John Surico over at GQ has a new piece declaring this a comeback year for SNL. Apparently, he believes the show has been in some sort of slump since 2010 that's it's breaking out of now, which is silly because the past two years have been far, far from a low point. Still, the piece is a testament to what a great period the show's in now, with the writer saying the keys to the show's "newfound" success are a talented hosts, a strong batch of incoming cast members (singling out Kate McKinnon), and Jay Pharoah's Obama. It's worth a read, even if the guy's entire premise is faulty.
You ever get the feeling that the stars of Parks & Recreation knowingly act like their characters? Nick Offerman seems to revel in the extreme masculinity hoisted upon to him. Chris Pratt, though far more capable than Andy, apes his characters wide-eyed, big ol' lugness. In his interview with GQ, there are many quoteables that easily could be something Andy would say, well, if he was an actor who played a character like Andy on television. Mostly though, he comes off as humble mixed with Andy's sense of wonder:
It's a good thing I enjoy humor because, if I had to estimate, I'd put the number of humor pieces I've read this year somewhere in the low thousands. As a fan — and as someone who's numb to the embarrassment that comes with laughing aloud while riding public transportation — I imagine I'd have read some fraction of these just for fun. But as someone who’s had the privilege of editing Splitsider's Humor Section for the past nine months and compiling the list below (who am I kidding? tl;dr), I’ve been overwhelmed in the best way possible by the volume and quality of the humorists populating the [...]
I guess when you're Joan Rivers, even wildly successful standups who've been performing for 25 years are just "starting out." Rivers pays tribute to Louis C.K., who's been named GQ's latest Man of the Year, with some bleak but solid advice:
Your chosen life's work, comedy, is a steaming shithole of cruelty and degeneracy owned and operated by deranged, unattractive thieves. Ignore them. Push forward. Play by your rules and KEEP GOING. Wear blinders if necessary, but KEEP GOING. Don't let other people tell you what's funny. Don't read your reviews— the bad ones hurt too much and the good ones make you weak. It's all about ego [...]
What a man. Kristen Wiig has joined Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake in the ranks of GQ's 2011 Men of the Year. To honor her achievement, Jon Hamm remembers shooting the opening sex scene in Bridesmaids with Wiig:
Bounding around in a flesh-colored thong, trying not to sweat all over Kristen while a hundred crew members are literally like, "Can we get this done, please?"—our embarrassment coupled with everyone else's exhaustion lent that scene a particularly awkward sensibility.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall during that day of shooting…would have been kinda tiring and boring after a while, probably. Better to just watch the [...]
