Comeditsu

A cute little sock puppet... for me to poop on!

"Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog is a puppet created and performed by Robert Smigel premiering in 1997 on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Triumph was identified in the early appearances as a Yugoslavian Mountain Hound. Triumph often puffs a cigar, which usually falls out of his mouth when he begins speaking. The crudeness of the puppetry behind Triumph—Smigel's arm is often clearly visible in the shot—has added to the character's popularity."-Wikipedia

"Triumph's debut was in a comedy skit about unusually talented dogs at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, from which he was banned (though his third visit to the show was by invitation). In addition to other dog puppets who played banjos and performed magic, Triumph appeared in his trademark persona of an obnoxious and ribald insult comic in the vein of Don Rickles. The character rapidly grew in popularity, and became a recurring fixture on the show, often mocking the show's celebrity guests and leaving the studio to harass the general public in pre-taped remote segments."-Wikipedia

Insult comics are wonderful at... well... Insulting! Wether it's attacking authority or just pooping on celebrities, Triumph the Insult comic dog is no slouch. He has to be witty, and insulting. He picks out the littlest quips and accents with a megaphone! It's the cocky attitude that makes Triumph so hilarious! He's pissed plenty of celebrities off including Jennifer Lopez, and Eminem. Take a look!

It's a simple concept of satire (low burlesque), mix in a cocky attitude, and make tons of dog puns and you've got Triumph the insult comic dog!

Triumph also has aspects of a regular stand-up insult comic. He does a routine. There are no tricks about it, you have to be clever and write a routine. Roasts usually have people with prepared routines. Our Next Entry will be an extensive How To of creating a routine. Enjoy!

Character Development is the one of those important things in comedy. Without it, there is no laughter. Without it, there is only poop. It is hard to write a skit or play without characters. The same goes for stand-up, but it is less obvious. Crista Flanagan is a master at character development.

"Flanagan was born in Mount Vernon, Illinois. She received a BS in Theater from the University of Evansville. Flanagan received a Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Irvine, where she sharpened her theatrical skills in plays including Fool for Love, The Time of our Life, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Marriage of Figaro and Oklahoma!. Her extensive background in theater led to the development of Flanagan's one-person show titled But wait…I have Impressions!. Flanagan's notable guest appearances on television include Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Practice, ER, and a recurring role on You've Got a Friend. She has recently partnered up with the team behind Ask A Ninja to create a video podcast called Hope is Emo. Flanagan currently lives in Los Angeles. Flanagan played the role of Hermione Granger in the 2007 film, Epic Movie." -Wikipedia

"Flanagan officially joined the cast of MADtv in 2004 as a feature performer, for the tenth season, then became a repertory cast member at the beginning of the following season. As of February 2007, Flanagan is a regular cast member of the twelfth season (the current) cast." -Wikepedia

One of my favorite new cast members on Mad TV, can make any character come to life! Crista Flanagan is a genius at developing the character and altering our reality so the character becomes real. The character is so real that if Crista forgets her lines, she would know what to say because at that moment she is the character. The character is real. And that's where the fun is!

My favorite character Crista makes real doesn't have good jokes. In fact, the joke is the character itself! Luann Lockhart is a stand-up comedian who has many hilarious elements.All of these elements are put together by Crista to develop the character:

• starving comic.
• She is very nervous
• Can't always remember her jokes
• she tells horrible jokes which eventually lead into her personal life
• she breaks down and cries after she realizes she is a wreck, and her boyfriend is mean to her, and her parents are rude to her
• She does impressions

But don't take my word for it. A big part of the character is the performance itself.

Crista developed her character based on horrible comedians. Luann really is a satire with a "shock the audience" factor. Here's what Crista has to say on Luann Lockhart!

"We would listen to the comedians, and they were terrible, and—not all of them, not all of them. And some of them were so bad, I’d never really experienced stand-up. I’ve never gone to the clubs, that kind of thing. But I decided that one night I was gonna do stand-up, and so during the rehearsal, it was just my friends in the audience, and I went up on stage, and I just started saying some really inappropriate things. Like, “yeah I’m recently”… all the stereotypes, you know. “yeah I’m recently single, but that’s okay ‘cause my boyfriend hit me” Until it just got worse and worse, and I just ended up sobbing on the stage. Everyone said You gotta do this. And I did. I started going to stand-up clubs, and I started doing my little set of bad jokes."
- Crista Flanagan interviewed for Planet Mad TV

Now that you have an idea of who Luann Lockhart is, try writing some material for her. Remember practice makes perfect so write as much as you can, because you're going to throw a lot out. Also Keep the character in mind. Ask yourself: What would Luann Lockhart say about this subject? What would she do in this situation? How can you take this phrase and write it a la Luann Lockhart?

As you can see it's all about the character baby! Crista Flanagan does many other characters on Mad TV including Denise(craft girl), Nippy(Krumpin'),Wendy Walker(3 minute meal) and a Sesame Street girl. She also does impressions (which are really predeveloped characters themselves). She makes these characters her own including Tom Cruise, Heidi Klum, Patricia Arquette(Medium), Meredith Vieira, and Lindsay Lohan.

Crista Flanagan also does another character on a video blog/podcast called Hope. You can check it out at Hopeisemo.com. This character is a huge stereo type portrayed very well. She doesn't sling a bunch of jokes like a traditional one liner, she just portrays the character in tons of hilarious situations. One critique I'd make is that she overdoes the crying and whining. But then again, Hope is emo!