Beginning at 54:21, Louis CK portrays a weird-looking furniture salesman who is insanely into sectional sofas. There are weird production values, insane cameras angles, and other hallmarks befitting an amateurish production.
The studio audience was into it almost from the very beginning, so clearly they “got” it. I thought the sketch was just OK, but maybe it would have made more sense in some kind of context.
Are they spoofing a local commercial in the New York market, or something?
I just assumed it was absurdist comedy taking the piss out of sectional couches.
Looks to me like they’re just making fun of the tackiness of sectional sofas by spoofing people who think they’re “really nice” and think the more luxurious ones are the longer and poofier ones.
I also got the sense that it was parodying something specific, and local NY furniture commercial is where my mind went too.
About damned time.
I think it may be a little jab to the haters who hate sectional furniture. Why are you haters so hatin?
After that sketch the block of ads that followed had an ad for sectional sofas. I thought that was pretty funny.
Nitpick: He wasn’t a furniture salesman. At the end, there was an announcement that it’s not a store but instead this guy’s personal collection of sectional sofas. Perhaps part of the absurdity is the idea of collecting something as bulky as sectional sofas?
My guess is that the massive cult success of David S. Pumpkins—the oddball Tom Hanks sketch from last fall—is now the SNL writers’ guide.
This ‘sectional’ bit had a lot in common with DSP–even down to the perm-wig Louis CK was wearing.
I am so in the weeds with David Pumpkins.
So what you’re saying is…you have questions?
I hate it when there’s piss in my couch.
Yes I know, but I had to simplify in my OP to keep the first sentence manageable.
I haven’t watched SNL in forever, so I don’t know about any in-jokes, but I found it hilarious. Just like people who froth at the mouth about bidets, or eyebrow threading, or ear candling, or…? But it was extra funny for my husband and me because we both think those kind of sofas are hideous, yet we have had bad luck with purchasing quality furniture the past few years.
The only thing I can think off are those virwl local ads made by Rhett and Link, like Chuck Tesla. Buttbose were years ago.
I’m on mobile, so please Google for links.
I don’t understand what’s happening here. Are Rhett & Link
a) Creating spoof commercials based on cheesy local commercials?
b) Creating real commercials based on cheesy local commercials?
c) Showing spoof commercials based on cheesy local commercials (that they didn’t create)?
d) Showing real cheesy local commercials (that they didn’t create)?
Just based on what I know about them through my kids, I’m going with “b” but I could be wrong.
Correct. They are real low-budget commercials that these real companies aired. They offered their services in exchange for being able to host them on their YouTube channel. Yes, they were free for the actual company.
This has also gotten them a lot of deals to make commercials for actual money. And they spun it off into a real life TV show on IFC called Rhett and Link: Commercial Kings.
You can read a lot more here.
I *didn’t *get it in the sense of recognizing something being parodied. But I did like it more than you did - it fired a lot of verbal and visual jokes very quickly, built up layers of absurdity instead of beating a single concept to death, and had good pacing and acting (for an SNL sketch).
My guess is it’s not parodying anything very specific? Just absurd, a la David Pumpkins, as stated above.