There are many phrases I use on a regular basis that I have taken from my favorite movies or television shows. My vocabulary is chock full of comments that I have lifted from The Simpsons, Futurama, Can't Stop The Music starring Village People, A Hard Day's Night, etc., etc., etc. But I think the number one group on my stolen-joke hit parade is The Kids In The Hall.
When I was in high school I was crazy about the Kids In The Hall, particularly the first three seasons when they had a low budget. My dad and I got a little sad when the women in sketches were suddenly played by actual women. And if you watch those early seasons, you can keep a running tally of how many wigs they had in the costume department. I think it was around ten. I'd have to hold a Kids In The Hall marathon to be sure, but that would cause me to go into some sort of giddy overload and I wouldn't be able to function for a couple of days.
I have also stolen many jokes from Beavis and Butthead, but I never have to point out that they are stolen from Beavis and/or Butthead because they are always delivered in the proper Beavis and/or Butthead voice. I love them, and I still believe that they are the number one rock critics of all time.
Who else do I have to look up to? The local guy who gave a bad review to the a-ha concert seventeen years ago? I'm still pissed about that. The other local guy who only thinks indie rock is worthwhile? That guy regularly causes me to leave ranting messages on LCG's voice mail.
Can I trust Rolling Stone magazine for my reviews? Fat chance. I know a guy who reads every new issue of Rolling Stone and when he is done closes it and says, "I didn't think they could do it, but that was the worst issue ever." Spin? Ah, no. I've always thought Spin was the Weekly World News to Rolling Stone's Enquirer, but even the Weekly World News is better than Spin. I know, I know. I should try the NME or Mojo. I know there are alternatives out there, but no critics have ever been able to delight me as much as Beavis and Butthead. I recently found more proof that they were the best.
I was doing some channel flipping a few weeks ago and found an Iron Maiden video on MTV2. Sure, I've seen the video for The Number Of The Beast lots of times, but I still watched. Then I watched another video, then I realized I was watching the mid-week rerun of (the new) Headbanger's Ball. And the host said that when they came back they would be talking to Steve from Iron Maiden. No way! I popped a tape in the VCR, hit record, and went to bed.
A couple of days later LCG and I sat down to watch. It was actually a few segments with Steve and then a few segments with Bruce! Something for both of us! And they played a ton of old and new Maiden videos, including the two from Dance Of Death. I guess they have been playing the Wildest Dreams clip on Headbanger's Ball for a while now, but since that is not a program I watch I had not seen the video.
When Steve set up the video he said that they were not in it and I didn't approve. It was a computer animation sort of thing, which is fine except for the fact that I want to be looking at Iron Maiden! But then the coolest thing in the world happened. The computer generated singer had flying skulls circling his head.
Flying skulls.
Let me remind you of one of my favorite Beavis and Butthead jokes ever. They were watching Hello From The Gutter by Overkill and were very, very unkind. The only thing they liked about the video was the animated flying skull. They believed that the flying skull should fly out of the Overkill video into a cool video. And just now I saw flying skulls in an Iron Maiden video.
The flying skull took Beavis and Butthead's advice. It flew out of the Overkill video and into a cool Iron Maiden video. And the Iron Maiden video had many flying skulls, so the Overkill skull must have stopped and picked up some friends on the way. When I saw those skulls, I couldn't have been happier.
Me: LOOK! (Simultaneously pointing at the TV and tipping over. I was so giddy.)
LCG: What?
Me: The flying skull took Beavis and Butthead's advice!
LCG: (Using Butthead voice) Oh yeah.
The video is pretty good, although it would be better if I could enjoy Bruce Dickinson and his terrible trousers. But that's okay, because the video proves that Beavis and Butthead were right about something and that made my day.