Here’s the reason I think it’s sometimes better to have non-comedians as the guests on Comedy Bang! Bang! – it can lead to more structured bits for the interview portion. Not that I don’t enjoy watching Scott riff with Rainn Wilson or Bill Hader or whoever, but more and more, the celebrity guest has become the least interesting part of the show. That’s a testament to how strong the sketch writing has been in the second season, but the weird side effect is that when someone like Alba comes on, the banter feels a lot tighter.
Maybe I’m not giving Alba enough credit! She’s bounced around some alt-comedy movies, like The Ten (where the trailer used her name as a fantastic punchline), and she seemed really amused by the proceedings on Comedy Bang! Bang!, but not in an annoying way where she doesn’t know what’s up. She put Scott down the right amount and yes-anded the right amount. “Have you ever thought of starring in a movie called Me In A Bikini?” Scott asked, mocking her penchant for appearing in films like Into The Blue. “As long as I get tortured. I think that would make more money,” came her droll reply.
Alba was the most memorable part of a generally fun episode, which had a Toy Story-spoofing framing device where Scott and Reggie are living dolls living on a play TV show set who stage their fake talk show when their owner-girl is out of the room. I liked the level of detail put into the goofy premise, with Alba lying creepily in a corner at the beginning of the show, and the ridiculous final twist that their owner is in some kind of human zoo on an alien planet called Meep-Morp. Because if you’re going to stage the episode around a weird joke that messes with its reality, why not make it as weird as possible?
We also had a nice little sketch featuring Tony Hale, Jim Rash and Nat Faxon as knightly sorts battling for the title “King of Cards,” a.k.a. the person who hands Scott his cue cards at the beginning of the episode. Like any good Comedy Bang! Bang! sketch it told a little tale very well and included some surprisingly yucky gore as a cherry on top. I could definitely stand to see more of Hale and Rash play-fighting—their similar energies mesh very well. Maybe bring back Hale’s character on Community this year, guys. It’ll be worth it.
I was also really tickled by the “Make The Sweater Better” sketch, which took a while to get going but paid off really well as Scott slowly transforms into a Guy Fieri type blasting around the desert in a hot rod. I laughed out loud when he just tossed the sweater patch at his second client and ran away. The use of Tig Notaro as the cop at the end of the sketch promised a wild conclusion that never happened, but I didn’t really care at that point anyway. Sidenote: can Tig be on the show again, please? Perhaps as the Good One Robot? That’s a deep cut, but one of the podcast’s best-ever characters, and she’s (rightly) so famous now.
Stray observations:
- It’s weird over at the Meep-Morp Zoo. “It's time for my favorite television program! The final episode of MASH!”
- Scott’s introduction is, I’m sure, absolutely factual. “You may know me from such films as Titanic, Iron Man 3, and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Saw 'em all opening night, baby!”
- “BOW TO ME!” “Yeah, I'm not gonna bow, but can I get those cards?”
- Loved Alba’s grid of questions she’s already been asked. Was that Joe Wengert as the winner of the panel game? Shout out Joe Wengert!
- Reggie wouldn’t see a movie that takes place inside of a bikini. “That’s where I draw the line.”
- “Scott, I've been asked that question before. The Cars.”
- Kristen Schaal was a bit of an afterthought as the disgusting girl scout cookie lady, but I liked her description of the Casey Anthony cookie. “Tastes like a party, but something's missing.”