Now this one's harder because I don't know exactly what they mean - guest star as in like Kathy Griffin was or Whoopi Goldberg was, or guest star as in what Richard Simmons was or Florence Henderson was.
So I'll just say both types.
My favourite guest star who actively participated in most of the games is definitely Whoopi Goldberg. Robin Williams is up there too - I love what he did in Hollywood Director and he was so hyper and energetic - but Whoopi Goldberg was consistently funny in every game, had good chemistry with the rest of the cast and obviously had a lot of fun, so she gets her spot as the favourite.
Plus she got to kiss Colin.
Now my favourite OTHER type of guest star - the kind that was just there to look pretty and didn't actually do a whole lot of stuff - is tied up, but for COMPLETELY different reasons.
The first one that comes to mind is Richard Simmons, because he was so pumped up for everything and hyper and energetic and got everyone excited for the games. Also because he just made everything so incredibly AWKWARD with..... well, everything he did. Honestly, the Richard Simmons episode is widely regarded as one of the funniest episodes ever made, mostly because of the Living Scenery. That Living Scenery is widely known as the funniest skit they ever did. Oh my god....... what a creepy man that Richard Simmons is.
The second one that comes to my mind is Florence Henderson, but for a COMPLETELY different reason. I think of her because she actually knew how to play along with the rest of them, because she knew how to actively participate even if she didn't necessarily have to. Normally the regulars like Ryan and Colin are running the scene, but Florence Henderson knew how to play along with them and actually work well with them. And that made the scenes she was in very enjoyable and funny and..... yeah.
This one is especially hard because it changes all the time, and a lot of them are tied up here. But I'll see what some of the constants are.
Some games that leap immediately to mind are If You Know What I Mean, Questions Only (and any spinoffs from that like Questionable Impressions and Questions with Wigs), Song Titles, Narrate, Whose Line (yeah, that was the name of the game), Scenes From a Hat, Irish Drinking Song, and Film, TV and Theatre Styles. That's the list of favourite games, and now, looking at all the games, I'm going to put it in order, a countdown from least favourite (out of the favourites) to favourite.
8. Irish Drinking Song
This game was at one time, the only thing I went out looking for. I loved it that much. Let me explain the rules, for non-Whosers. The cast stands in a line and sing an Irish Drinking Song, making it up one line at a time. After every verse they sing the chorus, which is always the same: Idy idy idy idy idy idy i! The topic for the Irish Drinking Song is usually taken from the audience.
But it was one of my favourites because first of all, the song would start with a topic taken from the audience and become a story, and by the end of the song the story has morphed so much that you would have no idea what the song was originally about, usually. And that's pretty funny, but the reason Irish Drinking Song is as famous as it is, is because Colin always goes last. And as Colin struggles to find something that rhymes while thinking quickly and trying to make sense..... the best way to explain it is that Colin pwns with his failure.
"There's blood in my stool!"
"Joe.... had a nice.... bone."
And my favourites:
"He put my stone back in my end!"
"MEEEOOOWWW!"
7. Scenes From a Hat
Always a fan favourite. Scenes From a Hat is where the audience has written down suggestions for scenes for the cast to act out. The producers pick out the good ones and mix them up in the hat. Drew picks them out and reads them and the cast acts out the scenes. It can be pretty funny - that's probably the game where the cast cracks up the most. It's also one of those games that are ideal for making fun of people, for making people laugh by saying nothing at all, or for making people laugh by saying too much. This is the game where running jokes are started and/or continue. The chance to get everyone laughing too hard to go on. Wars have been waged during Scenes From a Hat. It's always fun to watch. While it's never been my ultimate favourite, it's definitely up there.
6. If You Know What I Mean
I'm sure I've talked about this enough already in the Brad Rant, but I'll just explain it to be clear. The whole game is a double entendre. The players of this game (which has always been Brad, Ryan and Colin) must speak in obscure euphemisms and cliches related to the setting. Which is a fancy way of saying that it's a That's What She Said while thinly disguising it as talking about whatever they happen to be doing at the time.
