Have you ever wondered how Sir Ian McKellen gives such great performances? Hint: he pretends to be the character he’s playing.

In this hilarious clip from “Extras,” Sir Ian pulls back the curtain on his process and lets Ricky Gervais know exactly how he does it.

Pornographic publisher Dean Learner, and his most prolific, and horrific, writer, Garth Marenghi, have returned to the small screen with a new show called “Man to Man with Dean Learner.” The geniuses behind Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace have resurrected the characters and placed them in the world of the late night talk show. England’s Channel 4 recently started airing the 6 episode series last week. You can download the first episode here.

Man to Man is broadcast from Learner’s palatial penthouse apartment, and features Learner having a sit-down chat with a different guest each week in front of a live studio audience. For the first episode, Dean tapped the man who he “fell in like” with at first sight, Garth Marenghi.

Dean and Garth spend the episode reminiscing about the ups and downs of their long friendship, as well as Garth’s belief that the Dutch will pose the next world threat, and the hardships of a party with too few toilets. Garth takes the opportunity to plug his new book, “The Oeuvre,” a hardback collection of every novel he’s ever written, all in one easy-to-read volume.

And it turns out Garth has recently embraced his nascent painting abilities, as evidenced by a piece entitled “My Family Without Skin”:

The visual jokes on the show are clever, and some of the dialogue between host and guest is quite witty and enjoyable, but I can’t shake the feeling that a talk show isn’t the right format for these guys. While it does allow the actors to showcase their improv abilities, the show is marred by the raucous studio laughter, which seems especially high in the mix. The laughter is from an audience clearly in on the joke, as they’re laughing at Dean and Garth, not with them. This is in stark contrast to “Darkplace’s” laugh-track free audio.

“Darkplace’s” greatest strengths were the wooden acting, horrible dubbing, scandalously cheap special effects, and some of the most stilted and cliche-ridden dialogue to ever be put on film. “Man to Man’s” format precludes the use of any of these elements. That’s why it’s telling that the funniest moment of the show comes not from anything on “Man to Man,” but from a clip of Garth’s new film, “War of the Wasps,” which features all of the above mentioned attributes:

My friend Eliot recently delved deep into his collection of amazing videos and brought forth a treasure of a PSA from the 80s called How Can I Tell If I’m Really In Love? that features, among other things, the beautiful Bateman brood:

Ted Danson and his staunch refusal to conform to society’s long held beliefs about how to properly recline in an armchair:

A massive cast of guido-fabulous teens, e.g.:

The editing techniques of the 80s zeitgeist that would make any self-respecting graphic designer upchuck:

And much, much more. Check out Eliot’s post for more photos and a hilariously detailed analysis.

LOVE, PSA-STYLE: PART 1 [FAST HUGS]
WHAT’S WRONG WITH MY BRAIN? [FAST HUGS]
THANK YOU FOR BEING A…FITNESS INSTRUCTOR? [FAST HUGS]

My morbid (some would say masochistic) fascination with comedian-to-the-co-eds/the most needlessly gesticulative man ever, Dane Cook, was given a new shot in the arm this weekend when SNL tapped him to host their season opener. He was paired with The Killers, because SNL knows what the kids like.

Dane came bounding out onstage full of exuberance, observations, and squats.

I prayed that his crouched position was an omen of the jokes to come, such as:

Dipping his testes satchel in wax.

Or:

Defecating on other people’s coats.

But the Dane gods did not hear my prayer. It turns out Dane was just limbering himself up for an animated discussion of negative people. I won’t spoil any of that bit though.

Because I’d like to address Dane’s keen observations about youtube. Dane trained his comedic microscope on the website (was he contractually obligated to?) and came to the conclusion that there sure are a lot of videos on there. It’s like he’s become a cultural anthropologist or something. Dane posits that you could type in any random thing and there would be a video for it. He uses the example of “A:F6,” and then describes a video of an obese child singing this over and over. Until Dane said it, the video didn’t exist, but some enterprising fans proved yet again that they were ready and willing to follow Dane off the cliff into a sea of banality.

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In anticipation of Dane Cook’s new HBO special, “A Vicious Circle,” airing tomorrow night, both Salon.com and The Los Angeles Times have decided to weigh in on Dane. The gist of both articles is the same, and nothing we haven’t heard before (or that I haven’t written): Dane is not funny. But both articles are worth reading for their criticism and attempts at explaining Dane’s popularity.

I particularly enjoyed The Times’ description of Tourgasm, “a conspicuously slight and infomercial-like ad to boost Cook’s rabid popularity among college-age fans; the rest was filler, Cook and his three comedian underlings in various states of homoerotic, roughhousing repose.” Homoeroticism and alliteration! Nice job LAT.

