or...

A Fun Night With The Mr. White Who Lives On My Leg

I got my very first tattoo when I turned nineteen back when it was really cool to be a fan of independent film. To show that I was on top of my game I decided to get the VHS artwork for an obscure movie called Reservoir Dog permanently inked into the side of my leg. Keep in mind that at the time I had to constantly explain that it was the guy who directed Pulp Fiction’s first movie being that only movie nerds knew the name, Quentin Tarantino. Because of this, I have the likeness of tonight’s host tattooed on my leg.

I still love the tattoo to this day but more because of the artwork and its connection to the Indie Film movement from that time over being a die-hard fan of the movie. Even though I don’t mind the man, this piece of work was never meant to pay tribute to any of the individual men. In fact, I’ve barely followed any of their careers but I’m always pleasantly surprised when they show up on the screen.

This is why I was excited to see Harvey in action since he’s not really the first name that I think of when it comes to comedy. Right out the gate, he made me a little nervous as the monolog was mainly a joke about how everyone was there to see Madonna in a tone that gave me low expectations for the rest of the show especially when considering the rest of the season.

Thankfully, Keitel is better at acting than he is at delivering joke because aside from his monolog this episode turned out to be just as good but not great as the rest of the season only leaning more towards great because it incited more than one audible laugh. Not only that but these laugh out loud moments were triggered by multiple scenes which just hasn’t happened often enough this year.

Once again, this episode gives me hope for the rest of the season but only time will tell. Until that time comes, it’s now time for me to shift gears and share what I saw as I give you…

The Wicker Breakdown:

This week's show started with parody cover of the Clinton Inauguration Gala where Madonna, who was this week’s musical guest, took to the stage dressed as Marilyn Monroe to sing Happy Inauguration To You to the tune of Happy Birthday To You the way Marilyn sang to JFK. This turned on Bill, pissed off Hillary and left Chelsea completely confused. Of course, this being the opening sketch, it eventually built to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
Harvey Keitel then officially opened the show with a monolog about how surprised he was to see the high turnout for this week’s episode. He went on to act real humble and surprised that he had so many fans, only as he went on to describe them it became obvious that the added attention was due to the fact that Madonna was the musical guest and nothing to do with him.
We then got a repeat of the Jiffy Express commercial from earlier in the season which was a fake ad for a delivery company that takes all the blame for late packages.
Bathroom Attendant was a sketch that took place at a fancy restaurant that’s almost overstaffed with employees to attend to any single need of their guests. Soon into the sketch, Harvey Keitel excused himself from his date to use the bathroom only to find a single occupant room with Kevin Nealon as the Bathroom Attendant who is extremely over helpful. Keep in mind, this bathroom had barely enough room for one person so it made it extremely awkward when Keitel shared that he had to take a number two and Nealon had no intention of leaving the room as he continued to help throughout the poo process.
Subway Transit Authority was a sketch that made fun of how unintelligible the New York subway announcers are only to find out that it’s just the way they talk in real life.
Madonna then took to the stage to perform Fever.
Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, Kevin Nealon slipped into his Subliminal Man to discuss the upcoming inauguration of Bill Clinton. Chris Rock checked in with an editorial about the poor race relations that year then went on to do a routine about people who don’t like positive stereotypes which doesn’t happen as often when you’re black. David Spade also dropped in for another Hollywood Minute where he roasted celebrities who made the tabloids that week in history.
It's Pat then returned for another installment where our androgynous friend washed up on a desert island where Harvey Keitel has been stranded for years. The sketch started with Keitel writing in his journal about how he missed a woman’s touch as well as the companionship of having a male friend when Pat washed up to shore. Keitel then had to spend the rest of the sketch trying to figure out what type of relationship was about to begin since he’s been stuck on the island so long. Even after being stuck on the island for eight months and having sex eight times Keitel still struggled to figure out the gender of his new island friend.
President Bush Farewell was a sketch that shared Dana Carvey as Bush on his very last day in the White House where he started one more war while clearing out his desk since he no longer cared about the job. He also stumbled upon some logs of some of his most memorable scandals while in office as he joyfully packed them away.
Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer also returned for another installment where once again the caveman attorney used his primitive brain to win over the jurors to thing things his way as usually only in this installment he pleads his case in Spanish.
Madonna then returned to the stage to perform Bad Girl which she ended by ripping up a photo of Joey Buttafuoco, in reference to Sinead O’Connor ripping up a picture of the Pope.
An Insane Idiot And His Collection Of Descending Size Deer Heads was a sketch where the title said it all and doesn’t bear repeating even though it was a pretty funny sketch.
In Or Out Of The Cab featured Harvey Keitel as a cab driver who can’t make up his mind whether or not he is on or off duty which confused the hell out of his potential paying passengers.
This was followed by another installment of Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack shared his plan on how he should focus on making the world safe for our children but not for our children’s children because our children shouldn’t be having sex.
Finally, Harvey Keitel closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.

Not only was this a fun episode, it was nice to watch another episode where I found it easy to find my top three moments of the night which I am about to share. First, I loved the Subway Transit Authority sketch because I will always find humor in how unintelligible public address systems always are. Next, I really liked this week’s It’s Pat especially for the line where Harvey says that he had sex with Pat eight times and still couldn’t figure out his/her gender. Finally, I was a fan of An Insane Idiot And His Collection Of Descending Size Deer Heads simply because I’m a fan of novelty taxidermy humor.