"Kringle was on top of the world, but then it all came crashing down..."

December 22, 2011 8:14 PM

Can you recommend any good, relatively clean, satirical "true story"/"Biography"-type humor writings, videos, skits, etc about Santa, and/or perhaps other Christmas characters like Rudolph or Frosty?

Ideally it'd be something absurd but straight-faced... An "alternate history" like how Santa was a pilot in Vietnam, or moonlighted as an assassin, or was once invited to spring training with the Mets, or had a promising singing career derailed by an addiction to candy canes. Or was once asked to come out of retirement for "one last Christmas," etc.

Humor-wise I'm thinking of something along the lines of MST3K or Letterman.

posted by TheSecretDecoderRing to media & arts (11 answers total)

Where Does Joe Go? is not particularly funny, but it's about a snack bar owner who shuts down the snack bar every winter, and the people in the town wonder where he goes. The answer: He's Santa! Surprise!
posted by papayaninja at 9:12 PM on December 22, 2011

Not exactly what you're looking for, but so good I can't resist recommending.
Extremely short and very dark: Neil Gaiman's "Nicholas Was"
posted by cosmicbandito at 9:31 PM on December 22, 2011

Raging Rudolph is a classic MadTV parody, but it's a parody of Rudolph's backstory... so maybe it's sort of what you're looking for after all. It's clean enough to have aired on late night broadcast TV, but as the name implies it's... violent.
posted by usonian at 9:38 PM on December 22, 2011

The Santaland Diaries - It is a true and humorous account of Sedaris' stint working as a Christmas elf in "SantaLand" at Macy's department store.
posted by shoesietart at 9:51 PM on December 22, 2011

Santa Claus and His Old Lady by Cheech and Chong? There's some implied drug references, but nothing outright. It's clean enough to be played on the local radio station.
posted by lemonwheel at 9:52 PM on December 22, 2011

I used to hear Christmas Dragnet every year on Dr Demento.
posted by moonmilk at 10:32 PM on December 22, 2011

I googled "Santa Claus Satire" and got this.
posted by foxjacket at 10:38 PM on December 22, 2011

Harlan Ellison made him a superspy in Santa Claus vs. S.P.I.D.E.R.
posted by Superfrankenstein at 10:48 PM on December 22, 2011

Jeff Goode's "The 8: Reindeer Monologues" is a pretty funny play about sexual harrassment at the North Pole. It might not be as clean as what you're looking for; most of the play can be seen here.
posted by biddeford at 12:08 AM on December 23, 2011

Here's a story about Sam the Snowman, Private Eye, investigating Rudolph's murder. Eight parts, starting here.
posted by moonmilk at 10:50 AM on December 23, 2011

Well, there's always Rare Exports (trailer), a full-length movie that started as a short film. Might be too dark, not funny enough. Also has (non-sexual) nudity.
posted by clerestory at 2:45 PM on December 23, 2011