Salon’s article includes a bit of info that I had long counted as evidence of Dane’s homophobia and they came to the same conclusion:”..he’s terrible at impressions and when he’s imitating a woman, he inexplicably speaks in a high voice with a lisp, as if he’s doing a homophobic imitation of a gay man.” He’ll even use a limp wrist ocassionally, but maybe they thought that was overstating the case. They go on to succinctly sum up his appeal, “But Cook’s is the sort of non-threatening humor that appeals to people who, when watching Jon Stewart or Jerry Seinfeld, don’t feel like they’re in on the joke. With Cook, you’re always in on the joke.”

I’ve decided to put the text of both articles after the jump so you don’t have to watch any ads or visit bugmenot.

Enjoy the articles:
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Last week Phil Hendrie broadcast his last radio show after 13 years in the business. I didn’t find out about Phil’s show until last year, and since then I’ve listened to hundreds of his shows and I’m still not tired of him. If you’re not familiar with him, Phil hosted a talk radio show where he played both the host and in a different voice, the guest as well. People who aren’t in on the joke call up and get into arguments with his “guests.” Here are some of my favorites:

Chris Norton-Farenheit 69
In this bit Chris Norton, aspiring adult filmmaker is angry about the fact that he was shooting a very hot sex scene with a fire raging in the background when some fireman interrupted the shoot and evacuated all the actors. Chris wants the National Endowment for the Arts to make a contribution to his film as a result.

Mavis Leonard-Santa Ain’t Black
Mavis Leonard is tired of the “new negro nonsense” of parents telling their kids that Santa Claus is black. She has called Phil to let him know about this problem and refers to the angry callers who try to change her mind as “kwanza women.” She also sings multiple negro spirituals throughout the call.

Steve Bosell-Don Johnson Wink
Phil’s most litigious guest is back again. This time Steve is suing because he thought a woman was making eyes at him, but it turns out she was looking at Don Johnson, seated behind Steve. After exchanging glances, Steve went over to the woman and tried to initiate sex. She turned him down and now he’s suing her for emotional distress. He’ll drop the lawsuit if the woman agrees to a night out with him.

Justin McAlroy-Turn Your Headlights Off
Justin, a teenager who does not have a license, is urging other teens to take their parents car and drive around with their lights off to protest the oppression of adults.

I woke up today to find an email from Jordan about the new pixar film, Ratatouille. The teaser trailer just got released. The reason for the email is that the main voice is done by Patton Oswalt. Patton has made no mention of this anywhere, and the whole thing has been kept under wraps.

Or alternately:

He recently started doing a great bit about a movie from the 70s called “Death Bed: The Bed That Eats People.” It’s really funny, and well, why not just listen to it?

I can’t say I’m a big Robin Williams fan, but I do enjoy laughing at him, not with him. A distinction I feel must be made. Check out this video from the showbiz show highlighting the genius of RV (my new nickname for him).

I particularly enjoy when he starts using his black voice, which he dubs “white chocolate,” and asks a palpably amused Katie Couric, “What up with that, girl?”

The Onion broke it down years earlier with an article titled Robin Williams Leaves Entertainment Reporter In Stitches.

Here’s my favorite part of the article:
Williams went on the unexpected, wholly improvised comic tear when Menounos asked him about his outfit, a tuxedo accentuated by a pair of flashy, neon-purple cowboy boots. The query prompted Williams to launch into impersonations of a jive-talking black man and John Wayne before segueing into references to Joan Rivers, the reality-TV program Survivor, and the popular wrinkle remover Botox, leaving Menounos in what witnesses described as “hysterics.”

“Yo, what is up, homeslice? Dis sucka be lookin’ baaad tonight!” said Williams, showing off his outfit to Menounos. “Now listen, pilgrim, Monty Clift is down in Red River still lookin’ for his boots. He’s a little light in those loafers he’s been wearin’ lately, catch my drift? It’s like Survivor: San Francisco… ‘The tribe has spoken, and you look faaabulous!’ Is Joan [Rivers] here tonight? Don’t let her see me—her facelift stitches might pop out from the shock! Nurse, one million CCs of Botox, stat! No, we don’t have time for the needle! Just back the truck up, fasten the hose, and pump it right into her skull! Boooop! Boooop! Boooop!”

My other favorite receipt from Todd’s Receipt Museum. See the previous post for more explanation.

You could easily name two benefits of eating with Todd: great conversation and the joy of sitting across from someone who’s easy on the eyes. But there’s a third benefit: itemized free refills. Yes, written proof that you wanted a second Diet Coke, and you got it. Free. Because you ate with Todd.

Todd Barry, owner of quite possibly the most soothing voice in comedy, also has a great website where he has set up a receipt museum. Todd scans in receipts and lets you know why they’re so special.

As far as product descriptions go, you’re doing fine, Cosi Sandwich Shop! When Todd dropped in to Cosi for some “between shows” raspberry tea, he didn’t expect to walk out of there with a receipt so museum-worthy. Look at how Todd’s one cup of raspberry tea is described “Tea, Hot Tea GT, Tea, Raspberry Tea.” Pretty thorough and coincidental, since Todd describes his comedy as “Comedy, Funny Comedy GT, Comedy, Raspberry Comedy.”