7 Minutes in Heaven

September 12, 2011 6:57 AM

SNL Writer Mike O'Brien invites celebrities into the closet for 7 Minutes in Heaven.

Patricia Clarkson
Kristen Wiig
Elija Wood
Christina Ricci
Amy Poehler

posted by splatta (32 comments total)

yes hello i would please like to be kissing a drunk patricia clarkson in a closet, is there some form i can fill out to make this happen
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 7:16 AM on September 12, 2011 [17 favorites]

in case you ever need a gif of ricci snort-laughing, i've got you covered.
posted by nadawi at 7:19 AM on September 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

Very interesting how the interviews gets more intimate simply by taking place in a closet.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 7:28 AM on September 12, 2011

Kristen Wiig couldn't find funny if you gave it to her in a box marked "CONTENTS: FUNNY - OPEN IMMEDIATELY."
posted by longsleeves at 7:51 AM on September 12, 2011 [8 favorites]

That's the first time I've seen Tracy Morgan look as uncomfortable as he makes me feel when he does his shtick.
posted by Nelson at 7:54 AM on September 12, 2011

Tracy Morgan has a terrible C3PO impression.
posted by delmoi at 8:02 AM on September 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

That moment when he goes in for a kiss with Christina Ricci is priceless.
posted by naju at 8:28 AM on September 12, 2011

When Wiig first started on SNL it seemed like she got the 'straight' rolls a lot. It wasn't until later that they had her playing the really zany characters. I haven't seen the show in forever, though, so I don't know what's up.

Also, if you want to see someone who's into kissing him check out Patricia Clarkson.
posted by delmoi at 8:30 AM on September 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

If you think Kristen Wiig has "one silly shouted voice she uses for everything," you quite simply don't know what you're talking about.

If you don't like her work, that's fine. There's no need to just make shit up.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:31 AM on September 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

I think Wiig was funny when she first came on the scene on SNL but she, like so many other good comic actors, had to make themselves cartoons in order to stretch laughs out of the extremely weak material they get presented on a weakly basis. Years of positive reinforcement from simply mugging for the camera have taken their toll. It took Amy Poehler years to grow out of it. Some never do (Jimmy Fallon)
posted by any major dude at 8:34 AM on September 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

OMG Sys Rq IS Kristen Wiig!!!
posted by zeoslap at 8:34 AM on September 12, 2011 [4 favorites]

No I'm not! There's plenty to not like about Wiig's characters (especially that completely unfunny Gilly) without just painting them all with one brush. They run the full gamut. The Two A-Holes and the (brilliant) Nervously Rambling News Lady are nothing like, say, Target Lady.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:54 AM on September 12, 2011

I interpreted the decision to add Wiig to the cast as an effort to return to the time period when characters of various ages used to appear in sketches. Think Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon, and Cheri Oteri. Remember "Delicious Dish," or Gasteyer's Martha Stewart impression, or Cheri Oteri's Barbara Walters, or Shannon's Sally O'Malley ("I'm fifty, fifty years old!")? At the time I started to forget to keep up with the show, the cast skewed young and looked unnatural playing above their age. I'm not sure whether to pin this trend on the who the writers are, changes in the composition of the audience, or the changing nature of funny. Maybe older "character types" are less visible or prominent these days. As much as I disliked Wiig's Target checkout lady, I thought it was a return to form.

(I haven't seen SNL in a couple of years, so please bring me up to date if major changes have happened.)
posted by Nomyte at 8:54 AM on September 12, 2011

Nomyte: The show has basically just turned into everyone making out with everyone else, because tongue kissing is funny!--especially if you're in the live studio audience and have been primed to laugh at anything. If you're watching it on TV, not so much.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:01 AM on September 12, 2011

So SNL became Mad TV, minus Ms. Swan? Gross.
posted by Nomyte at 9:07 AM on September 12, 2011

The show has basically just turned into everyone making out with everyone else

The last time I watched it there was an Andy Samberg sketch with PeeWee Herman, and another sketch about previews at performances of Shakespeare's plays. They were both hilarious. I was pleasantly surprised.

Andy Samberg is the funniest cast member in years IMO, although his videos with Justin Timberlake aren't getting any funnier and just keep happening anyway.

