What a Country!

Last night on the Food Network was country themed, so lots of barbecue, etc.

The first program I turned on featured Al Roker going to Branson, Missouri. Now, I've heard of Branson, but until last night, I had no idea what it was. Turns out, it's a town that decided to (successfully) turn itself into a theme park, proving that if you build it, they will come. What a country!

During the course of exploring the food at "Bransonfest," Al came across hilarious russian comic, Yakov Smirnoff.

1) This proves that Yakov Smirnoff is not dead.
2) One lady interviewed was giddy with excitement, because she had met Yakov Smirnoff.
3) I saw him perform live once, and he was actually hilarious. Also, I was 10 years old. What a country!

In any case, this started me thinking about how weird it is when a comic becomes a punchline for other comics, which Yakov Smirnoff has. Watching an old SNL today, there were a couple of jokes at the expense of Joe Piscopo. I'm not saying you shouldn't be making fun of Joe Piscopo and Yakov Smirnoff. You probably should. But it's semi-canabalistic when comics make fun of their own.

On the other hand, comics should be able to take it a lot more than other people, because they (hopefully) have senses of humor.

More importantly though, it looks like Yakov Smirnoff has painted a giant heart shaped mural, so that's pretty nice.

What a country!

Side note: catach phrases have a very short shelf life, but can be successfully used by ironic comedians at least ten years after they have fallen out of favor. Am I right, people, or am I right?