Paul Scheer Reenacts Old Arsenio Hall Interviews, Word for Word (Almost)
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It’s a somewhat Warholian from of comedy, and an odd choice, but in character as “Arscheerio Paul,” Scheer – who looks and sounds nothing like the man he’s impersonating, though he has his cadences and rhythms down – has been recreating episodes of the ’90s talk show icon’s weirdest episodes. Comedian pals have stood in for celebrities, with Seth Rogen playing Gary Coleman, Rob Huebel as the Ultimate Warrior, and Nick Kroll as Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Then, in addition to the recreations that closely follow the original dialogue, he does second versions that are exaggerated and improvised.
Is this in honor of Hall’s upcoming return to TV talk? Is it a way to show how absurd the ’90s were? Or just a lazy way for bored celebrity comics to fuck around?
Maybe all of those, or none. But it’s strangely compelling.
After the jump, check out two different takes.
The Ultimate Warrior, direct reenactment version:
The Ultimate Warrior, improv version:
via The Wrap
About The Author
Luke Y. Thompson has been writing professionally about movies and pop-culture since 1999, and has also been an actor in some extremely cheap culty and horror movies you will probably never hear much about (he is nonetheless mostly proud of them, as he met his wife on one). As editor of The Robot's Voice since 2012, he can take the blame for the majority of the site's content, all of which he creates because he loves you very, very much. (Although he loves nachos more. Sorry.) Prior to TRV, Luke wrote for publications that include the New Times LA, Los Angeles CityBeat, E! Online, OC Weekly, Geekweek, GeekChicDaily, The L.A. Times, The Village Voice, LA Weekly, and Nerdist