That's a funny enough concept on it's own, but here's the clincher. Brad and Ryan are good at it; all of Brad's things usually work and Ryan can hold his own in the game, usually, even if one or two of his things don't make sense. But Colin is just awful, in the best possible way. If he could, he wouldn't say anything in the scene, but he has to. And everytime he says.... well anything, really, it's so bad that he has to take imaginary shots. Like, it's absolutely terrible. And it's hilarious. Like the only reason they put him in the game at all is because he's so awful at it and it's fun to watch him struggle. Sometimes Colin will just give up and say whatever, whether it's an If You Know What I Mean or just a random statement. The point is, it's one of those games that are funny mostly because no one knows what anyone means.
Colin taking some of his invisible shots, after saying "Hey...." and then walking away awkwardly because he didn't know what to say.
5. Song Titles
The concept is simple, even if playing it is not; you must speak only in song titles. Not LYRICS from the song; the song TITLES. It's harder than it sounds.
Seeing as that explanation was really short, it looks like a lame game. But it's usually pretty funny. First of all, they're using the titles in a way that people don't generally think of, and finding loopholes in order to use the song title in that way, if that makes sense.
*Song Titles in a hospital*
Colin: *walks in holding his side in pain* Ohhhhhh....... Canada.
Or
Ryan: I'm Henry the Eight I am.
Brad: Who are you?
Ryan: Disco - DUCK! *they both duck down*
Brad: Love is a battlefield!
I should mention that there are always a few that they - well, Ryan - always pulls out. I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts. I Am the Walrus. To name a couple. And Chip always pulls out songs like "Theme from Jaws" or "Theme from Titanic" or whatever. Which apparently are song titles.
And even besides finding the loopholes and whatnot...... it's so easy to mess up in. And as a lover of bloopers and improv, I think messing up during a scene is one of the funniest things ever. I will share with you one of my ultimate favourite Song Titles conversations ever, just to show you.
*In a psychiatrists office*
Colin: *as the psychologist, in his listening voice* What's new, pussycat?
Ryan: I've got a feeling.
Colin: Feelings!
Ryan: One.
Colin: What's the buzz, tell me what's - a - happenin'?
Ryan: Nowhere, man.
Colin: .............................. Really? That sucks.
Or what about:
Ryan: *pointing to Colin's feet* Blue suede shoes.
Colin: .....................Nice pants.
Or even:
Chip: Theme from Jaws.
Colin: I'll get a harpoon!-lala lala?
It always seems to be Colin that messes up the most, eh?
4. Whose Line
This is a game where the audience writes down suggestions for lines to be said in a scene. The producers pick the ones they like, and Ryan and Colin put the lines in their pocket (without looking at them!) and insert the lines in while acting out the scene.
I'm not sure why this is one of my favourites, but it is. It's just funny to watch them pull out lines that are so ridiculous, like I can't even think of a good example of how ridiculous they are, and try to work with them. Try to make it look like that's what they meant to say the whole time.
Plus it's the game where Ryan and Colin always have a romance going on, Colin being the girl all the time. Whose Line is probably the game that Ryan and Colin have kissed the most in.
So really, what's not to love?
3. Film, TV and Theatre Styles
This is a game where Drew gets different styles of TV, theatre or film (like Crocodile Hunter, Shakespeare and horror, but usually more than three) and while whoever is doing the scene - usually Ryan and Colin and sometimes Wayne, or Wayne and Ryan and Greg.... the lineup isn't as consistent with this game, there's no "usual" for it - whoever's doing the scene starts out normal (or as normal as you can be on WLiiA, am I right?), and then Drew buzzes in with the different styles and they have to now do the scene in that style. Make sense?
Here's one of my favourites to give you the gist of it:
Now this game is funny just because it goes so off-course with everything. You'll probably notice by the end of the one I've put above, it's sorta like "Is this still about the dog?". Plus they totally use all the cliches and jokes and everything from all the styles, or at least what they think that particular style is like...... it's not always correct. And really, what's not to love about them attempting Shakespeare?
*Wayne is a mob hitman who finds Colin and Ryan, who are disguised as women*
Drew: Shakespeare!
