The ever-smug Stuart Varney, host of Varney & Co. on Fox Business News, found his foot to be a less-than-tasty snack when “Weird Al” Yankovic appeared on the show July 16.
The parody mastermind, currently releasing a one-a-day series of videos from his new album, politely shrugged off questions related to making money on the Internet and thoughts related to recent attempts to take over Time Warner.
If anything, the interview pointed out that the “Weird” part of Yankovic’s name is a bit of a oxymoron. A graduate of Cal Poly SLO with a degree in architecture, Weird Al proved to be quick on the draw when Varney threw a quiz question on grammar related to the music video “Word Crimes,” calmly responding with the correct answer: “a split infinitive.”
Time to unlace that shoe.
Varney’s rapid-fire follow-up was about how artists make money on the Internet; Yankovic’s on-target rejoinder explained how videos are a promotional tool for reaching a targeted audience.
Shoe off, insert in mouth.
Beyond his musical genius (a term not loosely tossed around!), Yankovic, who is 55 (but doesn’t look it since his 1998 Lasik surgery), has been able to remain more than just relevant to continuous generations of fans by creating clever, true-to-the-times song parodies that nibble and sometimes bite just enough to create a social buzz. It’s rare that a Weird Al video will generate less than several million YouTube views.
Not that you asked, here’s my favorite Weird Al song parody. It has a personal meaning.
H/T Uproxx | Screengrab via YouTube/Fox Business News