“Weird Al” Yankovic will provide live commentary to his 1989 film, UHF, on Sunday at The Lincoln Theatre as part of The Bentzen Ball.
Pop culture trends come and go, but enduring the ebbs and flows of changes in popular taste involves embracing what is in the zeitgeist without taking it too seriously. The Simpsons and South Park are examples of shows that remain in pop culture by making fun of it. The same can be said of “Weird Al” Yankovic‘s career. It’s hard to remember a time when he was not in the public eye, and if you are under 35, it may be impossible.
We were reminded of Weird Al’s staying power just last week, when he collaborated with The Gregory Brothers for a song-ified take on the last presidential debate. The video was a hit on The New York Times’ website.
“The Gregory Brothers and I have been mutual fans for many years,” Yankovic said of the experience. “I was blown away that they can work so quickly and can turn that around in 24 hours.”
Weird Al initially got his break on the Doctor Demento radio show, and then received widespread notoriety through his parodies of hit singles. Videos for “Eat It”, “Fat”, and “Smells Like Nirvana” received heavy rotation on MTV, sold millions of copies, and led to four Grammy awards for the 57-year old comedian.
In the late ’80s, Yankovic and his manager, Jay Levey, thought they could capitalize on this popularity by making a feature film, which the two ended up co-directing.
“It was a huge learning curve on the film,” Yankovic said. “We didn’t know what we were doing, but we gave it our best shot.”
The filmmakers decided to take what Weird Al was best known for, parody and comedy, and developed a skeletal plot upon which they could attach skits and gags. The result was UHF, released in 1989. The title refers to the ultra-high frequency channels that occupied the higher numbers on the TV dial, which often focused on local and public access programming. Yankovic played a station manager leading a band of misfits that included a pre-Kramer Michael Richards, Fran Drescher, and Saturday Night Live’s Victoria Jackson.
The silence from the general public was deafening. The movie flopped at the box office and received a critical drubbing.
“We were unprepared to do a major motion picture,” Yankovic reflected. “The gags were more important than the plot of the movie. To this day, I regret that the plot was so pedestrian.”
Still, UHF became a cult classic of sorts, probably due to people like yours truly, who at the time held a well-constructed fart joke among the highest of artistic achievements. Weird Al also noted that many of his friends in the comedy world cite UHF as a favorite.
That brings us to this year’s Bentzen Ball comedy festival, which runs Thursday through Sunday with most of the events taking place at The Lincoln Theatre. Curator Tig Notaro asked Yankovic multiple times to host a screening of the film and the schedule worked out this year. On Sunday, Weird Al and a panel that includes Notaro, author Malcolm Gladwell, comedian comedians Seaton Smith and Dave Hill, as well as cast member Emo Philips will provide live commentary as the film plays.
No one knows what a respected author like Malcolm Gladwell has to say about an obscure screwball comedy, and that suits Yankovic just fine.
“The number of times I’ve seen this movie is in the triple figures, so there won’t be many new things that I’m going to find,” Yankovic said. “I have no idea what to expect and I have nothing prepared, so I’m just going to show up and see what happens.”
Weird Al also has advice for anyone who is curious about the film and who has yet to see it.
“Lower your expectations and you’ll enjoy it a lot more,” he joked.
Update: Bentzen Ball organizers informed us after publication that Malcolm Gladwell will no longer be participating due to a family emergency. Comedian Seaton Smith will take his place.
The Bentzen Ball Presents A UHF Live Commentary on Sunday, October 30 at The Lincoln Theatre. 6:30 p.m. doors. General admission tickets are $35. Other Bentzen Ball shows run from October 27-30.
