Laugh Fest Weird Al Yankovic Mixes Old, New Comedy For A Fun-Filled Evening

Weird Al Yankovic Sunday, Aug. 10, Riverfront Park

I haven’t laughed so much at a concert since Milli Vanilli broke up.

Weird Al Yankovic, the Spike Jones of his generation, proved on Sunday night that he is just as funny live as he is on disc and on video.

Actually, some of the best parts of the show were on video. Between songs, video clips ran on the big screen above the stage. Some were just wacky - the entire “George of the Jungle” TV show intro - and some were portions of Weird Al’s famous MTV videos.

The best ones were purported “interviews” with famous figures, such as Madonna, Keith Richards, Paul McCartney and Billy Joel. Weird Al spliced his own questions into these canned interviews to create such exchanges as: Weird Al: “You’ve got a little bit of a crush on me, don’t you?”

Madonna: “Yes, I think I do.”

These video clips gave Al and the band time to change into assorted goofy costumes. There was the Amish costume for “Amish Paradise,” the Michael Jackson fat suit for “Fat,” and the flannel costume for “Smells Like Nirvana.”

These three songs are probably Weird Al’s best-known parodies, and the crowd loved them. However, novelty being an indispensable element of comedy, I got a bigger kick out of some of the new, unreleased material.

For instance, there was a parody of the “new” Beatles tune, “Free as a Bird,” which was presented from the viewpoint of a computer geek. The refrain was: “Gee, I’m a nerd.”

Then there was Weird Al’s attempt to write a new theme song for the show, “Home Improvement.” It was rejected, he said, because it sounded exactly like the “Friends” theme song. The refrain: “I’ll repair for you.”

Then there was a hilarious medley that included some of Weird Al’s old parodies along with some newer ones, including Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die,” remade as “Chicken Pot Pie,” and REM’s “Stand,” remade as “Spam.” As you can see, Weird Al’s humor runs heavily toward food.

His songs work best in the medley form, since brevity is another essential element of comedy. The only song of the whole night that didn’t work was “The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota,” which was funny, but it went on about four verses too long.

The most inventive piece of the night was the “Alternative Polka,” in which Weird Al whipped out his accordion and made sprightly, bouncy dance music to such as lyrics as Beck’s “I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me.”

You know, Weird Al can really play that accordion. In fact the entire band is quite good, although its members pretended not to be in their showcase “solos.”

The crowd filling the Lilac Bowl was mellow, but I don’t think that should be interpreted as unappreciative. Everybody was relaxed on the lawn, enjoying the summer evening and chuckling over Weird Al screaming, “Eat it!”

, DataTimes