October 17, 2024 • 22 mins
Brady brings in Dan to discuss the incredible career of comedian, actor, producer Will Ferrell. They pose the question to you: is Ferrell the funniest person of our lifetime? Take a listen, and let us know if you agree.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Episode two. This is Hit Me Brady one more Time.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'll look back on all things nineties and two thousands,
the movies, can you.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Can you feel like Captain Come Post? The music, the
black eyes, the awkwardness.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
I did not have sexual relations with that woman.
Speaker 4 (00:25):
Here's your host, Brady Brosky. That is me, Brady Brosky,
here for another episode of Hit Me Brady one more Time.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
We are going to bring together.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
All the generations X and seiers millennials as well, and
today we are talking Will Ferrell and I in fact
also did drive a god Stratus.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
That was my very first car.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
Like Will Ferrell mentioned right there, I'm joining me today
is my pal, the King of Kickball, along with me,
probably the only two middle aged men that were not
dads at the Saprina Carpenter Show a couple of days ago.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
That's fair, yeah, yeah, but it's a great show.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
It was fantastic, no regrets.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Dana Conda is here.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
This was my first time learning that there are multiple
versions of our show.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Intro there's two. Okay, well now I've heard them both.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
There's more than more, two episodes in Tune in for
episode three when you'll hear the first version you know,
I'm not.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Going to make a third one for episode three, I
don't think because that just to two time consuming, two
time consuming.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
It's fair, all right, Well.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Welcome to the podcast today. We were talking about a
guy that I consider the funniest, the funniest person of
our lifetime. And that's the question I'm posing is do
you think that Will Ferrell is the funniest person of
our lifetime? We were joking just before we turn the
microphones on the answers.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Yes, so this.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Podcast, that's our shows. We'll see you next time, next time.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
But no, we got to get into it because we're
gonna talk about the whys. And maybe he's not for you.
I don't really know your answer. I think we were
joking about your answer, but it could not be. It
might not be.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Let's go.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
John William Farrell he was born in nineteen sixty seven
the American actor, comedian, writer, producer, known for his leading
man roles in comedy films, his work as a television
producer six Emmy Awards, and twenty eleven was honored with
the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Twenty fifteen, he
got his Hollywood Walk of Fame star and named best
(02:30):
Comedian in British GQ. And I wanted to go over
three reasons why Will Ferrell to me is the funniest
person of our lifetime. That back's just kind of his
comedic resume, his SNL stuff, his movie stuff, and his
late night talk show guest appearances. Those three things are
(02:54):
all different and unique, but I think they all kind
of described, like Will Ferrell his style of comedy, which
really is it's it's very different. He's very he's always
been the straight man, and every time you see his
face in his he's always he's dead panting. But he's
also he's very over the top. It's a weird combination
(03:17):
of being this average guy, average looking guy who comes
across when you see him as average, but then all
of a sudden chaos ensues.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Right, And I mean, I think, on the one hand,
in the pro argument toward him being the funniest, it's hilarious.
That whole stick is hysterical, and he applies it to
so many different characters in so many different realms. I
think on the opposite side of the argument, you have
the fact that it is he's maybe not as versatile
(03:48):
as some other comedians that's fair.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
That's a fair argument. We'll jump into that. I'm gonna
start with I'm gonna start with SNL oh SNL ninety
four to two thousand and one. This is I think
Orne Michael's quote is when you ask somebody what their
favorite cast of Saturday Night Live was, it was whatever
one you watched like in middle school, in high school.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yep. And I think it's very accurate, yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Because you know how like older people are like, the
cast sucks now yea, And even people from the like
the eighties would say the nineties cast sucked at the time,
and you look back at the nineties cast, which was
like our era generation were like.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
The hell are you talking about?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yep, it's always horrible now and it was always amazing
ten twenty years ago.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
I'm such a huge SNL fan. I don't think I've
ever like really hated a cast.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Yeah, that's ever.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
I've found the funny in each season.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
There's been some that were less funny but still not
I never thought they sucked, but agreed to ninety four
to two thousand and one, which is right right in
our bread basket here for this podcast, The more cow Bell,
the Alex Trebek George W.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Bush.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
These are some of some of his most famous characters
that he played on Saturday Night Live. For me, what
really got me going and a big fan of him
was what I've just played in the intro, and that
was this one.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Are you familiar? Are you familiar with that SNL?
Speaker 2 (05:05):
You're gonna have to refresh my memory on Witch sketch,
that's Sarah.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Michelle Geller was the host, and they're just sitting at
the dinner table of their dysfunctional family and they're.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Just having okay, yes meeting nibor yes, and then she.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
Would say, uh, like Dad, you suck, and then they
would just be They would just build and build and build,
and then you know, will fare he blows up.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Yeah, And I saw that, and that was early. That
was very early.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
I had a similar sketch where he was a first
base coach.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
This one's very obscure.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
He was a first base coach and he kept telling
the kid on first base for little league to stay
in the bag, and the kid wouldn't stay on the bag,
and it just escalated. It was it was that high
level of screaming. I remember being maybe a freshman or
eighth grade and we would always quote SNL like the
next Monday and I drive as Dodge Stratus would become
(05:54):
my moniker, Like people would.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
See me because I said it so damn much.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Probably gotten try a couple of times, because you don't
just say I drive a Dot stratits it's you screening, right,
Try to try to emulate all that all of that emotion.
