A good laugh

[velvetpage]

A certain facebook poll pointed me towards Rick Mercer's show "Talking to Americans," which happily is available on Youtube. I've seen it before, of course, but it's comedy gold even though it's about nine years old.

I've been laughing long and loud.

The best part is when he gets governors of various states to congratulate Canada on absurd things. For example, he got Mike Huckabee in Arkansas to congratulate Canada on preserving its national igloo. The bits at Harvard and Princeton, where politics and history students sign petitions against the Toronto Polar Bear Hunt, are simply priceless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OetNV8vf9y8

Comments

[grrl-next-door.livejournal.com]

I love that program. we watched it in grade 10 history!

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

It's an excellent example of people caving to authority when they're unsure about something. He didn't give them a chance to back off, so practically nobody called him on the things that didn't sound right - they acknowledged his authority to speak on those topics and allowed themselves to be made fools of.

of course, I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that at least a few of them would know that some of it didn't sound right.

[amyura.livejournal.com]

LOL Mangez poutine! I can't get past the annoying midwestern accents in the Chicago segment.

To be fair, when I was at McGill I was a little shocked at some of the dumb things I was asked. Was Massachusetts near Virginia, for example, and did I know anyone in militias?

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know. Gullibility knows no borders - he would have found just as many stupid comments about Americans if asking Canadians, though he may have had to be a little more obscure about them - I doubt there are many Canadians who don't know who the president is, for example.

[amyura.livejournal.com]

Am I remembering correctly, or is "22 Minutes" produced in Newfoundland? That newscaster's accent is especially noticeable at HRRRvard.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Rick Mercer is definitely a Newfie.

[siobhan63.livejournal.com]

22 Minutes is produced in Halifax. Mercer's from Newfoundland, as velvetpage pointed out, as was most if not all of the cast originally. Rick has his own show now - the Mercer Report, but 22 Minutes is still going strong, minus Rick (i think it's actually better now - Rick's rather swarmy at times).

[daednu.livejournal.com]

My favourite memory from that show was the "climbing the Peter Mans Bridge" episode. LMAO I used to watch it religiously.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Oh, that one was hysterical.

[integritysinger.livejournal.com]

that's hysterical! i know about a picometer's worth of info about canada so I'm amused mostly by how I might respond to Rick Mercer if he asked me questions. I'm not sure if I'd just stand there dumbly and say, "i don't know" or if I'd be an idiot and try to respond!