Also you should see Hot Rod if you haven't yet.
posted by Hoopo at 9:17 AM on September 12, 2011

This is delightful, and Kristin Wiig is a goddes.

(I'd like to be on a Team with her so I could be like HEY THERE'S TWO Is IN WIIG SO USE EM BUSTER)
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:29 AM on September 12, 2011 [3 favorites]

Wiig has two voices/characters

Soft voice--that low/fast talker, the "it's all about me/I'm topping your story" character, Gilley doesn't even say anything.

or

The loud, fast talking, over the top character "the 1950s has been actress", the "Target Lady", and the "You just won a home make over."

Seriously, there are only two. She sucks and her sketches are 10 min too long.
posted by stormpooper at 9:32 AM on September 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

Those are awesome. I thought the Hota Kotb (Is that really a name? With a name that weird she should be on NPR with Megna Chakravarti and Kai Rysdal) because only one person was trying to be funny the whole time.
posted by Aizkolari at 9:34 AM on September 12, 2011

i adore hoda (yes, it's really a name. her parents are egyptian). sometimes i even guiltily watch her show with kathy lee. she's hilarious when her and jimmy fallon get together.

and this thread is once again showing how subjective comedy is. i <3 kristen wiig.
posted by nadawi at 9:44 AM on September 12, 2011

The Jason Sudekis interview is awesome - you can tell that they are good friends - which makes the kissing bit particulary awkward/funny - but also kinda sweet. Like when you were a really little kid and would give anyone you liked a little kiss.
posted by helmutdog at 9:46 AM on September 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

Really enjoyed these, thank you.
posted by Meatbomb at 10:15 AM on September 12, 2011

You know, I liked all of you, a lot, but then I saw the Kristen Wiig hate, and now I have to question where this relationship is going.

in a supporting role in "Paul", she is the female equivalent to David Hyde Pierce's supporting role in "Wet Hot American Summer", and here I am specifically referring to swearing
posted by davejay at 10:42 AM on September 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

I think Wiig's charm is that she is one of those people who are "really funny". Only that when she is expected to be funny, it's like people saying "hey be funny now...c'mon say something funny"...so it's difficult to actually be funny. It looks like she has a little discomfiture in her own skin, there is a painful awkwardness, that is funny itself, but that's not what she is striving for. To "be funny" she plays it straight. She is the covert cognitive dissonant anti comedian. For comparison, see Norm MacDonald, the overt anti comedian.

She is great in this gem. The deranged look...reminds me of my sister.

And hoo boy, is Patricia Clarkson smokin'
posted by Xoebe at 12:45 PM on September 12, 2011 [1 favorite]

I just watched the Patricia Clarkson one, and I'm not sure if I want to watch any more because I'm not sure if it gets any better than "I'll be playing your mother next week."
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:48 PM on September 12, 2011

Man, the attempt to kiss Christina Ricci hit uncomfortably close to home. The awkward lean-in, the way she turns her head as if embarrassed for him, the laughter - it was like junior prom all over again, without the Wang Chung.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 12:49 PM on September 12, 2011 [7 favorites]

"cherries in the snow. God damn, you are all woman. "
posted by Scoo at 1:02 PM on September 12, 2011 [2 favorites]

At first I was thought, "Okay, seven minutes in heaven so you go in for the kiss at the end." Funny. I enjoyed the awkwardness.

Then I was like, "Oh yea! Let's see if you try it with Elija Wood!"...and he did! This is what I love about SNL!
posted by BuffaloChickenWing at 1:06 PM on September 12, 2011

How long does Patricia Clarkson keep cosmetics? Revlon had a lipstick named Cherries in the Snow ages ago. 1940s? 1950s?
posted by Cranberry at 1:13 PM on September 12, 2011

OK, I Googled Cherries in the Snow. Apparently Revlon is using the name again, although some commenters seemed to be disappointed that it is now fuchsia instead of red, and does not match the nail polish. What's up Revlon?
posted by Cranberry at 1:18 PM on September 12, 2011

They're busy geting Cranberries in the Frost just right, I guess, but fuschia is always horrible unless it's hanging on the porch.
posted by longsleeves at 8:21 PM on September 12, 2011

Cherries in the Snow--ha. Totally had that.
posted by stormpooper at 11:39 PM on September 12, 2011