Unibrows and Weird Al Yankovic

If you’re in Seattle and need a brow job or bikini wax, you go to Stacya Silverman on Queen Anne. Not just for the excellent service, but also for the conversation. A maven of the arts, Stacya works on every actor, comic and drag queen in the city, and offers her opinions and inside stories freely. Being of Mediterranean descent, I make frequent pilgrimages to Stacya’s for full facial depilatory and to catch up on the latest news.

After kvetching about why the Seattle Rep still hasn’t hired Allison Narver as artistic director, Stacya told me about her recent trip to New York. In typical Silverman fashion, she landed at JFK for a fun getaway and was immediately called in to do the makeup for a music video being directed by Weird Al Yankovic, based on the children’s book Philadelphia Chickens.

Weird Al Yankovic got his start 30 years ago on the Dr. Demento Show. My brother and I would listen in every week at 11pm. My dad banging randomly on the adjoining bedroom wall, demanding “turn it off and go to sleep.” We’d just turn it down and move closer to the stereo.
Weird Al, got his start as a college DJ in southern California. From there he starting satirizing popular songs by the Knack and Queen, “My Bologna” and “Another One Rides the Bus,” respectively.

Weird Al was, at first, a novelty act - like Tiny Tim, with an accordion rather than a ukulele. It wasn’t until MTV, that Weird Al went global. There are a lot of humorists like Weird Al, that may not have made the transition to the national market. Their humor is almost dependent upon low production values and solo mentality.

But Yankovic embraced his fame and took his act to new heights by spoofing the infamous “Beat It” video with his own “Eat It.” Next came “Like a Surgeon.” It was clear that Weird Al was not shy about his satire, taking on the most difinitive pop songs and idols of the 80s.

Not every artist is clamoring for Weird Al to parody their songs, however. He’s been refused by some of the best in the business:

• Prince
• Led Zepplin
• Paul McCartney
• Eminem

His parody of Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise,” entitled “Amish Paradise” got dicey when Coolio contested giving Yankovic permission to cover the song. But since the royalty checks were already cashed Coolio and Yankovic made peace moved on.

photo by flickr.