Wayne: I'm looking for the two who have escaped from the times which whence they have not been captured.
Colin: (aside) A plan has formulated upon my head, tickling my cerebrum like - the little pricks that do. If this plan does come to forth, I shall be free, free as a bi - ! I go short of breath.
Ryan: If my clothes were so tight that I could not speak, it would be a thong.
Colin: I do take off my guise! I am but the man you are searching for!
...... and it goes on.
2. Questions Only (and Questionable Impressions, and Questions with Wigs)
Questions Only is a game where - you guessed it! - you must speak only in questions. Again, it's harder than it sounds. Questionable Impressions is the same game, only they have to do a different impression everytime they come on as well. And seeing as most of them can only do one or two good impressions (unless you're Colin, in which case you can't do a good impression to save your life) it can be pretty funny. And Questions with Wigs is Questions Only, but they have to wear a different wig every time they go on. Which is good.... but not that good.
This game is funny just because it's so easy to mess up in too. Plus they can be pretty clever. I just like that game. Always gonna be one of my favourites. No particular in depth reason. It's just funny.
This one is a Questions Only.
This one is Questionable Impressions.
And the ultimate favourite..... DRUM ROLL PLEASE.
1. Narrate
This is a classic game. Ryan and Colin do a scene as if it's a Film Noir scene, and stop to narrate it - again, as if it's a Film Noir scene. It doesn't make a lot of sense when I explain it, so let me show you a video to let you know what I'm talking about.
This game is just so fun because it's Colin and Ryan making fun of each other without giving the other a chance to argue. It's the game where they can trip each other up and the other just has to go with it. I mean, what better game for Colin and Ryan to play than one where they get to deliberately humiliate each other's characters without giving the other a chance to defend themselves. There is no such thing as a Narrate that is not funny. It's the best. Just a game where you can see Ryan and Colin bounce off each other for a while. It's just amazing.
So, uh, yeah.
Peace out Whosebuddies.
MeganH
P.S 1000 points to you for reading the whole damn thing.
It was at one time a tie, between Brad Sherwood and Chip Esten.
Brad Sherwood
Chip Esten
Brad because he was childish (meaning immature) and in a way endearing, and Chip because he was the one who would make fun of others just because he could. He was also the white man who could sing and dance and was pretty attractive. :)
How can you not find him attractive? He's no Zac Efron, but..... hell, in my mind he and Zac Efron are pretty damn close. Plus, when it comes to Whose Line he played a mean Chippendale. (Haha. Chippendale. I just got that.)
Yes I am a hormonal teenager.
But there is a winner, and I don't know what the final push was, but there is a winner.
Drum roll please.
My favourite returning cast member would have to be..... Brad.
Cue the Brad rant.
What can I say about Brad? I'll start with well-known stuff, and see how/if that progresses into petty observations.
Brad's signature on the show is most likely that he has the crudest, most immature sense of humour. I mean, let's face it. It's not a coincidence that they only play If You Know What I Mean whenever he's on. They do that because If You Know What I Mean is one. Huge. Double entendre. Basically, a big That's What She Said. It takes someone with a well-tuned sick mind, and whenever they play it Brad leads the thing. Sure Ryan follows closely behind, but Brad starts the thing and the scene flops on the ground dead without him. And then they stick Colin in the middle of the scene just to make Brad work harder (Colin freaking SUCKS at If You Know What I Mean. He spends most of the scene taking imaginary shots. He is the creator of such famous (or infamous) Whose Line-isms as "I'll fluff your Garfield, if you know what I mean," "Let's not turn this into a Fox special," "Don't get your nosehairs in a burning trajectory over Moscow," and my favourites, "Look what I can do with the donuts!" and "I like mine with icing!" But enough about Colin. This rant is about BRAD.)
But it doesn't only show in the If You Know What I Means. Pretty much anything he can he shows his immature sense of humour, and it can be pretty freaking funny.
During Hollywood Director:
Drew: Wayne falls into an ice-hole. Yes, that's right, an ice-hole.
LATER
Brad: Agh, you threw my dogs into a big hairy ice-hole!
