Entertainment

Shawn F. Visits, Garry Shandling Dies — Papa’s Basement

John Papageorgiou April 6, 2016


Background
The stars of every woman's dream four-way. I'm going to level with you: The fact that Rip Torn, whose BAC is permanently around .18, outlived Garry Shandling makes me wonder if he has some Keith Richards in him.
The stars of every woman’s dream four-way. I’m going to level with you: The fact that Rip Torn, whose BAC is permanently around .18, outlived Garry Shandling makes me wonder if he has some Keith Richards in him.

 

First things first, Shawn F. visiting the show and Garry Shandling passing away are unrelated: I simply wanted to include both elements of the show in the title. It’s not like the man entering our studio was the fulfillment of some ancient Indian curse that doomed poor GS.

For those of you that weren’t fans of the Opie & Anthony Show, Shawn is a highly talented creator of parody songs who contributed prolifically to their show over the years. I met him online a few years ago via Twitter, and we’ve stayed in touch since. He was finally able to swing by the studio, and he was great on-air, even unveiling his latest parody song, “Lazy Train.” The guy’s Soundcloud deserves a listen. And if you’re wondering why the subject of Shawn’s every song is the talented host of It’s Erik Nagel, Erik Nagel (you should have seen that coming given the show’s name), whom I also consider a friend…I have no clue. Given that Shawn also likes the guy, it’s oddly fascinating, to say the least.

Moving on to Garry Shandling’s passing, I usually laugh at anyone who is bummed by a celebrity’s passing. Stars tend to die years after their creative output peaked, and you never had any real connection with them to begin with: It was their art you loved. When David Bowie croaked, if you were a Bowie fan, well, it wasn’t like your copy of Hunky Dory was ripped off your shelf and buried with the man. He wasn’t a pharaoh. You had precisely as much David Bowie in your life before his death as you did afterward.

Garry Shandling’s death made me realize I’m just a prick who doesn’t like many celebs, though, because holy hell did it bum me out. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: The Larry Sanders Show is the best comedy I’ve ever seen, and you owe it to yourself to click that link and order the damn thing if you haven’t watched it. Gary Shandling was brilliant as both its star and creator, and he will be missed immensely.

We also talk Scarlett Johansson’s bizarre Under The Skin, a movie that features her nude for roughly 47 minutes yet manages to be completely, almost painfully, unarousing, and the death of Joe Medicine Crow whom, despite that fine Polish name, was actually an ancient Native American with a very fascinating life.

Click here to listen to the latest episode of Papa’s Basement in your browser or here to open and listen in iTunes (you can also use the embedded player below the ad).
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