But the best guest bit has to be Kristen Schaal and Kurt Braunohler as “Die Vra,” a parody of the totally bizarre South African rap duo Die Antwoord. Hair and makeup does a very accurate job of making Schaal look like Yolandi Vi$$er, and the obviously sharpied-on tattoos on Braunohler are hilarious (BBQ with an arrow pointed to his right nipple is probably my favorite).
It’s super fun to watch how characters grow on Kroll Show, especially since even the smallest of characters can really pop back up at any time for more. We first met Australian actor R. Schrift back in season two on Rocks & Roll, an 80s television show about a renegade archeologist. Kroll then appeared as R. Schrift in a September 2014 episode of the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast to tease some of the things we see in tonight’s episode of Kroll Show. R. Schrift’s latest endeavor is another wonderfully 80s program about a part-man, part-machine—aptly titled Manchine—who solves crimes. Well, he really just solves basic problems using simple technology. And there’s a love story in there too, obviously.
R. Schrift also appears as a guest judge on Show Us Your Songs Commonwealth, and plugs one of his other shows: Dentist The Mentalist. Even though I could have easily watched an entire episode of Dentist The Mentalist, the brief moments we get here and then in the tag definitely satisfy.
Over in Pawnsylvania, Murph travels down to Pittsburgh to seek guidance from Don, which he finds through a piss painting and a game of bag throw/corn hole. Paul F. Thompkins shows up as Anthony Downpour, a local meteorologist who gives the forecast and the lottery numbers simultaneously, with a whole lot of confusing graphics behind him. That bit, along with all the unintelligible dialogue from the various characters in this sketch, make this another solid installment of Pawnsylvania. It’s also a clear example of how good Kroll Show writers are at not only crafting sketches that are funny but that also have a very clear arc. Pawnsylvania isn’t just a dumping ground for Pennsylvania jokes; there’s a story here, and that makes it more compelling to watch, no matter how ridiculous it is.
Stray observations:
- “This is a big scooper for cocaine.”
- “This is both from my hand and from a pool.”
- “She was putting pop in your second fridge.”
- “I guess I’ll give a shoutout to the 25 coffee shops in Scotland that claim that J.K. Rowling wrote her novels there.”
- “The only art I’m interested is that tattoo my girl’s got on her back of the Liberty Bell where the crack…is her crack.”
- I love the repeated use of the “you did it” sound effect in this episode.
