TresSugar

Flashback: Ben Stiller as Bono in a Cereal Commercial

GiggleSugar — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:00:00 -0700

Oh, man. This is vintage Ben Stiller again from his '90s show. Here he is mocking U2 (but mostly Bono) in their Achtung, Baby and Zooropa era. Ben is imitating Bono in his "everything I sing is important and freighted with angst" phase, demonstrating that he can deliver this even for a Lucky Clover commercial. And he's totally right! Amazing.

Flashback: Ben Stiller as Motivational Speaker Tony Robbins

GiggleSugar — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:00:00 -0700

Before Ben Stiller made it big-time and developed that sheen of smugness that's on so many successful funny men in Hollywood (you know who you are!), he was being hilarious on The Ben Stiller Show. I am so glad I found this gem, because it makes fun of a dude I am perversely fascinated with: motivational speaker Tony Robbins. I used to love coming home from a night of drinking, stuffing my face with junk food, only to find that the only thing on television was this Sasquatch of a man with blinding white teeth and a disturbingly deep baritone telling me how to be successful and unleash the winner within. Ha! (Bonus: David Cassidy of The Partridge Family introduces "Tony Bobbins.")

Andy Dick Is... Jacques Cousteau

GiggleSugar — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 04:00:00 -0700

Andy Dick is an unsung comic genius. And, no, I'm not kidding. Is it just because he keeps getting into trouble for doing stupid things that he doesn't really have a career? Anyway, here he is over 10 years ago on the short-lived Ben Stiller Show playing Jacques Cousteau. He's had a few too many glasses of red wine, and is pissing off the film crew because they can't even get him to do a voice-over about a manatee without crying or talking about his sad love-life. Their final edit of his voice is awesome.

GiggleSugar Interviews Margaret Cho!

GiggleSugar — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 04:00:00 -0700

When I think of Margaret Cho, I think of her hilarious standup act in flashes of representative scenes. There's Margaret telling everyone how weird it is to be an Asian American on an airplane with a flight attendant offering you Asian chicken salad. ("That is not the salad of my people!") There's Margaret imitating her mother's cute Korean accent and puzzling over gay men and their, uh, interest in "the ass." And then there's Margaret imagining how period-centric the world would be if men menstruated. The busy comedian/activist/all-around rad diva took some time out of her schedule to talk with us about her many projects, including VH1's The Cho Show (the second episode airs tomorrow), what it's like to have a day named after you in San Francisco, and who is hotter: Lindsay Lohan or Samantha Ronson?

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To check out the interview (and/or to listen to it!), read more.

GiggleSugar: People feel very connected to you personally. Do you have any funny or crazy fan stories?

Margaret Cho:
People really connect with me for a lot of different reasons. I was the first Asian American person they ever saw on TV, and I was the first person to talk about gay stuff. I think when people see images of themselves in the media they feel like they matter, they exist and they‘re real so a lot of my connection with people who are fans of mine, it goes deeper than just an entertainment or artist kind of relationship, so I don’t really have like, a funny or weird fan story.

GS: You have a lot on your plate right now, particularly with The Cho Show which premiered on VH1 last week. I really love the chemistry you have with Selene, your gay friends, and your parents. It seemed to me like a 21st-century family.

MC: It’s like this beautiful, queer, multicultural, and very functional family. It’s really beautiful.

GS: Can you tell me what your vision for the show was?

MC: Well, I wanted to do a show about another Asian American family because I brought the first Asian American family to TV (All-American Girl) and I then I was alarmed that there had not been another one.

GS: Race, and sexuality and gender have been really central to your work and have inspired lots of people to join comedy who might not have felt like they could be a part of it. What do you think the state of race issues in comedy is these days?

MC:
It’s a big deal. Race is still very much a factor in how much we see of you. Like I look at my contemporaries, the people I started with are people like Ben Stiller, and I feel like, considering the difference in our careers, and how far he goes . . . he’s white, he’s straight, he’s a man. I think he’s great, I like him a lot, but . . .Race is a big factor in how successful people become.

GS: With some comedians I get the sense that they’re saying we’re post-identity, post-race, they think race doesn’t matter as much because now we’re all liberated . . .

MC: No! It’s just as bad as it always was. It’s incredibly sexist, incredibly racist, and incredibly homophobic. There’s no difference. It’s not liberated.

GS: I’m wondering if you saw the pictures of the Spanish basketball team . . .

MC:
Oh, yeah. That to me is so offensive but I feel that to them it was supposed to be affectionate. That’s how you’re affectionate, by showing racism. I think that there’s such a casual attitude towards racism against Asians that exists because I feel like the Asian community at large and especially the Asian-American community is not responsible enough to stand up to it and so I feel like it’s my responsibility to stand up to it.

GS: Who are some of the comics who inspired you and who are some of your favorite comedians now, and why?

