Have you seen this?
Barb and Vicky share stuff that helps them survive the holidays...with a good belly laugh.
Vicky: Hey Barb - I love the Seuss meets Schulz vibe. The photo by Scott Webb is perfect for this blog post! I have been so excited to watch these videos together.
Barb: My favorite by far is “Adele saves Christmas”. We watched it again last week and I was just undone. The nails, the hair, the wind…
Vicky: For me, there was only Jay Pharoah and Aidy Bryant. When her hands were on his face...just perfection. And the subtext...we need an overlapping ring on the Venn diagram of holiday get-togethers, something that unites us.
Barb: And Adele is the common thread - the only intersection. A wise child led the way.
Vicky: Are you ready for another one? I have to give a shout out to The Christmas Candle: A painfully honest message. Regifting a crappy gift. I can SO relate!
Barb: I’m so sorry to say, I’ve done this. I was often unprepared for office parties, and white elephants.
Vicky: I am not sorry - this skit is funny because it is TRUE.
Vicky: But I also have to say The Best Christmas Ever with Matt Damon resonates - I love the way they lie and show the truth as a flashback. It scratches a different itch.
Barb: I can relate. I experienced this as an adult. The family myth of perfection, and the reality we hide even from ourselves. But as a child, my brothers and I quietly opened our stockings - enjoying the gift without our parent’s control. I got an orange, some walnuts, ripple candy melted into the wool, and one or two 5 & 10 cent toys. Even now, I recall the stockings as the best part of Christmas morning. Once our parents got up there were rigid rules, and we lost the magic.
Vicky: I was never allowed to misbehave as a child either. One teenage Christmas I went through a “too cool” phase and caught hell for months. I only have my perspective, but apparently I was not sufficiently grateful - Mom was so mad. From her perspective I seemed rude, and looking back I think she was right. As a mother I love this funny skit and relate to the casual insults from visitors, staying up late to construct a toy, and being amused by the raw consumer greed on my sweet baby’s face. This video makes me feel really seen.
Barb: Here are nine more for your funny bone…
Vicky: My favorite category is the original songs. The Always be Cobbling line...such a wonderful parody of Glengarry Glen Ross. I personally think there were better episodes of Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood with Eddie Murphy, but glad he made the list. And how did I miss a song by Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph and Kristin Wiig? Here is a link to Santa’s My Boyfriend.
Barb: I love it. In identical dresses, sung in the style of girl groups during my teenage years. So sweet! And Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood was really funny!
Vicky: I like the dark material too! I completely forgot about Christmastime for the Jews and Steve Martin’s The Holiday Wish.
Barb: Those are fabulous. Love the reference to Chinese food and Seinfeld. And Steve Martin is a genius. I love when he does smarmy fake characters.
Vicky: Have you seen Santa Baby? Wicked funny. Ryan Gosling and Vanessa Bayer kill it.
Barb: Wicked funny? Wicked scary! Although I’ve loved SNL from the beginning (in the late 1970s), Carol Burnett's talented cast introduced me to funny wicked skits, tickling and poking at the absurdity until I erupted in big belly laughs.
Vicky: I watched that show with my parents. All those wonderful movie spoofs. The curtain rod in Gone With the Wind. They are part of my childhood memories too.
Barb: Harvey Korman and Tim Conway were always trying to make the other actors break character and laugh. The perfect casting of Mama’s Family: Ken Berry, Vicky Lawrence - taught me to be thankful my family didn’t yell at each other - we just held it all in. LOL!
Vicky: As a child I did not like Mama’s family. They just seemed mean. I have a new perspective now, and appreciate the satire.
Barb: Look what I found while searching YouTube for these Christmas treasures. A tribute to the brilliant Steven Sondheim who we just lost at 91. As the New Year approaches, I try not to mourn, but celebrate the wonderful friends and family I’ve lost over the years.
He was one of the great contributors to our human community - to me he represents the fulfillment found in a long life of creativity and accomplishment.
Vicky: And he embraced the darkness within! Bittersweet - a blended, mature emotion - from the brilliant Pixar film Inside Out.
Barb: As if the sadness and joy hold hands journeying through life.. Like Dr. Seuss and Charles Schultz.
Image by: Scott Webb on Unspash.
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