Slappin' da bass

First off, this is not a love letter to Paul Rudd. But if it happened to be one, I would totally gush. My love of his absolutely hilarious body humor is just kinda outta control. I loved him in F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and I have loved him in so many movies I can't even count! The way he can move his body all crooked and snap his neck to the side and pronounce his words to bring laughter to his audience is just unparalleled in my book. It's good old fashioned goofy comedy. Not that this is a love letter. Just sayin'.

Before I move on, you should watch this clip of Paul Rudd and that good old fashioned goofy comedy. Be sure to watch the entire scene of him and his fiancee after they've discussed one of his favorite hobbies, slappin' da bass (which she had no idea about) and one of his favorite bands, Rush (which she has never heard before):





Now on to what happened the Thursday night.

I was lying on the sofa, just minding my own business semi-watching Hollywood Week on American Idol. It was the first time the contestants were performing on the Hollywood stage by themselves. I was suddenly interested when contestant Casey Abrams's presence on the show was already being chronicled (only a few episodes into the season). Was this crazy-interesting performer going home already?? His audition with the air blown keyboard thing was one of my favorites! The kid wasn't afraid to be crazy and have soul at the same time. I liked him because he was really different.

He was being chronicled because of his crazy audition attitude and crazy audition musical instrument, all because he was about to make another crazy move: this guy had a bass in hand and had planned to use it on stage for his next performance! I'm not talking about a Paul Rudd rock band bass here, either. I mean, this guy was wheeling out a taller-than-himself string symphony style string bass.

This is gonna be... interestinnnnnnng???

And then this happened:




Yes, I realize his voice was pitchy and off tune and pretty much all over the place about half the time. But what a performance!

I'm a true stickler for a few select songs. You've gotta sing them right. You've gotta have the right voice. You've gotta have the charisma. And in a few cases, such as Georgia On My Mind, you've just gotta be Ray Charles. No excuses!

Well, unless you're Casey Abrams, apparently. I hate it when singers have pitch and tone problems--who doesn't! He was pushing himself when he selected this song to sing. But the performance overall literally got me to sit straight up, clap, laugh in disbelief, renounce my Ray Charles or die rule, and rewind it to watch a few more times thanks to TiVo.

I've just gotta say this: I'm a fan of Casey Abrams. What a performance! I'll keep watching the show this season just to wait for another performance by him!


P.S. This experience has happened to me once before and I wrote about it here. Adam Lambert stole the show when he sang Mad World, a creepy-beautiful song featured in the cult film Donnie Darko (which I'm bothered that I love so much), and I watched American Idol that season just to see what Adam Lambert was gonna do next.

P.S.P.S. I do really like Paul Rudd, though. Like, a lot. Don't tell Carlton.