For my first official blog I thought it might be appropriate to do a tribute to a fallen comedian; Christopher Crosby Farley. Chris Farley was an iconic figure of the 90s. He grew up in Madison Wisconsin. He was born to an Irish Catholic Family with three brothers and a sister (Wikipedia). Many people know Chris from SNL, but what they do not know is that he worked in an oil field with his dad and was discovered by a SNL scout.
Chris Farley's best of SNL includes an motivational speaker named Matt Foley that tells kids that they are gonna end up just like him, "livin' in a van down by the river. He is also known for "da bears", or the Chicago Bears fans. Another one of his best is the lunch lady land skit. He plays a lunch lady while starring opposite Adam Sandler. "The Chris Farley Show", is another great skit where he, while playing his self, is a nervous interviewer interviewing stars on the show. He also does a Chip and Dales skit opposite Patrick Swayze. The last of his more famous skits is the poorly hygenic news anchor who air quotes his self. He says things like, "Maybe I don't shower regularly" or "I smell like wet dog." He could play anything from a lunch lady to a male stripper and audiences couldn't get enough.
Then after ending his contract with SNL, he branched out into the film business. He played the bus driver in "Billy Madison" and appeared in the movie, "Cone Heads". Then he teamed up with David Spade. In my opinion they were the greatest comedic duo of all time. They had personalities that just clicked so well together. Their first movie together was "Tommy Boy", which was a box office hit, but later developed a cult following. They also did the movie, "Black Sheep". It was not as big as "Tommy Boy", but it is not one that should be missed. Some of the quotes from these movies will serve as the bud of jokes for years to come. Such as: "Bees, Bees in the car, your firearms are useless against them.", "A lot of people go to college for seven years," "Yeah, they're called doctors." and finally the classic, "Whadaya do?" If someone ever were to quote "Tommy Boy" to me, I would crack up; and not just for a minute or two, more or less a full on, roll on the ground, stomach hurts so bad I want to die laughing.
Even in all of his sucess he still had some hardships. Chris had struggled with drug and alchol addiction for years and even admitted his self to various clinics a reported seventeen times (Wikipedia). He died of a drug overdose at the age of thirty-three. It was reported that he had done a speedball, or a combination of cocaine and morphine. It was the same age and type of drug that took the life of another SNL favorite, Jim Belushi. The attendees at his funeral included "Dan Ackroid, Norm McDonald, Adam Sandler, and five hundred others but, surprizingly not David Spade. When asked why he didn't attend he smiply replied, "I could not go somewhere where Chris would be in a box." (SNL greats). I am sure he is remembered by all of his costars and I know he is missed by my friends and me. Check out his movies and the best of Chris Farley, SNL, you will not be dissappointed.
In the weeks to come: Norm McDonald, David Spade, Adam Sandler, Jim Gaffigin, Chris Catan, Will Ferrell, Molly Shannon, Chris Rock, Rob Schiender, Robin Williams and more.