MC:
When I was growing up, probably Joan Rivers or Richard Pryor or George Carlin or Steve Martin, Whoopi Goldberg, Paula Poundstone. Major huge influence. Love her. And now Wanda Sykes is my favorite. Chris Rock. Dave Chapelle. Bobby Lee. I’m a big fan of comedy.

GS: Do you see comedy evolving?

MC: I feel like comedians are becoming political - they’ve always been political - but they’re becoming more political now, and are even invited into the political realm to talk about politics. I’m an Obama campaign surrogate so to me that’s a very exciting thing to do. And so, I think, comedy has evolved and people are taking us more seriously as social commentators. Which is really cool.

GS: This is more a personal question but is also related to your humor. In your earlier shows like The Notorious C.H.O. you talk a lot about your experimentation when you were younger with sex, drugs and being kinda self-destructive. Do you regret any of that or do you think it contributed to who you are now and to your humor?

MC: I don’t regret that. I feel like . . . I want the brain cells back. (Laughs.) That’s the hard part . . .

GS: Don’t we all!

MC: Cuz I remember I used to be so lightning fast and it was like really crazy how smart I was. And now I’m just f*ckin’ so dumb, and I can’t remember sh*t.

GS: I think that’s age, too, cuz I’m right there with you.

MC: Yeah, but it’s f*ckin’ drugs. For me, it was totally drugs. I have huge gaps.

GS: But you weren’t a huffer or anything? (Laughs.)

MC: No, but you know, I did every drug, and a lot.

GS: You were a San Francisco girl, how could you avoid it?

MC: It’s so fun, but I miss the brain cells.

GS: They’ll regenerate. I think. (Laughs.) So, speaking of San Francisco, how does it feel to have a Margaret Cho day christened by the mayor?

MC: That was April 30. That was just last April. It was really cool and I actually work with Mayor Newsom a lot, because he and I are big gay marriage advocates.

GS: And your parents are still in San Francisco?

MC:
No, they moved. They’re in San Diego now.

GS: They’re so cute!

MC: They’re really cute.

GS: Your parents seem so not uptight!

MC: Well, they have their moments of getting super-uptight. They can’t fight their culture all the time. They can be pretty uptight sometimes and annoying. But they’re super-sweet and really fun, too.

GS: How does it feel to be successful and to also remain rebellious? Do you still feel like an outsider?

MC: I’ll always be an outsider because of who I am. There’s never going to be a feeling where I feel like I’ve arrived or I’m comfortable, but I feel like I’ve created my own thing. I love performing, I love doing standup comedy, and I love writing.

GS: You’ve been married for six years.

MC: We’ve been together for like 10. We’ve been married forever!

GS: But you still identify as bi or queer.

MC: For sure. Which I’ll always be. That doesn’t change.

GS: That’s wonderful. Are there any other projects that you’re working on that you’d like to talk about?

MC:
I’m doing a show for the Lifetime Channel now called Drop Dead Diva which is a comedy/drama. I play a legal secretary which is really cool and funny. I have to cover up my tattoos in a suit and be super-vanilla which is cool and which I love. And it’s a great show and then I’m going to finish out my tour dates, and then I’m gonna see if I finish out season two of The Cho Show. (I hope we are!) But we don’t know yet.

GS: What are some things that your fans might not know about you that would surprise them?

MC: Like, I am really a dog mom.

GS: Oh . . . ! [This is where I kept quiet about my cat fetish.]

MC: I have three dogs. They’re my whole life.

GS: Silly questions, now. Either or questions: Strawberry or grape-flavored gum?

MC: I can’t chew gum because I’m such a spaz like I would bite the inside of my mouth so much and bite my tongue and then my whole mouth would be filled with blood. It’s really stupid. I’m really dumb about chewing gum. I’m not sure how to. Sometimes, I’m super dumb about stuff. The other thing I’m dumb about is I don’t know how to do the laundry.

GS: I wish I didn’t know how to do the laundry and then I could make someone else do it. Granny panties or thongs?

MC: Um, I’d say thongs. But I do appreciate a granny panty in moderation.

GS: Lindsay Lohan or Samantha Ronson?

MC: Oooh. I love Samantha. (GS: I know!) MC: She’s such a hot dirty butch. I like her a lot.

MC: That’s it Margaret, thank you so much for your time. I hope to catch your show, Beautiful, in Santa Rosa!

GiggleSugar Reader Spotlight: Tdamji

GiggleSugar — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:00:00 -0700

Thoughtful, funny, environmentally aware-and a GiggleSugar fan?! We're so lucky to have Tdamji...

GS: What’s your motto?
Tdamji: "If you're not first, you're last." Just kidding, that's from Talladega Nights. Well, I suppose it would be something cheesy like "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

GS: Where are you from?
Tdamji: Well, we are all from the region now known as Africa, but seriously-here's the long version. Grandparents are from Gujarat (India), parents are from Kenya and the UK. I'm from Vancouver, Houston, where I lived from two to 12-years-old. I'm also from Calgary, where I grew up from 12 - 24. I'm in New Zealand this year on exchange, but normally I live in Vancouver. Everyone tells me my accent is either hard to place or is from a different place, and its hard to decide how I feel like spelling things: color vs. colour.