So for me, that really got me invested in Will
Ferrell and then I just kind of like fell in
love with this stuff.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Well, I didn't drive anything at that time because I
was thirteen, but I will give you my most memorable
Will Ferrell sketch. I know it was his first season
and it had to be pretty early on in the
first season. I'm curious if you remember. I looked up
the name of the sketch was wake Up and Smile.
It was a morning show, a news morning show. The
(06:34):
teleprompter breaks and they don't know how to function without
a teleprompter, and at some point they end up having
to like eat the weather man, and it just gets
you know, it starts with just slight not knowing what
to do, but right before you know, yeah, yeah, and
I just remember again being, you know, a thirteen year
old line on the couch at my parents' house at
(06:56):
midnight watching this new new guy and just just cracking
up to myself about how hilarious.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Yeah, and that was very This is very similar, like
to your point earlier, that was a very similar character
to the eye, drive a Stratus, the dysfunctional family, the
guy in the back, like he always played early on
any days. He always played a guy who just looked
like anybody else. But then when he got louder and
louder and louder, I think it got funnier and funnier, right,
you didn't expect it so big run on SNL, I
(07:26):
think more. Cow Bell was probably named one of, if
not the funniest of all time, right, so he was
obviously a big part of that. Here's the reason why
I wanted to put Will Ferrell in this particular early
episode here of the podcast is because he's so funny
but doesn't try. I feel like he doesn't try. Like
(07:47):
anything he does is funny to me, right, and it's
all subjective, right, But he goes on you know, he
does a spot just you know, in an interview like
for ESPN. Randomly he he has like an award show
introduction just everything he does, it's all the same deadpan.
(08:07):
It's just always funny to me that I don't think
I've ever seen him be serious.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Yeah, like you, I don't think it's possible to take
him seriously.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
And he's quick witted too. Some of the stuff he
came oh yeah, yeah, which is always so. I always
felt that he was one of those guys just he
doesn't have to try.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
So we move on.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
From SNL we get into the lead roles. Well, first,
he did a lot of appearances in movies. He was
a Zoolander of all some powers, obviously Knight at the Roxbury,
which is from the famous SNL sketch. And then we
turned to the leading man. I believe Elf was probably first.
I mean, that's the role of a lifetime buddy, the Elf.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
Some people say it's the best Christmas movie ever. I
don't know what Christmas movie is better than that? Is
that your favorite Christmas movie? Probably ever?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Probably?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
I mean I'm a big comedy guy when it comes
to movies, and that's just like it's it's wholesome, it's hilarious,
it's all over the place.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Okay, what's your mount rush? Okay, So I'm gonna put
I'm gonna put home alone. We're doing we're doing a
mount rushmore. I'm gonna put Home alone ahead.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Of the ELF.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
I'm gonna put National Lampoons ahead of Elf.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Elf might be up there, Okay, it's got to.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Be up there.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
I have about Christmas comedies. Yeah, you can't beat that. Yeah,
uh Anchorman. For me, that's yeah, I mean, done, done deal,
there's there there. There's so many quotes in that movie.
I think we just we we we beat those quotes
to oblivion. Especially our our lovely ladies in our lives
don't find the same type of humor in these quotes.
(09:47):
The brain is work different, it's science. But Anchorman, I
still like. We have a group that gets together every
year for Lallapalooza here in Chicago, and it's the group
text is the Pancake Breakfast. And every year we try
and like outdo each other with a more and more
obscure Anchorman quote. And that's and that's all we that's
(10:11):
all we do all weekend. We would just say the
same damn thing, but in different contexts, in different moments.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
But so Anchorman was it was the role for me.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
What was you well, do you remember?
Speaker 2 (10:21):
So I had the I had Anchorman on DVD and
it was like some bonus deluxe edition. Do you remember
it came with There was a second movie that they
made just from the clips that they got while filming Anchorman.
Because so many of the individual lines within each scene
and set up were improvised that they were able to
(10:42):
make a whole separate movie with like some kind of
overlapping storylines but some unrelated ones. There was a whole
separate movie just from the footage they gathered when they
filmed that movie.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
Do you remember watching that back when I owned a
DVD player? But yeah, it was It was hysterical and
it was why and it didn't make sense but it did.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
Yeah, and it was very I remember being very raunchy. Yeah,
it was violent, and.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Which is funny. Violence is funny.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Yeah, well in that case anyway.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
But yeah, So Anchorman was it for me? Is that
was that the one?
Speaker 3 (11:15):
I would have to go? Anchorman?
