There is exactly one advantage to the fact that a week in 2020 time feels like much, much longer, and it is this: It feels an age since that glorious day that national treasure Mandy Patinkin, titan of sound, stage, and screen, joined TikTok. He and the rest of the Patinkin family, including his delightful wife, Kathryn Grody, are using the account as an attempt to help get out the vote. Hopefully that works, but regardless, they have certainly brought us joy.
Let’s stroll down this particular memory lane, one strewn with dances, smiles, impassioned speeches, and one masterful example of lip-syncing to one’s own voice.
Day 1: Novelty hats and improvised dancing for democracy
https://www.tiktok.com/@southernbelleinsults/video/6883188430549880069
A get-out-the-vote campaign but make it Lynchian and also like charades!
Day 2: “Do I need to change my shoes?”
https://www.tiktok.com/@southernbelleinsults/video/6883574386616519941
Just… just perfect.
Day 3: Day 2, continued, complete with little leap
https://www.tiktok.com/@southernbelleinsults/video/6883883286154808582
How do you watch these and not immediately leave to vote/start wishing you had not already voted so you could vote again?
Day 4: A bandana and some wise words
https://www.tiktok.com/@southernbelleinsults/video/6884278958511246597
Mandy’s first duet, in the TikTok sense and not the real sense because of course Mandy Patinkin has sung many great duets! Listen to Sunday In The Park With George, it will blow your mind! Anyway, some real Mr. Rogers vibes there. “The way I help myself is to help others.”
Day 5: Elegant kicking dance analysis, and The Big Send
https://www.tiktok.com/@southernbelleinsults/video/6884368487280545029
We cannot possibly overlook the contributions Kathryn Grody and her son are making to this treasure-trove of wonders. The kicks! The bumps! The woof!
@mandypatinktok The Sending Mail Dance. Today is #TheBigSend where folks across the US are sending 15 million letters to #gotv in swing states. #vote #bidenharris