Celebrity Geeks
The website GeekSugar.com has come up with a list of celebrities that some people might not have realized have a geek side to their personalities. Of course, the robot skeleton army has known for a long time about the geek credentials of celebrity number six on their list. Thanks to the RSA’s @bgrhubarb for the link.
You’re Not Alone
Over the weekend, the RSA’s @lmca4942 wrote a great blog post about why Craig and the LLS will be missed when the show ends in December. Click on the plus to read more.
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I said that I would blog every day now. I am trying to keep them funny. Problem is today I am not feeling funny. I feel upset, kind of sad, maybe even a little angry (though with whom I am angry I could not really say).
So today I am not going to be writing funny. Today I am going to be writing about somebody who is funny, one of the funniest people I know of. No one, of course, has any obligation to read it. It may not have been written for you. It was written, specifically, for the 1.9 million people on Twitter(and the millions of others, not on Twitter, like us). who are feeling, on one level or another, more or less, pretty much the same way I am. People asking themselves; what will life be be like, when we can no longer count on laughing ourselves to sleep each weekday night, after the catalyst of that laughter has gone.
For ten years now, the funniest, most unusual, comedian in America (or Scotland), or anywhere else, has been there, every night, five nights a week, week after week, month after month, year after year, making us laugh. Never letting us down.
Personally, he has seen me through chronic pain, advancing heart disease, even cancer and radiation. He’s been there through heartache, loss, natural disaster, not so natural disasters, anything and everything that life could throw at me, via the constant, unwavering assurance that he inspired in me; that if I could only make it until 12:35 AM, I would be laughing, out loud, and everything would be OK.
Now, when I try to see beyond December,which I try never to do (stay in the present, stay in the present), all I can see, is a huge, dark, empty void.
I am not alone… am I… 1.9 million fans on Twitter?
For the first eight years, before the move to the big studio, I chose to believe that I was one of a very small, select, group of insomniacs, each of whom, while still being awake, flipping through the TV channels with their remote, at 12:35 AM, on a weekday morning, accidentally happened upon this magical program, totally by accident, as I had. Once there they were hooked for ever more.
For years I chose to believe that the show was produced in a tiny converted storage room, in the basement of the CBS studio in LA, which leaked when it rained, had serious electrical problems(sometimes requiring the use of flashlights). That all musical, or comedic, acts had to be recorded separately, then tacked to the end of the show before airing, because there was not enough space in the studio to produce the segments there.
Craig was always speaking directly to ME when he closed in tight on the camera. He was sharing with only we very few insiders the inside jokes, and secret code, that could only be got by those who watched the show on a regular basis. To enjoy the show fully, the viewers were required to develop the ability to suspend disbelief, to split their minds in half sufficiently, to see a bayou crocodillio alligator, a cussing English rabbit, and a myriad of other hilarious creatures, as fully independent, sentient, beings, even while realizing, with another part of their mind, that they were also theatrical puppets, and the creation of Craig’s own amazingly warped, fluid, and stunningly creative mind. This necessity became even more apparent with the introduction of Craig’s gay robot skeleton sidekick, Geoff Peterson; part, often malfunctioning, appliance, part brilliantly gifted impressionist/hysterical comedian(Josh). At this point I am sure that I, and many of you, will miss Geoff almost as much as Craig himself. Secretariat, the not a real horse, took years to evolve from only prancing across the stage at the chime of a doorbell, to the fully developed associate sidekick that he is today. Endless inside jokes, serial rituals, both short and long term shticks, like showing Angela Lansbury’s photo each time Paul McCartney’s photo is called for, the Kardashian jokes, slogans that come and go; like the current ‘not like any other late night talk show’, dancing with a variety of interns(the current ones inside the not a real horse), all have contributed to keeping the humor fresh, ever evolving, often surprising, sometimes shocking, and always hilariously funny.