Or what about:
Drew: Pick up lines of drill sergeants.
Brad: I just wanna stand here and stare at my privates.
^That one had me laughing for a long time.
But besides the immaturity, which I assure you he has plenty of, he's also the one that is not afraid to say things that the others might have thought of but don't wanna be censored all the time. I think that's because a lot of the time he doesn't think it through, but that's what's funny. And it's very funny.
Such as:
Brad: You guys wanna see my fingers turn blurry? (flips them the bird, which the censor has covered with, instead of the classic CENSORED sign, blurriness.)
Or
During If You Know What I Mean
Colin: I've been having trouble..... uh.... *snickers* I've been disqualified for an early start, if you know what I mean.
Ryan: Well why don't you just clean and jerk, if you know what I mean?
Brad: Nothing better than a two hundred pound snatch, if you know what I mean.
Everyone: *utter shock* *thinking: DID HE JUST SAY THAT ON TELEVISION?!*
LATER
Brad: IT'S A WEIGHT LIFTING TERM!
Let's just say that Brad is kind of the censor's nemesis.
And sometimes the immaturity and whatever just comes from NOWHERE. Like, it had nothing to do with his character and it just kind of spews out of his brain. I just have no idea. I'm talking about times like these:
During Let's Make A Date:
Wayne: Bachelor Number One, I wanna know, if you were a lipstick colour, what would you be?
Brad: *playing an Amish guy* Well, I'd be lemon flavoured ass kiss.
^Honestly, where did that come from?!
Oh, I probably shouldn't forget to mention that a few times on Whose Line, water has been spilled. Tables have been knocked over, tables with jugs of water on them. Water has been thrown across the room, dousing chairs and floors and people. And whenever that happens, Brad is usually involved. Perhaps it's a fluke, a coincidence. But as a person who watches a whole frackin lot of Whose Line, I really don't think it is. :)
Anyways, back to Brad's actual persona. Besides the immaturity and all that, he also has the ability to laugh at himself and the sometimes outrageous choices he makes while in the state of "Oh god what do I say?" that improv constantly has you in (his words, not mine). Choices like naming himself Chesterfield Snapdragon Mcfisticuffs, and then struggling to remember it later on in the game. Or like bringing a children's song that was supposed to be on the album about constructions workers into about how the child was "dizzy from three bottles of wine", and then smirking as he watches Wayne attempt to work with that.
Brad: On top of a mountain/I'm feeling fine/ I'm a little dizzy from three bottles of wine. *stops abruptly at the realization of what he just said*
Wayne: I'm..... on top of a mountain/Where do I begin?/ My mom's an unfit mother and she's always drunk on gin/I can see my house from here.
Brad: I can see it too.
I love Brad's smirk.
I think that video is worthy of putting the whole video on here. It was unaired, so I loved it before I saw it. :)
Basically, he's okay with laughing at himself. And we can see that, for instance, in the bloopers. In the middle of Drew talking, Brad starts to fall asleep. So the producer Dan Patterson says the infamous "Hold please", so that he could tell Brad to not do that. "Yeah, Brad! Stop f*cking around!" Ryan says loudly. And Brad sits there with his innocent little smirk on his face and takes a sip of water.
But besides all of that, Brad has pretty good chemistry with the rest of the cast, which is not something you can learn or teach, right? It actually comes from past experiences. If I recall correctly, Brad had already met Colin because Colin's wife had been doing a gig with him and they met and befriended each other, and Brad and Wayne had worked together in theatresports. And of course he knew Ryan from the old UK version of WLiiA, so they at least knew each other if they weren't really friends. But I think they were friends because they seem to feel perfectly fine laughing with one another and all that.
The show wouldn't be the same without the friendships. That is a fact I discovered a long time ago.
