Feast of Saint Dan
Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere,
This week saw the birthday of Dan Aykroyd. Born on July 1, 1952 in Ottawa, he gave us some of the finest comedy of the late 20th century. Intending to be a Catholic priest...until he was expelled from seminary for dressing a pig up like the Pope, he only turned to comedy late in life. Dan Aykroyd is genetically predetermined to be funny, born with both webbed feet and different colored eyes, he went on to work with the Second City and National Lampoon troupes before...
Except for Sid Caesar's Show of Shows with writers like Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Neil Simon (who also celebrated his birthday this week), Woody Allen, and Larry Gelbart, I'm not sure there has ever been as concentrated a density of comic talent as in that first Saturday Night Live cast and Aykroyd was truly at the heart of it.
The coneheads, point-counterpoint (Jane, you ignorant slut),Bag-o-glass, and Fred Garvin, male prostitute are nothing short of classics. Here are two of my favorites, the swinging Czech brothers,
and Bass-o-matic, .
If he had stopped there, he would have had a career and a half, but then there are the films. He starred in many, but then there are the big two. Ghostbusters (You never studied) and of course,
(We're on a mission from God) And then there was his work with House of Blues.
Happy birthday, Dan Aykroyd. What are your favorite Aykroyd moments?
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