If you ever wanted to see Triumph the Insult Comic Dog take on “Weird” Al Yankovic, Rob Schneider and Mythbuster Adam Savage, good news: comedian Robert Smigel, famous for several projects but perhaps best known as “the hand on Triumph's ass”, has just released an edited version of Let's poopthe live game show taped at San Francisco's Sketchfest comedy festival this year.
Talking with Consequence Over the phone, Smigel says that while he didn't have as much control over taping the show as he would have liked, “I felt like it was the most fun live show I'd done in 20 years. If I had really filmed it more carefully, I might have tried to sell it somewhere; I didn't feel like I was in that kind of shape, but I still think it's worth sharing. So I decided to share it only on YouTube for free.”
Let's poop allows Triumph to do what it has been doing since 1997: deliver brutal humiliations in a wide range of circumstances, from real life political campaigns to the line for the premiere of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. Triumph has appeared on multiple talk shows as well as on his own series; The Sketchfest show stands out, Smigel says, “because it had this unusual dynamic of having 'Weird' Al Yankovic there and having people sing supposed parodies of his songs. And everything went very well, live on stage. I had a very interesting audience and I had a great time, and Rob Schneider was a fun target.”
Including Schneider in the program, Smigel says, was a choice he made even though the SNL Student politics has shifted in a rightward direction in recent years. “I'm always in favor of putting people in, as long as there are no restrictions for Triumph,” she says. “As long as Triumph can destroy the person. And I feel like I broke up with Rob pretty good. That's the point: the people you love are rich guys.”
There was a previous Sketchfest show, Smigel adds, where there were guests he wanted to feature “who were of a similar ilk, and they weren't wanted. They just said, 'No, the public will be too angry.' I say, 'You don't understand.' The point is, I'm going to destroy this person. And he will be very satisfactory.'”
Smigel understands “why people have this drive. Everything is so heightened now, and people don't even want to give it platforms… The word 'normalized' is a very popular word now.”
And there is a class of people, he continues, “who I wouldn't give a platform to, not even to make fun of. People I feel are like scammers and say things they don't even necessarily mean; They say it to cultivate a certain audience. I didn't feel Rob fell into that category, but there are people who do and I wouldn't interact with them, even if it was Triumph. I'd just say, 'No, I don't want you to get any of this.' I don't want you to come away feeling like you get exposure or credit for laughing at yourself.'”
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