A little jerky? Thought you didn't want any!

As a Daily Marmoset tribute to our dad, who had a birthday last week, I'd like to profile one of his all-time favorite shows: the late, great "Almost Live".

NOTE: the title of this entry is, in fact, Dad's favorite joke from the show. Don't ask.


Beloved by the people of Seattle in the early 90s (and soon thereafter by viewers of Comedy Central), Almost Live was, pound for pound, probably the best sketch comedy show I've ever seen. The average Almost Live episode had more and better jokes than some whole seasons of SNL.

Granted, some of the humor was firmly tied to that time and place, and therefore doesn't export all that well. But Seattle in the Golden Age of Grunge was a gold mine of comedy potential, some of which can seen below:

NOTE: Since they made this tribute possible, YouTube is now officially better than cable.

• Unfortunately, I couldn't find any examples of Speed Walker, the world's healthiest superhero, played by Bill Nye in his pre-Science Guy days.
• Nor could I find my personal favorite, "Mind Your Manners with Billy Quan", a show about a Bruce Lee wannabe who teaches etiquette to ill-mannered people by beating the hell out of them.
  
• COPS parodies were a particular favorite of theirs, such as LIBRARIANS. (As a librarian I'm probably supposed to report this to my colleagues so they can write at great lengths about combating stereotypes, but oh well.)
• One of their most famous bits was the High Five'n White Guys. It seems to get better with age. "White guys are cooool!"
• Their other most famous routine was The Lame List, "brought to you by America's heavy metal community". Starring Kim Thayil of Soundgarden and some other guys I should probably recognize but don't.
• I don't remember seeing their Bob Ross parody, but it's a thing of beauty.
  
• The same goes for Nature Walk with Chuck.
  
• I'd completely forgotten how much I love Uncle Fran's Musical Forest. That raccoon kills me every time.
  
• What was the single most important part of Almost Live's greatness? Two words: Pat Cashman, baby.

• As an encore, here's the great Mr. Cashman in his role as spokesman for Lard, the most nutritious of all the animal fats.

P.S. - According to the Web, there was an Almost Live reunion show that aired last fall. It seems the motivational speaker market is booming these days. Anyway, the show can be seen online if you have the time and patience for a 350MB download, which I don't at the moment.