Puppet-Battered Comedy?
March 23, 2013 6:34 AM Subscribe
Can anyone tell me the name (or point me to a video clip) of a female comedian who performed her act as if she were being held hostage by a hand puppet with a boxing glove?
She was a female comedian who carried a small hand puppet with a boxing glove similar to these.
The puppet didn't say anything, but punched her in the face occasionally through her act.
She performed her entire act in a distressed tone of voice as if the puppet were holding her hostage and forcing her to tell jokes.
I honestly don't even remember the jokes -- I only saw her once as I was flipping through channels -- but I thought the concept was clever and hilarious and it made an impression on me.
I'm pretty sure the act I saw was part of a Comedy Central special (the ones with a handful of comedians who do 5-10 minute sets).
My attempts at Google-Fu turn up mostly Jeff Dunham, Punch & Judy, so I'm hoping someone else has seen the act and knows what I'm talking about. Thanks!
She was a female comedian who carried a small hand puppet with a boxing glove similar to these.
The puppet didn't say anything, but punched her in the face occasionally through her act.
She performed her entire act in a distressed tone of voice as if the puppet were holding her hostage and forcing her to tell jokes.
I honestly don't even remember the jokes -- I only saw her once as I was flipping through channels -- but I thought the concept was clever and hilarious and it made an impression on me.
I'm pretty sure the act I saw was part of a Comedy Central special (the ones with a handful of comedians who do 5-10 minute sets).
My attempts at Google-Fu turn up mostly Jeff Dunham, Punch & Judy, so I'm hoping someone else has seen the act and knows what I'm talking about. Thanks!
I swear to god this sounds like something I saw Maria Bamford do at least one of the times I've seen her perform (though only for a bit or two, not for the entire act), but I can't find any clips that would support this.
posted by scody at 9:08 AM on March 23, 2013
posted by scody at 9:08 AM on March 23, 2013
Response by poster: Thanks for the responses.
Not Nina Conti -- I'm 99% certain the comic was American.
Maria Bamford -- maybe? I'm pretty sure the comic I'm thinking of had dark hair, but it was so long ago and so brief that I could be remembering wrong. The act I saw was not much longer than 5 minutes.
posted by Alabaster at 5:28 PM on March 23, 2013
Not Nina Conti -- I'm 99% certain the comic was American.
Maria Bamford -- maybe? I'm pretty sure the comic I'm thinking of had dark hair, but it was so long ago and so brief that I could be remembering wrong. The act I saw was not much longer than 5 minutes.
posted by Alabaster at 5:28 PM on March 23, 2013
It does sound very familiar, and I can kind of picture Bamford doing it, although when you say she had dark hair, that sounds familiar too. It sounds like Bamford's kind of joke. If you really want to investigate, I'm thinking this was either something from a Comedy Central special, or it was from an old NBC show called Late Friday that used to have a lot of edgy young comedians on in the late 1990s or so. I almost never watch Leno, I kind of went off Conan in the 90s and it sounds too dark for Letterman, so if I saw it, I'm thinking Comedy Central or Late Friday.
I suppose you could always email Bamford and ask her. What could it hurt?
posted by Ursula Hitler at 6:36 PM on March 23, 2013
I suppose you could always email Bamford and ask her. What could it hurt?
posted by Ursula Hitler at 6:36 PM on March 23, 2013
Best answer: Susan Messing and Jolly?
(I only found that because it rang a bell and someone else posted about it in a couple of places online and helpfully provided her name.)
(Wow, that routine is a lot more disturbing than my fuzzy memory of it indicated.)
posted by camyram at 8:54 PM on March 23, 2013
(I only found that because it rang a bell and someone else posted about it in a couple of places online and helpfully provided her name.)
(Wow, that routine is a lot more disturbing than my fuzzy memory of it indicated.)
posted by camyram at 8:54 PM on March 23, 2013
A little Googling tells me Kristen Schaal used to do some stuff with puppets, maybe her?
posted by charlemangy at 10:04 PM on March 23, 2013
posted by charlemangy at 10:04 PM on March 23, 2013
Susan Messing and Jolly?
It would appear we have a winner. A quick look at her IMDB bio reveals she was indeed on Late Friday, way back when. That must be where I saw her.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 2:49 AM on March 24, 2013
It would appear we have a winner. A quick look at her IMDB bio reveals she was indeed on Late Friday, way back when. That must be where I saw her.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 2:49 AM on March 24, 2013
Response by poster: Susan Messing it is! Thank you for solving the mystery.
posted by Alabaster at 1:17 PM on March 24, 2013
posted by Alabaster at 1:17 PM on March 24, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Gyan at 6:43 AM on March 23, 2013