GS: What do you do?
Tdamji: I am an Art History/Anthropology student at UBC. I write a lot of the posts over at Minimal Harm and plan on creating a new mega-site in 2008. So, I guess I am also a blogger?!

GS: How would you describe your sense of humor?
Tdamji: I like sarcasm, and while I don't quote pop-culture quite as often as Lorelei from the Gilmore Girls, people (other than my best friend) don't know what I'm referring to most of the time, apart from my brother who knows when I am talking about something from Seinfeld, since he knows that show better than I.

GS: What’s your favorite GiggleSugar post?
Tdamji: I love all the WTF ones, generally, but the White Dudes With Gang Signs post is the most hilarious!

GS: Who’s the cutest funny man and funny woman?
Tdamji: Ellen DeGeneres (she looks like a very sweet and kind person) and Norm MacDonald (just looking at his goofy face makes me crack up!)

GS: Who are your favorite male and female comedians?
Tdamji: Ben Stiller, Mike Myers, Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, David Spade, and Dana Carvey.

GS: What’s your favorite comedy of all time?
Tdamji: I love a lot of the 90's buddy comedies with Chris Farley and David Spade or Mike Myers and Dana Carvey. I also love Adam Sandler and Chris Rock movies, but I also really like Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's a classic!

GS: If your life were a comedy, what would it be?
Tdamji: Something dark and subtly funny, like Stranger than Fiction or I Heart Huckabees.

GS: Do you look like someone famous?
Tdamji: An auto-rickshaw guy in India told me I look like Aishwarya Rai, but I think that he was just trying to get more cab fare from me!

Tdamji free-for-all: I'm a 27 year old vegan who is really into the environment. (Nature is cool, yo!) I like to watch different genres of movies, go camping and hiking, travel a lot (I'm going to SE Asia and China next month for 6 weeks!!). I prefer to study on my own rather than via formal education, even though I am in University at the moment. I like geeking-out by playing Nintendo Wii and DS, going to farmer's markets and creative things like painting and interior design. My username is rather boring, as it is just my last name and first initial stuck together. How does my name reflect who I am? Hmm. . .

Thanks, Tdamji!

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(Tdamji, Dana Carvey, David Spade, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, Mike Myers, Ben Stiller, Norm MacDonald, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Ellen DeGeneres)

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GiggleSugar Reader Spotlight: ekdkdk1

GiggleSugar — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 15:04:09 -0800

ekdkdk1 is a prolific commenter on GiggleSugar. She's funny, sweet, and down-to-earth. Read on to find out more about your fellow reader!

GS: What’s your motto?
EKD: I am pretty much a "Everything happens for a reason" kind of girl, so I just take life in stride!

GS: Where are you from?
EKD:Oklahoma City, Oklahoma . . . I know, redundant, but who knows one day there may be an Oklahoma City, Alaska and then everyone would have to ask which one?

GS: What do you do?
EKD: I work for an insurance company. I am in the home office, but I am an agent for our employees and a trainer for new agents on our computer system. I am also a massage therapist on the side. I love people.

GS: How would you describe your sense of humor?
EKD: Sarcastic with a side of unfunny (at least according to my teenager).

GS: What’s your favorite GiggleSugar post?
EKD: Any of the Japanese game shows! I dig those, I mean gosh who wouldn't want to be that free and not feel like you should have to worry about pride?

GS: Who’s the cutest funny man and funny woman?
EKD: Okay I love John Heffron, I think he is down-to-earth cute! I have a girl crush on Ellen DeGeneres.

GS: Who are your favorite male and female comedians?
EKD:Nick Swardson and Janeane Garofalo.

GS: What’s your favorite comedy of all time?
EKD: There are so many to choose from here, but I am on a Grandma's Boy kick right now, not sure if it is worthy of all time status, I could also go Napoleon Dynamite here, too.

GS: If your life was a comedy, what would it be?
EKD: Meet the Parents, because I totally have poor Ben Stiller's luck when it comes to some things in life. But, I have never milked a cat.

GS: Do you look like someone famous?
EKD: Kathy Bates is who I would come closest too, lol!!! No, I don't think I look like anyone famous.

EKD free-for-all: I live life, love life, take care of two awesome kids, and a decent husband (haha, he doesn't get on here so I am safe), try to keep everything as light as I can! I like exclamation points as you can see! I think everything needs a little emphasis, because it is all important. I hope I can bring a little smile to people at least once a day. I love tattoos, but since I am a working professional I have five that are easily hidden. I am a Disney freak! I love my DVR, I watch too much TV because of it, but at my own time, which is AWESOME! And that, my friend, is pretty much my story.

Thanks, ekdkdk1!

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(EDK; with her daughters Nicole, left, and Destiny, right; kids goofing off; fairy tattoo; John Heffron, Ellen DeGeneres, Nick Swardson, Janeane Garofalo)

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