Speaker 2 (11:16):
I mean, alf was obviously legendary, like we talked about,
I mean, Talladega Knights was was a entertaining movie, but
I couldn't put I mean, Anchorman period was probably the
most memorable movie of at least that phase of my upbringing.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
If I say to you Will Ferrell, what character do
you think of TV or movie or other.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
It's I mean, it's gonna be SNL for me, it
might honestly be the Spartan cheerleaders with on a gostire, right,
Cherio Terry, Cherio Terry. That's of course drugs. You're not
my friend if you do drugs, go too, so good.
(11:59):
I just feel like that's like I think maybe it's
the facial expressions in that he's more maybe animated, yeah,
more animated in that than Halloween costume. Yeah, yeah, well nowadays, yeah,
but it has been now now now and for the
past what thirty years?
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Godworld.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Yeah, that's a that's a good one. I think the
first thing I think of his anchorman.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Harry Carey too. I mean, that impression.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Nailed it, nailed it. I'm surprised they didn't use that more.
I think he came out on a bunch of updates.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
That was Yeah, that was a weekend update, recurring thing,
I think.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
And then, like I mentioned earlier, I don't know if
you watched these as much as I did growing up,
but I was a big fan of late night talk shows.
So the Conan O'bryan's of the world, obviously, now we
have the Jimmy's, Kimmel and Fallon. He would do something
different each time he came out, and more than half
(12:54):
the time he wasn't promoting anything. He was just coming
out there to be an idiot. One in particular, Will
Ferrell on Jimmy Fallon must have been like ten years ago,
dressed as Little Debbie and he came out in a
dress and a bonnet, and he had a bunch of
Little Debbie snackcakes and he didn't break.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
For no reason. No, just felt like doing it.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Yeah, just felt like doing ith.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
And and part of me hopes and wishes Jimmy Fallon
had no idea what was going on, because that's the best.
But yeah, some of the stuff he did on Conan
is epic. Go back and watch some of that. So
I love those three things the most about Will Ferrell
and a lot of people, a lot of people I
think it's polarizing, but a lot of people liked his
(13:40):
office stuff.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Yeah, I was gonna say, I mean, I think that
definitely deserves a mention. I mean, that was how many
episodes was he I mean that was a long, you know,
recurring storyline. And I know a lot of people will
say the Office jumped the Shark a little bit post
post Michael Scott, Steve Carrell, But I mean that was
that was a hilarious character that fit with his vibe
but also fit in with the show.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
Yeah, we had to evolve, right like, we had to
bring in some heavy hitters at that I think at
that point in the show. And who better than the
funniest person of our lifetime?
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Will Ferrell? So here we go.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Here it is the million dollar question, Dirty Dan, three
different nicknames. Here, do you think Will Ferrell is the
funniest person of our lifetime? We obviously know my answer.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah. So, I mean.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
I had a tough internal debate. I think personally speaking,
over the course of my life, he's the comedian who
I found the funniest. I don't think I could top
him from a personal perspective. In terms of his like
influence on comedy, I think it's a more complex discussion.
(14:50):
I don't know that he had the same influence on,
you know, the evolution of comedy and that his stuff
was as timely and as like long term impactful. But
in terms of just what made me asked the most
what was the most memorable funny things I watched over
the course of my life. I mean, you asked me
that question, will without a name put to it, and
(15:10):
Will Ferrell is what immediately comes to mind.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
And I think also.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
It's a it was a brand of comedy that appealed
to everyone. And I I wrote down some other names
of comedians I could maybe argue were more impactful than him,
but I don't think you could say any of them
like resonated with people across all demographics, across all ages.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
The way Will Ferrell did.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
I mean he did some you know, inappropriate stuff, but
in a way that was you know, in a way
that kids could watch him and enjoy it. It was
it was it was a it was a universal kind
of humor.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
I feel like, Yeah, who were the other community.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
So you're probably talking like the you know, the Chris
Rocks or the Eddie Murphy's of the world right now,
They that really set the bar and yeah, and motivated
a younger generation.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Yeah, I would say Dave Chappelle has to be on
that list for sure, you know, And again I mean
he he certainly has the lead over Will Fall when
it comes to like cultural impact, he was much more
involved in social commentary and political commentary. I mean, Chappelle's
show was obviously a pretty momentous, you know, moment in
our culture for those three four years that it was on.
