All the Poop Money Can Buy

This has been one heckuva week - a colleague's family tragedy, a meeting in Ballwin, a board meeting where nobody showed up, a rendevous with a friend that turns into a game of "my problems are bigger than yours", a meeting last night in St. Peters, and basically trying to catch up and get settled in my new office. So, what's the cure for the blues that ail me?

The Best of Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog on DVD. I admit, most of my exposure to Triumph have been files shared through LimeWire...but only because Conan O'Brien is one scary lookin' dude. Anyway, I love my humor coarse, off-color, and clever (hey, I grew up on Monty Python - who wouldn't suspect?), so this is a natural for me. It's pretty much every Triumph sketch ever performed on one DVD.

First, the "Classic Poop" - includes two appearances at the Westminster Dog Show (my personal favorite is # 2, where Triumph appears as both Ed Bradley and Barbara Walters), the "Star Wars" Premiere (my all time favorite), Hollywood Squares, Bon Jovi (wherein Triumph modifies one of their hits), the 2002 "altercation" with Eminem at the MTV Music Awards, and Quebec. Admittedly, the Quebec piece falls a little short (due to language problems), but every one of these is full-out, laugh out loud funny.

Much of the humor is due to the fact that Triumph is a puppet. From Bob on F/X's old Breakfast Time series to Mystery Science Theater 3000, puppets have been use to say things that human beings would be arrested for saying. Let's face it, Triumph asking a nerd, "Have you ever talked to a woman without leaving your credit card number?" would seem unnecessarily cruel coming from a regular human being. (Plus, since many of the jokes are dog-related...it makes more sense).

But wait - there's more, he says in his best Ron Popeil voice. There is "Extra Poop" and "More Poop than is Necessary". This includes other Triumph sketches, including the infamous Pets.com press conference, a montage of celebrity insult sketches (highlight: Triumph calling Pauly Shore a "human wee wee pad"), and Triumph's music video "I Keed" from Come Poop With Me. This is the kind of DVD where you don't need Easter Eggs - there's plenty of material. Heck, Triumph's first appearance on Conan is included, a tribute to the anal expulsivity (the opposite of anal retention) of the producers.

[One note: three of the sketches - the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, the Triumph Christmas Special, and the Pets.com Press Conference - all suffer severe and dramatic cuts. I only hope it's due to music clearances, and not because J-Lo, Kathie Lee Gifford, and Sting have no senses of humor. I mean, really, if John Tesh could appear in two Triumph sketches, they could cut us a break. Especially Sting, who should know better. But I digress]

This is a fine, fine DVD. Play it for all your friends, invite your family over, and share it with your pets. You will do yourself - and your loved ones - a valued public service.