With Craig absolutely everything is transformed into a double entandre. Everything he says sounds dirty, yet he rarely directly says anything that actually is. It’s like his swearing. We never hear him speak a swear word. They bleep the words. They cover his mouth, at times with tiny flags, so we never even see him forming the words. Every swear word we think we hear on the show emanates only from the recesses of our own minds. A talking rhino head, lesbian row, a supposed network sensor, who slowly morphed into as nutty a character as the rest of them, part of a long line of shticks to have had their moments to shine, have added variety and sparkle, for a while, then moved on to make way for the next nutty shticks heading down the line.
And then there are the interviews. From tearing up the interview cards, to the knee to knee contact, from the crony comradery with his male guests (gay and straight), to the varying degrees of flirtation with his female guests, his sincere interest, looking them straight the face, directly in the eye, as they banter and play, flirt and engage, in a myriad of ways, unique to each individual, show that no one else has the rapport that Craig has with his guests.
Which is funnier..his easy banter with his regulars, Betty White, Larry King, Lauren Graham (also Nadine the cat, girlfriend of Wavy the alligator), Howie Mandel, Kristen Bell, try to list your favorites, it’s impossible, there are too many to list, or female guests who have come on the show, never having seen it, who he led slowly down the path to digging themselves deeper and deeper, all on their own, with every word they spoke, without him needing to say a single word? He can do that with anyone, and does so, no matter how well they know him, no matter how many times they have been there before. No one can say, induce, accomplish more, with a look, a shrug, a raised eyebrow, then Craig.
For ten years he has teased, and charmed, shocked, and enticed, us all, with his humble, self-effacing charm, his sincerity, political consciousness, and honesty… as well as his humor.
Men respect him, women adore him, as night after night, week after week, month after month, year after year, he has entered our living rooms, and our bedrooms, to entertain us, and send us off to bed, with a deep belly laugh, and a smile on our faces as we drift off to sleep.
How do we let that go? No more ‘ it’s a good day for American’, no more ‘what did we learn on the show tonight Craig?’ No more monologues, no more tweets and emails, no more trips abroad, no more cavorting with Susan Sarandon, no more Wavy, no more Sid, no more not a real horse, no more Michael, no more Geoff, and most horrific of all… no more Craig.
1.9 million followers on Twitter..how many millions more out there?
All of us in mourning. This is not like the end of a favorite sitcom. When a sitcom ends, ten more will arrive next season to replace it… one night a week, for a few weeks a season. Nothing, and no one, will ever take Craig’s place… five nights a week, week after week, month after month, year after year, for a decade. He is a part of our lives, a part of our families, he is in our hearts.
After the puppets are all packed away, and the horse suit is placed on the shelf, after Geoff has been moved to the Smithsonian, and the Shy Guys play no more. When the set has been struck, and Craig has moved on to his quiz show…and beyond. what will become of the millions of us, who have followed and loved him, for so many years? What will we do after the last of the late night laughter has died?
I don’t know… do you?
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Thank you for expressing the thoughts many are feeling, Lynn. Do you have a story about how Craig and the show have meant something to you? Send it to us using our Contact Us form, or tweet us a link. We’re happy to share it with the rest of the robot skeleton army.
Voting for Idols
The RSA’s @thekidtx writes:
With the LLS winding down (insert tears) I just want to thank all who have taken the time to upload the youtube videos over the past 10 years of the show. I started watching the LLS at the end of 2011 and those mixes on youtube for previous years have made for great watching. Someone has posted (and I know its been awhile since it was posted) most, if not all, the monologues for 2005 and 2006. I know its taken a lot of people a lot of time to do this and if we start missing all the fun and the great monologues Craig has done you can catch them on Youtube. Special thanks to our General Malinky, Fergufool, bgrhubarb just to name a few for keeping me smiling with all the videos.
We agree. Thanks to everyone who is helping to preserve memories of our favorite late-night show. In this two-part monologue from 2006, Craig talks about voting on American Idol.
Video courtesy: Frank Gerbertson
The new season of Lisa Kudrow‘s Web Therapy premieres on October 22nd, and this season, Craig Ferguson will be one of the guest stars. We have not heard of a specific date when he’ll pop up, and the most recent article on BroadwayWorld.com didn’t mention it. But when we do, we’ll be sure to pass it along. Thanks to the RSA’s @cozyhobo for the link.