(16:22):
Ellen DeGeneres too, I mean obviously had some controversial times
in her career, as did Dave Chappelle, and as do
really any like cutting edge comedian that's broaching those types
of topics. But I mean the kind of Ellen's style
of like observational humor, which is something I always loved Tommy.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Her timing was amazing. Yeah, it was a delivery and
timing was Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
And the way she interacted with with guests when she
did her show.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Obviously that came later. The observational stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
I wouldn't put him anywhere near this list, But I
always loved Tom Green, and I thought he was hysterical
with the observational humor stuff.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
We need to do a show on with Tom Green,
because you want to talk about just a dumb show
that made there's a perfect timing for us growing up, right, Yep,
the Tom Green Show.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Ye oh what a zany bizarre.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
It was a disaster. Yeah, it was thirty minutes of numbing, dumb,
stupid things.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
And him making his parent embarrassing the hell out of
his parents, making them miserable. But yeah, I mean Chris Rocky,
you know, definitely belongs on that list. I mean, when
you get into movies, Robin Williams, I think is a
name that needs to be mentioned. And again, if you're
talking different categories of what makes someone the best, you know,
I would say Robin Williams definitely had a wider range
(17:42):
of He was a more talented actor and could play
more types of roles, had a range of comedy and
drama stuff that I don't think, you know, you could say,
I don't think you can argue Will Ferrell.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Had that type of range.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
And then I had a couple LEESNL alums as well,
and Mike Myers and Tina Fey, who I think have
you know, deserve at least some consideration. I mean, Mike
Myers obviously, Austin Powers was massive that whole series, And
I mean, you know Tina Fey with all her SNL work,
everything she did with Weekend Update, thirty Rock, all the
shows she produced and wrote.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Amy Pohler right next to TEENA.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Yeah, that's fair. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
I have a really special place in my heart from
Mike Myers. It's weird because his style of humor I
try to emulate, I think my whole life, not knowingly,
like there's things, there's things I there's certain things I
do could be from Wayne's world, a lot of awesome
power stuff because awesome powers. It's just that was like
a masterclass on how to play different roles but be
(18:41):
funny and all right, right.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Right, yeah, he literally played them all.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
He played them all.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
I just I feel like Mike Myers is another guy
we can we can do a deep dive in because
his contribution to comedy in the nineties, does I think,
I think it's very underrated.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Yeah, I agree what I would say about him. It's
not as universa. I think there were a lot of
people and some of his stuff I didn't find as funny,
and some of it I found hilarious. But I feel
like Will Ferrell was more universe. Like have you ever
heard anybody say Will Ferrell is not funny?
Speaker 4 (19:13):
I don't, And that's that's part of it. I mean,
the longevity of it is well, he started in ninety
four on SNL and we're still talking about him today,
he's still he's still funny.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
You know, he's hosting it'll I think it'll have happened
by the time this episode is released. But you know
he's hosting like this uh uh, like a charity DJ
dance party thing in Chicago later this month. I saw
that with Swedish house Maffia and all these huge DJs,
and there's the the images like Will Ferrell in like
a DJ headset.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Well he started popping up.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
I want to say, his around like his son's like
fraternity house and.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Just like that's funny.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Yeah, and he just DJ. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Like first of all, most most school again exactly most
of his sons or most sons would be like, yeah, no,
you're not you're not you're not allowed like fifty feet
from from from my dad. But it's Will Ferrell. So
Will Ferrell's Wow, come on.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
I mean, if you're in college and Will Ferrell's your dad,
I mean, if I'm right, if I'm in college and
my dad's around, that's not giving me cred. If if
my dad's Will Ferrell, come hang out as much as
you want.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
That got that, that kid's got it made.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
So so you think Will Ferrell, but you also think
it's it's a complicated answer.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Yeah, I think if the question is the funniest to
me in my lifetime, it's Will Ferrell.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
I think it's fifth contribution to comedy or you know,
you get into more of the lasting impact type stuff.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
That's when the other names come into play for me.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Jerry Seinfeld, I think it's the long list, even in
the same in the same realm.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Larry David.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Yeah, I mean it's you know, around the same time,
right around when, you know, a few years prior to
Farrell making his SNL debut. I mean pop culture was
Seinfeld in the early mid nineties must see TV. Yeah, yeah,
when it was really must see and you had, you know,
thirty forty fifty million people watching.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Some of those shows.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
I think this is going to be a great discussion
on social media too, because it's, like I said, comedy
is so subjective. You can absolutely hate his style of
humor and let us know who you think is. If
it's not Will Ferrell the funniest, We're talking the funniest person,
man or woman of our lifetime.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
So feel free.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
We're on Instagram, you can find me at Brady Radio
and where are you at, Dan at dan G zero
four eight two. Yeah, so let us know what you think.
Is it a yes, is it a no? Is it
somebody else? If it is a no, we want to
know who.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Is it the funniest?
Speaker 4 (21:45):
Yeah, let us know over on the IG in special
episode next, we're going to be talking about a guy
who had an incredible run probably I would say mid
mid two thousands too late two thousands. Uh, And he
just put out a new single which I think is
absolutely incredible.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Acon. I saw that Acon. Acon is back back.
Speaker 4 (22:10):
But yeah, what a what a run of music he
had there, like two thousand and six, seven, eight nine,
And we're gonna be talking about him and with him
as well the next episode of the podcast.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
There you go.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
So thanks for listening to the Hit Me Brady One
More Time podcast and we will talk to you next time.
Episode two. This is Hit Me Brady one more Time.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'll look back on all things nineties and two thousands,
the movies, can you.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Can you feel like Captain Come Post? The music, the
black eyes, the awkwardness.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
I did not have sexual relations with that woman.
