inside jokes you may have missed:
Remember Makeout Ridge? Looks like Amanda and her family just might live in Lenny Dee Town…
Last winter, we had a sketch that ended up being an endorsement for the iPhone. This year, we do once again. Apple needs to start paying us som’thin’ serious.
4. Gerald Winkler Pt. 3 — During the process of putting together Welcome to Lenny Dee Town, I really, really wanted to do a series of vignettes that moved chronologically backward in time, รก la Memento. The tragedy of Gerald Winkler was all but written in the fall, and was put off until this term, where I think we really did it justice. The banners in the back read “1995 – 2042″ and “Time flies!” Something very fortuitous happened with the “Time flies!” banner in Pt. 2 the night that this was filmed… watch closely and you’ll see that it all lines up. The inside joke you may have missed:
Five gunshots. Five of ‘em. The tradition continues.
5. NorDiCorTiSol — Written by Nathan specifically for Jameson, the tallest member of Lenny Dee, and possibly the tallest student at Carleton. Henry plays the ‘before’ to Jameson’s ‘after.’ One thing about Nathan is that he loves penis jokes and he is Jewish. There are elements of both of those in this sketch, and even a joke combining the two. Sven Rolvaag is an actual professor at St. Olaf College (no he’s not). The inside joke you may have missed:
The technical term for the three young ladies swooning over Jameson’s nordic allure is “mad biddies.”
6. DeuSexMachina — I think Chase brought up the idea for this sketch? It’s fairly straightforward, in that it’s based around a literary term and there’s a lot of sex. We made all the dinosaurs ourselves, and their three-dimensionality is thanks to Emogene’s painting skills. Henry and Leah make awesome German passengers on the Hindenburg, but were a little afraid of physical contact with each other. The German phrase Leah is trying to say is “ficken wir” (look it up). The inside joke you may have missed:
Anal stimulation via brontosaurus.
7. That’s Wolf Andy! Pt. 1 — Wolf Andy was a character developed through our random two word pairings exercise (along with Gerald Winkler and Rabid Unicorn (more on that soon)). This is what happens when you expect anthropomorphosity where it does not actually exist. There are a lot of drugs at this high school. The extent of Leah’s characters feelings for Wolf Andy? You probably don’t want to know… The inside joke you may have missed:
“Wolf Andy” spelled backwards is almost “DNA Flow.”
8. To Kill a…? — As previously mentioned, Rabid Unicorn was another two word phrase someone came up with. Chase took the liberty of plagiarizing large chunks of text from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, and Tim Johnson the rabid dog (who, according to Wikipedia, symbolizes racism) became Tim Johnson the rabid unicorn. Finally, for good measure, we threw in Lord Voldemort (in the form of Professor Quirrell). The inside joke you may have missed:
Leah and John-Michael were made to be adorable child siblings, apparently.
9. Jimmy — Written by the infamous Kimball brothers (revealed later to be mostly Chase’s brother, Peter), you can find an early version on YouTube here, with adorable Fisher-Price figures. Nathan and I play parallel characters, of sorts, in that we both offer Jimmy a lick of our Tootsie Roll Pops (taken from Emogene’s balloons as Emogene Cop). The inside joke you may have missed:
Chase and Emogene actually each urinate out of their thighs. It’s a serious problem.
10. A Rough Deal — It’s about sweaters, but you thought it was drugs, right? This sketch goes to great lengths to dispel common notions and misconceptions about old ladies, in that they will give you roofied cookies in order to steal your sweater. The inside joke you may have missed:
John-Michael knows how to fall onstage like a pro.
Come back on Friday, when I’ll detail for you the rest of the show, and you’ll learn just how, when, and where Lenny Dee went there.
Welcome to the Winter 2008 edition of the director’s commentary to Lenny Dee. I’ll assume a close familiarity with the sketches, characters, and actors portraying them. What I’ll also assume is that you are so very eager to learn more, that you won’t even bother reading this. So let’s get to the commentary!