Also, Brad can be a bit of an icehole, if you know what I mean. (HAHA TWO BRADISMS IN ONE!) In a funny way of course. For instance, in games of Newsflash, often instead of giving hints like Ryan does, like he's SUPPOSED to, he asks Colin to specifically describe in great detail what is going on behind him - and without the hints that Brad is holding from him, Colin doesn't have a clue. Sometimes Ryan will do that by accident, and Colin usually deters that by explaining how it started (my favourite is still "It all started with a badly timed bald joke!" but "canadians with an attitude" is up there too) but Brad does it ON PURPOSE and refuses to be deterred. After Colin explains how it started Brad starts asking him for details about what's going on as if he couldn't see it himself. It's those moments that you're thinking "Wow.... what an icehole."
OH! Can I say something more that kind of fits in with Brad's childishness, but in a different way? Who the hell am I asking for permission? This is my blog.
The first story has to do with Brad serenading a girl called Niroshi, who was majoring in political sciences and economics. Yeah. Try coming up with some good rhymes to that.
Well, Brad didn't manage to come up with any good rhymes, but he came up with some stuff along the lines of "I'll put on some suntan loshi" and "I'd cross the Pacific Oshi" and so on. It's so bad, but it's so funny.
The second story has to do with Wayne and Brad serenading a girl (don't remember her name) who interpreted for deaf people. Not having known any real sign language themselves.... they totally and completely butchered it. And it was hilarious.
"This means bunny!"
To his credit, he asked what "I'm sorry" was in sign language and sincerely apologized after.
Brad's and Wayne's sincere apology.
Come to think of it, that video is worthy of this blog too.
Anyways, mostly because I've just discovered how to post Youtube videos like this, I'm totally exploiting it. So, here are two videos that show the essence of Brad:
This is a famous If You Know What I Mean. It's awesome.
These bloopers are one of the many reasons I love Brad, and really, Whose Line in general. Yes, get this straight: these are BLOOPERS. How can improv have bloopers? When Drew messes up the card, or someone says something so not right that they can't just censor it, and so on and so on.
Anyways, I've talked enough.
Peace out, homebuddies.
P.S Nothing like a two hundred pound snatch if you know what I mean. (Still gets me everytime).
Colin. Colin. Colin. I would rant about Colin now, but I already have. And I wouldn't want to seem repetitive. Click the link for the rant. It gives all the reasons and a little more. Cause I just like have a life and stuff, you know.
Back in the younger days of Whose Line fandom. When a kiss, a grope and a licked ear were outrageous. Kinda silly now, isn't it? A sucked nipple wasn't even on my mind, much less the letter H.
Ah, the youth of fandom.
Not that I'm not proud of the effort that went into that. I was young, but I was devoted.
So recently, after the Colin rant, I have stuff in my head but I'm not sure how to form it into a focused rant with enough of a point that I can post it on here shamelessly. Basically, I'm having rant problems - not because I'm running out of Whose Line to talk about, no frickin way. But because I don't know how to organize the rest of my thoughts in the right way. And as a perfectionist, I will only accept the right way.
But just for fun I've been exploring a few Tumblrs - I'm not on Tumblr, but I found a few public ones. And they are beautiful. There's Fuck Yeah Whose Line, which I have been checking faithfully, and Fuck Yeah Colin and Ryan which has also been checked faithfully. And among my explorations of fandom, I have found something that will at least stimulate conversation, at most an entire rant.
It's a thirty day meme.
Every day there is a question - What's your favourite cast member? What's your favourite game? - and so on and so forth. And every day for thirty days I will answer the appropriate question. Just tonight I found the list of things and I scrawled them down in my barely legible writing (it's like a secret code! Only I can read it, and others who have both had practice and who concentrate hard), made even less legible because I was writing quickly and because it's nearly two in the morning. Yes, I have literally been enjoying Whose Line and the fandom of Whose Line for three hours. I need a life. Where was I when they were handing out lives? I was over here watching Whose Line, that's what. DEAL WITH IT.
Anyways, starting hopefully tomorrow, this meme will commence on this very blog, hopefully with lots of ranting and lots of otherwise useless screenshots, and hell, maybe even a few Youtube videos. It is, after all, a show, right? Videos are kind of essential.
Just thought I'd warn you.
Also I have lots of useless stuff that won't work in a rant but are Whose Line related anyways, and they will be spammed at various intervals on this blog.