Speaker 4 (00:25):
Here's your host, Brady Brosky. That is me, Brady Brosky,
here for another episode of Hit Me Brady one more Time.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
We are going to bring together.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
All the generations X and seiers millennials as well, and
today we are talking Will Ferrell and I in fact
also did drive a god Stratus.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
That was my very first car.
Speaker 4 (00:51):
Like Will Ferrell mentioned right there, I'm joining me today
is my pal, the King of Kickball, along with me,
probably the only two middle aged men that were not
dads at the Saprina Carpenter Show a couple of days ago.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
That's fair, yeah, yeah, but it's a great show.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
It was fantastic, no regrets.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Dana Conda is here.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
This was my first time learning that there are multiple
versions of our show.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Intro there's two. Okay, well now I've heard them both.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
There's more than more, two episodes in Tune in for
episode three when you'll hear the first version you know,
I'm not.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
Going to make a third one for episode three, I
don't think because that just to two time consuming, two
time consuming.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
It's fair, all right, Well.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Welcome to the podcast today. We were talking about a
guy that I consider the funniest, the funniest person of
our lifetime. And that's the question I'm posing is do
you think that Will Ferrell is the funniest person of
our lifetime? We were joking just before we turn the
microphones on the answers.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Yes, so this.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Podcast, that's our shows. We'll see you next time, next time.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
But no, we got to get into it because we're
gonna talk about the whys. And maybe he's not for you.
I don't really know your answer. I think we were
joking about your answer, but it could not be. It
might not be.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Let's go.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
John William Farrell he was born in nineteen sixty seven
the American actor, comedian, writer, producer, known for his leading
man roles in comedy films, his work as a television
producer six Emmy Awards, and twenty eleven was honored with
the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Twenty fifteen, he
got his Hollywood Walk of Fame star and named best
(02:30):
Comedian in British GQ. And I wanted to go over
three reasons why Will Ferrell to me is the funniest
person of our lifetime. That back's just kind of his
comedic resume, his SNL stuff, his movie stuff, and his
late night talk show guest appearances. Those three things are
(02:54):
all different and unique, but I think they all kind
of described, like Will Ferrell his style of comedy, which
really is it's it's very different. He's very he's always
been the straight man, and every time you see his
face in his he's always he's dead panting. But he's
also he's very over the top. It's a weird combination
(03:17):
of being this average guy, average looking guy who comes
across when you see him as average, but then all
of a sudden chaos ensues.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Right, And I mean, I think, on the one hand,
in the pro argument toward him being the funniest, it's hilarious.
That whole stick is hysterical, and he applies it to
so many different characters in so many different realms. I
think on the opposite side of the argument, you have
the fact that it is he's maybe not as versatile
(03:48):
as some other comedians that's fair.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
That's a fair argument. We'll jump into that. I'm gonna
start with I'm gonna start with SNL oh SNL ninety
four to two thousand and one. This is I think
Orne Michael's quote is when you ask somebody what their
favorite cast of Saturday Night Live was, it was whatever
one you watched like in middle school, in high school.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
Yep. And I think it's very accurate, yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Because you know how like older people are like, the
cast sucks now yea, And even people from the like
the eighties would say the nineties cast sucked at the time,
and you look back at the nineties cast, which was
like our era generation were like.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
The hell are you talking about?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yep, it's always horrible now and it was always amazing
ten twenty years ago.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
I'm such a huge SNL fan. I don't think I've
ever like really hated a cast.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
Yeah, that's ever.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
I've found the funny in each season.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
There's been some that were less funny but still not
I never thought they sucked, but agreed to ninety four
to two thousand and one, which is right right in
our bread basket here for this podcast, The more cow Bell,
the Alex Trebek George W.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Bush.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
These are some of some of his most famous characters
that he played on Saturday Night Live. For me, what
really got me going and a big fan of him
was what I've just played in the intro, and that
was this one.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Are you familiar? Are you familiar with that SNL?
Speaker 2 (05:05):
You're gonna have to refresh my memory on Witch sketch,
that's Sarah.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Michelle Geller was the host, and they're just sitting at
the dinner table of their dysfunctional family and they're.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Just having okay, yes meeting nibor yes, and then she.
Speaker 4 (05:18):
Would say, uh, like Dad, you suck, and then they
would just be They would just build and build and build,
and then you know, will fare he blows up.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Yeah, And I saw that, and that was early. That
was very early.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
I had a similar sketch where he was a first
base coach.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
This one's very obscure.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
He was a first base coach and he kept telling
the kid on first base for little league to stay
in the bag, and the kid wouldn't stay on the bag,
and it just escalated. It was it was that high
level of screaming. I remember being maybe a freshman or
eighth grade and we would always quote SNL like the
next Monday and I drive as Dodge Stratus would become
(05:54):
my moniker, Like people would.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
See me because I said it so damn much.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Probably gotten try a couple of times, because you don't
just say I drive a Dot stratits it's you screening, right,
Try to try to emulate all that all of that emotion.
