Just some good tight fives

Some comedy is visionary, some is hackery. But a laugh can come from anywhere. Here are some tight fives that made me laugh.

[tightfives]

Roy Wood Jr.: No One Loves You (2019) - The Real Reason People Aren’t Standing for the National Anthem

[tightfives]

My all-time favorite edition of Jokes Seth Can’t Tell. Not a tight five per se, but I don’t care.

[tightfives]

Lily Tomlin: World’s Oldest Beauty Expert sketch [jump to about 0:55]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6uUrgaf44Y

[tightfives]

Nish Kumar: The Drummer from Coldplay - Live at the Apollo

(here’s his whole set, which includes his killer Spice Girls bit)

[tightfives]

Jim Gaffigan: “Holiday Traditions” from Beyond the Pale (2005)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJAxRVeKnTE

[tightfives]

Sarah Millican - Don't Trust A Skinny Massage Therapist | Just For Laughs | May 15, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXebcUFjt2s

[tightfives]

Ann Richards keynote at the Democratic National Convention, 1988

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtIFhiqS_TY

Obviously, this is a long political speech, not a tight five, but hear me out. I’m not asking you to watch the whole thing.

Posting that Vaughn Meader got me thinking about the historical relationship between politics and comedy. Who could forget the closing line of Barbara Bush’s 1990 commencement address at Wellesley College (here)? And far more famous, what about Reagan’s killer age joke at the expense of Walter Mondale in that 1984 debate (here)? More recent examples are, of course, even more numerous.

But hardly anybody ever did political-rhetoric-as-comedy better than Ann Richards. So for today’s tight five, listen to the first two minutes (she roasts the DNC for its sexism, and that Ginger Rogers line is still famous), and then skip to the 16:00 mark (here) and listen for the next four minutes for one of the best political punchlines of all time.

[tightfives]

Vaughn Meader answers questions as President John F. Kennedy, Boston University

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35aO9GdOAZ0

Though this is hardly a tight five, I had to put some Vaughn Meader on here because his impact on comedy was seismic. His album The First Family (1962) (wiki) was a runaway hit at the time of its release, briefly standing as the best-selling album of all time. Even if it was much more of its moment than it could ever be of ours, Meader’s wit and timing are still worth appreciating, especially since JFK’s assassination effectively ended what could have been a much longer career. Here’s a taste of that album.

[tightfives]

Michael Longfellow’s 82-Year-Old Roommate | Team Coco | Mar 7, 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzgjM3u5aA8

[tightfives]

Cameron Esposito - This Outfit Is For Attracting Women | Just For Laughs | Jun 24, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87ihPfyylco

[tightfives]

Louie Anderson's first appearance on the Tonight Show, November 11, 1984

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDyWKzRj1wg

[comedians2know]

[tightfives]

Shane Torres Stand-up on Conan, 3/8/16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oIGJ_2Aspk

[tightfives]

Michelle Wolf Stand-Up Performance | Late Night with Seth Meyers | Jul 11, 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z636P1l0Hs

[tightfives]

James Adomian: Gay Villains

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZIZD6CBCbk

The bit above is pretty good, but it’s over-the-top KILLER on his album Low Hanging Fruit, because he adds the Sheriff of Nottingham as the closer. Click here to listen to that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFyo9b4_6iY

[tightfives]

Tig Notaro Stand-Up 09/19/11 | Team Coco

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kxO2Xes31A

[tightfives]

Jerry Seinfeld does his best Marxist analysis of commodity, consumption, and the production of waste (The Tonight Show, 2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfYzlSNHapA

[tightfives]

Chris Rock: that bit from Bring the Pain (1996)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3PJF0YE-x4