Kevbo1987 @ Jun 21 2004, 02:28 AM wrote:
It's a pretty common misconception to think Al is Jewish for some reason. I've run across that assumption many times.
At the risk of being HIGHLY stereotypical (although that's exactly what the people who think Al is Jewish are being) it might be because:
1) He's smart.
2) He's a comedian.
3) He has a hard-to-spell Eastern European surname.
"Weird Al" has a charisma that's all his own. The awkward, the misshapen, the socially inept flock to his banner.
I think the reasons people think he's Jewish are because of Pretty Fly (For a Rabbi) and the way he says those words so fluently and also he kind of looks Jewish.
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Orthography Enthusiast @ Jun 20 2004, 11:06 PM wrote:
At the risk of being HIGHLY stereotypical (although that's exactly what the people who think Al is Jewish are being) it might be because:
1) He's smart.
2) He's a comedian.
3) He has a hard-to-spell Eastern European surname.
Might the food thing also contribute to that? It seems vaguely familiar to a stereotype, even though I can't place where such a cliche might have been used as an example.
SuperOy @ Jun 21 2004, 09:24 PM wrote:
I know a kid who hates this song because it's a parody of an Offspring song. He's a huge fan of them and he thinks Al is making fun of them.
Figures! Just tell him that it should be looked at as an honor.
For a slightly less violent approach, show the indignant Offspring fan what Al really thinks of the song:
On "Running With Scissors," he's at his razor-sharp best on "Pretty Fly For a Rabbi," satirizing The Offspring's "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)." It doesn't get any funnier than "When he's doing a bar mitzvah, now that you shouldn't miss; he'll always shlep on down for a wedding or a briss/ They say he's got a lot of chutzpah, he's really quite hhhhhip; the parents pay the moyl and he gets to keep the tip!"
Normally, Yankovic wouldn't tackle a song like "Pretty Fly," but it was too good to pass up.
"The Offspring song was kind of funny to begin with," Yankovic said. "I thought it was clever, but generally that wouldn't be my first candidate for a parody because songs that are more self-important and pretentious actually make better fodder for parody.
"Both The Offspring song and the Barenaked Ladies song I do ('Jerry Springer,' which lampoons 'One Week') are almost, I'm not going to say novelty, but they're quirky to begin with. But I really like the songs. They definitely jump out at you when you hear them on the radio and in music videos. So I figured, well ... at this point in my life, I'm doing songs that I actually really enjoy doing. I'd rather be doing an Offspring or Barenaked Ladies song when I'm 80 years old than 'Macarena' on some Las Vegas stage."
"Weird Al" has a charisma that's all his own. The awkward, the misshapen, the socially inept flock to his banner.