So for me, that really got me invested in Will
Ferrell and then I just kind of like fell in
love with this stuff.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Well, I didn't drive anything at that time because I
was thirteen, but I will give you my most memorable
Will Ferrell sketch. I know it was his first season
and it had to be pretty early on in the
first season. I'm curious if you remember. I looked up
the name of the sketch was wake Up and Smile.
It was a morning show, a news morning show. The
(06:34):
teleprompter breaks and they don't know how to function without
a teleprompter, and at some point they end up having
to like eat the weather man, and it just gets
you know, it starts with just slight not knowing what
to do, but right before you know, yeah, yeah, and
I just remember again being, you know, a thirteen year
old line on the couch at my parents' house at
(06:56):
midnight watching this new new guy and just just cracking
up to myself about how hilarious.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Yeah, and that was very This is very similar, like
to your point earlier, that was a very similar character
to the eye, drive a Stratus, the dysfunctional family, the
guy in the back, like he always played early on
any days. He always played a guy who just looked
like anybody else. But then when he got louder and
louder and louder, I think it got funnier and funnier, right,
you didn't expect it so big run on SNL, I
(07:26):
think more. Cow Bell was probably named one of, if
not the funniest of all time, right, so he was
obviously a big part of that. Here's the reason why
I wanted to put Will Ferrell in this particular early
episode here of the podcast is because he's so funny
but doesn't try. I feel like he doesn't try. Like
(07:47):
anything he does is funny to me, right, and it's
all subjective, right, But he goes on you know, he
does a spot just you know, in an interview like
for ESPN. Randomly he he has like an award show
introduction just everything he does, it's all the same deadpan.
(08:07):
It's just always funny to me that I don't think
I've ever seen him be serious.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
Yeah, like you, I don't think it's possible to take
him seriously.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
And he's quick witted too. Some of the stuff he
came oh yeah, yeah, which is always so. I always
felt that he was one of those guys just he
doesn't have to try.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
So we move on.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
From SNL we get into the lead roles. Well, first,
he did a lot of appearances in movies. He was
a Zoolander of all some powers, obviously Knight at the Roxbury,
which is from the famous SNL sketch. And then we
turned to the leading man. I believe Elf was probably first.
I mean, that's the role of a lifetime buddy, the Elf.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
Some people say it's the best Christmas movie ever. I
don't know what Christmas movie is better than that? Is
that your favorite Christmas movie? Probably ever?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Probably?
Speaker 2 (08:56):
I mean I'm a big comedy guy when it comes
to movies, and that's just like it's it's wholesome, it's hilarious,
it's all over the place.
Speaker 4 (09:04):
Okay, what's your mount rush? Okay, So I'm gonna put
I'm gonna put home alone. We're doing we're doing a
mount rushmore. I'm gonna put Home alone ahead.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Of the ELF.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
I'm gonna put National Lampoons ahead of Elf.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Elf might be up there, Okay, it's got to.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Be up there.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
I have about Christmas comedies. Yeah, you can't beat that. Yeah,
uh Anchorman. For me, that's yeah, I mean, done, done deal,
there's there there. There's so many quotes in that movie.
I think we just we we we beat those quotes
to oblivion. Especially our our lovely ladies in our lives
don't find the same type of humor in these quotes.
(09:47):
The brain is work different, it's science. But Anchorman, I
still like. We have a group that gets together every
year for Lallapalooza here in Chicago, and it's the group
text is the Pancake Breakfast. And every year we try
and like outdo each other with a more and more
obscure Anchorman quote. And that's and that's all we that's
(10:11):
all we do all weekend. We would just say the
same damn thing, but in different contexts, in different moments.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
But so Anchorman was it was the role for me.
Speaker 3 (10:19):
What was you well, do you remember?
Speaker 2 (10:21):
So I had the I had Anchorman on DVD and
it was like some bonus deluxe edition. Do you remember
it came with There was a second movie that they
made just from the clips that they got while filming Anchorman.
Because so many of the individual lines within each scene
and set up were improvised that they were able to
(10:42):
make a whole separate movie with like some kind of
overlapping storylines but some unrelated ones. There was a whole
separate movie just from the footage they gathered when they
filmed that movie.
Speaker 4 (10:52):
Do you remember watching that back when I owned a
DVD player? But yeah, it was It was hysterical and
it was why and it didn't make sense but it did.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
Yeah, and it was very I remember being very raunchy. Yeah,
it was violent, and.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Which is funny. Violence is funny.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Yeah, well in that case anyway.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
But yeah, So Anchorman was it for me? Is that
was that the one?
Speaker 3 (11:15):
I would have to go? Anchorman?
