It’s safe to say that until recently Saturday Night Live was in a bit of a creative lull. Key cast members were leaving for more lucrative movie deals, only stopping by for the occasional cameo. It was a sad time for the institution that started the careers of almost everyone in the pantheon of comedy. Then in 2005, Andy Samberg stepped in and with the help of some college friends (Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone) saved the show. moving their comedy group, The Lonely Island Club, to parody super stardom. For the first time in what seemed like ages, people were watching SNL again, and with the help of some impressive celebrity cameos, thanks to NBC, the digital shorts quickly became the must see events of the weekend, not to mention on the Internet. Once more, quotes from SNL could be heard everywhere as people attempted to recreate the songs for better or worse.
Incredibad is the culmination of the past four years of hilarity in song form. Unless you have been tuned out from pop culture all together, it was hard not to have seen the videos of such shorts as “Dick In A Box”, and the one to start it all, “Lazy Sunday”. The star power makes them even more hilarious, especially with the side splitting “Natalie’s Rap”, in which little Natalie Portman moved from cute starlet to funny bad-ass thanks to the gangster rap parody of herself. With that, Saturday Night Live was again an institution in which celebrities could go and have fun with themselves and their fellow actors. Seeing Justin Timberlake with a wrapped present on his package shows us that even an ego can have a sense of humor and seem normal. Now every time we see Mr. Timberlake pop up (the grocery store employee in “Jizz In My Pants”, for instance) you can’t help but smile and gain that much more respect for the man, even if you have no desire to own his records. Recently, T-Pain got in on the fun with “I’m On A Boat”, which carries his trademark auto-tune to drive the ridiculousness home.
Aside from those tracks that originated as shorts, the album is filled with other gems such as the raunchy party anthem “Santana DVX” and the title track, which tells the story of the group’s origin, something about an all male threesome to save an alien race that ends with a wish being granted. I’d say more, but I can’t give all the secrets away. Then there’s “Dream Girl”, a song about Chex-Mix and the love of a homeless woman, which features the very unlikely duet of Norah Jones. How about that for a cameo?
It’s difficult to do what they do, never to rip directly from a popular song, but skirt around it, playing with its style, and moving it to the edge of over the top absurdity. Some of these tracks simply are not done justice without their visual counterpart, as no detail is spared. But in terms of a musical comedy album, it hits the mark. The humor is simple enough for anyone to understand, yet specific and random enough to make it funny to just about everyone, unless, of course, “Ras Trent” hits a little too close to home. In the end, true funny is an art. Even those that have been doing it for decades have problems, but that is what is so beautiful about it. Real comedy is rare, so you better catch it while you can.
Check Out:
“I’m On A Boat”
