Today is Robert Smigel’s birthday. If you’re not familiar with Smigel then you might have unknowingly done yourself a favor. That said, the one-time Saturday Night Live writer, occasional actor, and performer has quite a following among people of a certain age who happen to love vulgarity and send-ups of celebrities. Smigel, the son of a famous dentist, has been on the scene for decades now.
One of my favorite examples of his SNL work is a skit where an Israeli (played by Tom Hanks) starts his own version of The Price Is Right, where he attempts to sell items at terrible prices instead of give them away. If you don’t remember (or haven’t seen) “The Sabra Price Is Right” then prepare to have your mind blown. The skit includes Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Mike Myers, Chris Farley, and Robert Smigel himself as the show’s announcer Avi.
One of Smigel’s greatest feats was creating that character Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, a puppet dog that while chomping on a cigar, fearlessly lampoons celebrities in profanity-laced tirades that some might consider to be an homage to the old Borscht Belt routines where the comic insulted his crowd. The clip below is from last year when Triumph walked into the lion’s den–Chicago’s Wiener Circle–and lashed abuse back at its notoriously rude staff.
Click here for access to comments
COMMENTING CHARGES
Daily rate: $2
Monthly rate: $18
Yearly rate: $180
WAIT, WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY TO COMMENT?
Tablet is committed to bringing you the best, smartest, most enlightening and entertaining reporting and writing on Jewish life, all free of charge. We take pride in our community of readers, and are thrilled that you choose to engage with us in a way that is both thoughtful and thought-provoking. But the Internet, for all of its wonders, poses challenges to civilized and constructive discussion, allowing vocal—and, often, anonymous—minorities to drag it down with invective (and worse). Starting today, then, we are asking people who'd like to post comments on the site to pay a nominal fee—less a paywall than a gesture of your own commitment to the cause of great conversation. All proceeds go to helping us bring you the ambitious journalism that brought you here in the first place.
I NEED TO BE HEARD! BUT I DONT WANT TO PAY.
Readers can still interact with us free of charge via Facebook, Twitter, and our other social media channels, or write to us at letters@tabletmag.com. Each week, we’ll select the best letters and publish them in a new letters to the editor feature on the Scroll.
We hope this new largely symbolic measure will help us create a more pleasant and cultivated environment for all of our readers, and, as always, we thank you deeply for your support.