Speaker 2 (11:16):
I mean, alf was obviously legendary, like we talked about,
I mean, Talladega Knights was was a entertaining movie, but
I couldn't put I mean, Anchorman period was probably the
most memorable movie of at least that phase of my upbringing.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
If I say to you Will Ferrell, what character do
you think of TV or movie or other.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
It's I mean, it's gonna be SNL for me, it
might honestly be the Spartan cheerleaders with on a gostire, right,
Cherio Terry, Cherio Terry. That's of course drugs. You're not
my friend if you do drugs, go too, so good.
(11:59):
I just feel like that's like I think maybe it's
the facial expressions in that he's more maybe animated, yeah,
more animated in that than Halloween costume. Yeah, yeah, well nowadays, yeah,
but it has been now now now and for the
past what thirty years?
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Godworld.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Yeah, that's a that's a good one. I think the
first thing I think of his anchorman.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Harry Carey too. I mean, that impression.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
Nailed it, nailed it. I'm surprised they didn't use that more.
I think he came out on a bunch of updates.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
That was Yeah, that was a weekend update, recurring thing,
I think.
Speaker 4 (12:32):
And then, like I mentioned earlier, I don't know if
you watched these as much as I did growing up,
but I was a big fan of late night talk shows.
So the Conan O'bryan's of the world, obviously, now we
have the Jimmy's, Kimmel and Fallon. He would do something
different each time he came out, and more than half
(12:54):
the time he wasn't promoting anything. He was just coming
out there to be an idiot. One in particular, Will
Ferrell on Jimmy Fallon must have been like ten years ago,
dressed as Little Debbie and he came out in a
dress and a bonnet, and he had a bunch of
Little Debbie snackcakes and he didn't break.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
For no reason. No, just felt like doing it.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Yeah, just felt like doing ith.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
And and part of me hopes and wishes Jimmy Fallon
had no idea what was going on, because that's the best.
But yeah, some of the stuff he did on Conan
is epic. Go back and watch some of that. So
I love those three things the most about Will Ferrell
and a lot of people, a lot of people I
think it's polarizing, but a lot of people liked his
(13:40):
office stuff.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Yeah, I was gonna say, I mean, I think that
definitely deserves a mention. I mean, that was how many
episodes was he I mean that was a long, you know,
recurring storyline. And I know a lot of people will
say the Office jumped the Shark a little bit post
post Michael Scott, Steve Carrell, But I mean that was
that was a hilarious character that fit with his vibe
but also fit in with the show.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
Yeah, we had to evolve, right like, we had to
bring in some heavy hitters at that I think at
that point in the show. And who better than the
funniest person of our lifetime?
Speaker 1 (14:12):
Will Ferrell? So here we go.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Here it is the million dollar question, Dirty Dan, three
different nicknames. Here, do you think Will Ferrell is the
funniest person of our lifetime? We obviously know my answer.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah. So, I mean.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
I had a tough internal debate. I think personally speaking,
over the course of my life, he's the comedian who
I found the funniest. I don't think I could top
him from a personal perspective. In terms of his like
influence on comedy, I think it's a more complex discussion.
(14:50):
I don't know that he had the same influence on,
you know, the evolution of comedy and that his stuff
was as timely and as like long term impactful. But
in terms of just what made me asked the most
what was the most memorable funny things I watched over
the course of my life. I mean, you asked me
that question, will without a name put to it, and
(15:10):
Will Ferrell is what immediately comes to mind.
Speaker 3 (15:12):
And I think also.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
It's a it was a brand of comedy that appealed
to everyone. And I I wrote down some other names
of comedians I could maybe argue were more impactful than him,
but I don't think you could say any of them
like resonated with people across all demographics, across all ages.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
The way Will Ferrell did.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
I mean he did some you know, inappropriate stuff, but
in a way that was you know, in a way
that kids could watch him and enjoy it. It was
it was it was a it was a universal kind
of humor.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
I feel like, Yeah, who were the other community.
Speaker 4 (15:48):
So you're probably talking like the you know, the Chris
Rocks or the Eddie Murphy's of the world right now,
They that really set the bar and yeah, and motivated
a younger generation.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
Yeah, I would say Dave Chappelle has to be on
that list for sure, you know, And again I mean
he he certainly has the lead over Will Fall when
it comes to like cultural impact, he was much more
involved in social commentary and political commentary. I mean, Chappelle's
show was obviously a pretty momentous, you know, moment in
our culture for those three four years that it was on.
(16:22):
Ellen DeGeneres too, I mean obviously had some controversial times
in her career, as did Dave Chappelle, and as do
really any like cutting edge comedian that's broaching those types
of topics. But I mean the kind of Ellen's style
of like observational humor, which is something I always loved Tommy.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Her timing was amazing. Yeah, it was a delivery and
timing was Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
And the way she interacted with with guests when she
did her show.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Obviously that came later. The observational stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
I wouldn't put him anywhere near this list, But I
always loved Tom Green, and I thought he was hysterical
with the observational humor stuff.