1. The Man with the Golden Mullet — One of the new sketch-writing practices we tried this term was a Secret Santa sort of thing. Everyone drew names out of a hat, and when I got stuck with John-Michael, I couldn’t have been happier. I decided not to make a sketch that had a traditional “narrative,” “characters,” or anything that could be considered “coherent.” U2 is played because I was listening to The Joshua Tree while writing the sketch. For a while we had toyed with a follow-up meta sketch involving a panel of experts discussing the meaning of the sketch. It would have included a guy from 1988. Maybe someday… The inside jokes you may have missed:
2. Emogene Cop/Bad Cop — This was Tim’s idea, written specifically for Emogene. The entire structure of the sketch was drastically altered just a night or two before our Thursday opening, when it was decided that Nelson would encounter the little girl on the street, rather than having her explicitly interrogating him as the bad cop’s partner. I had a lot of fun coming up with mixed metaphors for the bad cop to threaten Nelson with. The inside joke you may have missed:
3. Dex — Written by Jameson specifically for Chase. The sketch explains it pretty well, but you can find an original commercial starring “Dex” here. Dex knows, you guys. He really does. The inside jokes you may have missed:
4. Gerald Winkler Pt. 3 — During the process of putting together Welcome to Lenny Dee Town, I really, really wanted to do a series of vignettes that moved chronologically backward in time, รก la Memento. The tragedy of Gerald Winkler was all but written in the fall, and was put off until this term, where I think we really did it justice. The banners in the back read “1995 – 2042″ and “Time flies!” Something very fortuitous happened with the “Time flies!” banner in Pt. 2 the night that this was filmed… watch closely and you’ll see that it all lines up. The inside joke you may have missed:
5. NorDiCorTiSol — Written by Nathan specifically for Jameson, the tallest member of Lenny Dee, and possibly the tallest student at Carleton. Henry plays the ‘before’ to Jameson’s ‘after.’ One thing about Nathan is that he loves penis jokes and he is Jewish. There are elements of both of those in this sketch, and even a joke combining the two. Sven Rolvaag is an actual professor at St. Olaf College (no he’s not). The inside joke you may have missed:
6. DeuSexMachina — I think Chase brought up the idea for this sketch? It’s fairly straightforward, in that it’s based around a literary term and there’s a lot of sex. We made all the dinosaurs ourselves, and their three-dimensionality is thanks to Emogene’s painting skills. Henry and Leah make awesome German passengers on the Hindenburg, but were a little afraid of physical contact with each other. The German phrase Leah is trying to say is “ficken wir” (look it up). The inside joke you may have missed:
7. That’s Wolf Andy! Pt. 1 — Wolf Andy was a character developed through our random two word pairings exercise (along with Gerald Winkler and Rabid Unicorn (more on that soon)). This is what happens when you expect anthropomorphosity where it does not actually exist. There are a lot of drugs at this high school. The extent of Leah’s characters feelings for Wolf Andy? You probably don’t want to know… The inside joke you may have missed:
8. To Kill a…? — As previously mentioned, Rabid Unicorn was another two word phrase someone came up with. Chase took the liberty of plagiarizing large chunks of text from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, and Tim Johnson the rabid dog (who, according to Wikipedia, symbolizes racism) became Tim Johnson the rabid unicorn. Finally, for good measure, we threw in Lord Voldemort (in the form of Professor Quirrell). The inside joke you may have missed:
9. Jimmy — Written by the infamous Kimball brothers (revealed later to be mostly Chase’s brother, Peter), you can find an early version on YouTube here, with adorable Fisher-Price figures. Nathan and I play parallel characters, of sorts, in that we both offer Jimmy a lick of our Tootsie Roll Pops (taken from Emogene’s balloons as Emogene Cop). The inside joke you may have missed:
10. A Rough Deal — It’s about sweaters, but you thought it was drugs, right? This sketch goes to great lengths to dispel common notions and misconceptions about old ladies, in that they will give you roofied cookies in order to steal your sweater. The inside joke you may have missed:
Come back on Friday, when I’ll detail for you the rest of the show, and you’ll learn just how, when, and where Lenny Dee went there.
Posted in Sketch Comedy | Tags: Carleton College, Comedy, Commentary, Funny, Humor, Lenny Dee, Lenny Dee Goes There, Little Nourse, Sketch Comedy