Speaker 4 (17:01):
We need to do a show on with Tom Green,
because you want to talk about just a dumb show
that made there's a perfect timing for us growing up, right, Yep,
the Tom Green Show.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Ye oh what a zany bizarre.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
It was a disaster. Yeah, it was thirty minutes of numbing, dumb,
stupid things.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
And him making his parent embarrassing the hell out of
his parents, making them miserable. But yeah, I mean Chris Rocky,
you know, definitely belongs on that list. I mean, when
you get into movies, Robin Williams, I think is a
name that needs to be mentioned. And again, if you're
talking different categories of what makes someone the best, you know,
I would say Robin Williams definitely had a wider range
(17:42):
of He was a more talented actor and could play
more types of roles, had a range of comedy and
drama stuff that I don't think, you know, you could say,
I don't think you can argue Will Ferrell.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Had that type of range.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
And then I had a couple LEESNL alums as well,
and Mike Myers and Tina Fey, who I think have
you know, deserve at least some consideration. I mean, Mike
Myers obviously, Austin Powers was massive that whole series, And
I mean, you know Tina Fey with all her SNL work,
everything she did with Weekend Update, thirty Rock, all the
shows she produced and wrote.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Amy Pohler right next to TEENA.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Yeah, that's fair. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
I have a really special place in my heart from
Mike Myers. It's weird because his style of humor I
try to emulate, I think my whole life, not knowingly,
like there's things, there's things I there's certain things I
do could be from Wayne's world, a lot of awesome
power stuff because awesome powers. It's just that was like
a masterclass on how to play different roles but be
(18:41):
funny and all right, right.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Right, yeah, he literally played them all.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
He played them all.
Speaker 4 (18:46):
I just I feel like Mike Myers is another guy
we can we can do a deep dive in because
his contribution to comedy in the nineties, does I think,
I think it's very underrated.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Yeah, I agree what I would say about him. It's
not as universa. I think there were a lot of
people and some of his stuff I didn't find as funny,
and some of it I found hilarious. But I feel
like Will Ferrell was more universe. Like have you ever
heard anybody say Will Ferrell is not funny?
Speaker 4 (19:13):
I don't, And that's that's part of it. I mean,
the longevity of it is well, he started in ninety
four on SNL and we're still talking about him today,
he's still he's still funny.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
You know, he's hosting it'll I think it'll have happened
by the time this episode is released. But you know
he's hosting like this uh uh, like a charity DJ
dance party thing in Chicago later this month. I saw
that with Swedish house Maffia and all these huge DJs,
and there's the the images like Will Ferrell in like
a DJ headset.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Well he started popping up.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
I want to say, his around like his son's like
fraternity house and.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Just like that's funny.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Yeah, and he just DJ. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:55):
Like first of all, most most school again exactly most
of his sons or most sons would be like, yeah, no,
you're not you're not you're not allowed like fifty feet
from from from my dad. But it's Will Ferrell. So
Will Ferrell's Wow, come on.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
I mean, if you're in college and Will Ferrell's your dad,
I mean, if I'm right, if I'm in college and
my dad's around, that's not giving me cred. If if
my dad's Will Ferrell, come hang out as much as
you want.
Speaker 1 (20:22):
That got that, that kid's got it made.
Speaker 4 (20:24):
So so you think Will Ferrell, but you also think
it's it's a complicated answer.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
Yeah, I think if the question is the funniest to
me in my lifetime, it's Will Ferrell.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
I think it's fifth contribution to comedy or you know,
you get into more of the lasting impact type stuff.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
That's when the other names come into play for me.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Jerry Seinfeld, I think it's the long list, even in
the same in the same realm.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
Larry David.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
Yeah, I mean it's you know, around the same time,
right around when, you know, a few years prior to
Farrell making his SNL debut. I mean pop culture was
Seinfeld in the early mid nineties must see TV. Yeah, yeah,
when it was really must see and you had, you know,
thirty forty fifty million people watching.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Some of those shows.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 4 (21:13):
I think this is going to be a great discussion
on social media too, because it's, like I said, comedy
is so subjective. You can absolutely hate his style of
humor and let us know who you think is. If
it's not Will Ferrell the funniest, We're talking the funniest person,
man or woman of our lifetime.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
So feel free.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
We're on Instagram, you can find me at Brady Radio
and where are you at, Dan at dan G zero
four eight two. Yeah, so let us know what you think.
Is it a yes, is it a no? Is it
somebody else? If it is a no, we want to
know who.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Is it the funniest?
Speaker 4 (21:45):
Yeah, let us know over on the IG in special
episode next, we're going to be talking about a guy
who had an incredible run probably I would say mid
mid two thousands too late two thousands. Uh, And he
just put out a new single which I think is
absolutely incredible.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Acon. I saw that Acon. Acon is back back.
Speaker 4 (22:10):
But yeah, what a what a run of music he
had there, like two thousand and six, seven, eight nine,
And we're gonna be talking about him and with him
as well the next episode of the podcast.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
There you go.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
So thanks for listening to the Hit Me Brady One
More Time podcast and we will talk to you next time.
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