Mark Russell

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This article is about the American comedian. For the British composer, see Mark Russell (composer).

Mark Russell (born August 23, 1932 in Buffalo, New York) is an American political satirist/comedian. He also sings and plays the piano. Russell is a graduate of Canisius High School in Buffalo, New York.

For more than 25 years Russell has appeared on the American public broadcasting network PBS at least four times a year. His comedy specials are a mix of political stand-up comedy covering current events and musical parodies, in which Russell accompanies himself on his trademark piano. Russell's song parodies use melodies from old standards with new humorous lyrics pertinent to the subject matter. For example, in 1990, following the execution of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu, Russell did a parody song on his show to the tune of "Chattanooga Choo-Choo." ("Pardon me, boys / Are you the cats who shot Ceaucescu / You made my day / The way you blew him away.") Russell himself admits that most of his jokes and songs are very topical and have "a shelf life shorter than cottage cheese."

While Russell's humor is known for skewering Democrats and Republicans alike, his humorous tirades have also poked fun at third party, independent politicians and other prominent political (and sometimes non-political) figures.

Russell has often been asked the question, "Do you have any writers?" His standard response is "Oh, yes...I have 535 writers. 100 in the Senate and 435 in the House of Representatives!" For several years, on the Sunday before Labor Day, he has made an annual appearance on the NBC news program Meet the Press, hosted by Tim Russert, also a Canisius High graduate. He also served in the United States Marine Corps.

Russell lives in Washington, D.C. but often makes appearances in his native Buffalo. Beginning in the early 1960s he was a regular entertainer at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. He gained national recognition with a series of comedy albums during the Watergate scandal, and did his first public television show in 1975. From 1979 to 1984, he was a semi-regular host on the reality TV show, Real People.

In 1994, Russell found himself unexpectedly allied with the rap group 2 Live Crew, when the group was sued for copyright infringement for their parody of the song "Oh, Pretty Woman." The case went to the Supreme Court, where Russell and the members of 2 Live Crew argued that song parodies were protected under the Fair Use act. The Supreme Court agreed, and ruled in favor of Russell and 2 Live Crew.

[edit] Quotations

  • Early in the Reagan administration, there was a news story about a power problem at the White House which was causing the lights to dim, etc. Russell remarked, "Of course, the last power shortage we had at the White House lasted four years!"
  • (On "trickle down" theory of economics): "Money held by someone like Nelson Rockefeller will trickle down... trickle down... trickle down... to Jay Rockefeller!"
  • "You've got the brain-washed, that's the Democrats, and the brain-dead, that's the Republicans!"
  • (On The Exxon Valdez disaster) "Exxon did not order the captain to deliberately ram the reef. If they did he would've missed!"
  • (On the day after the 1996 presidential election): "I believe that Bill Clinton's second term will be good for business... my business!"
  • (from his 1989 Mark Russell at Memorial Hall in Dayton, Ohio)
"I never went to college. I stopped telling people I didn't attend college when it suddenly dawned on me that no one was particularly surprised."
"I try to motivate those graduates; I tell them to be prepared for a few surprises. For instance, this summer when you order a pizza, don't be surprised if it's delivered by one of your professors!"
"Most of you in here are of my vintage: we're ignored by the media. Born in the depression and made to feel guilty about it. Oh, sure, we had T-shirts, but what was written on them? Nothing! We didn't have enough imagination to put anything on a goddamn T-shirt!"
  • (To the class of 1990 in his "end of the 80s" PBS special)
"You say Jonas Salk played Columbo on television, you think William Shakespeare wrote Brigadoon, and Catcher In The Rye was written by Pierre Salinger. You say your teachers taught you those things; your teachers say, 'pay us more money and we'll start teaching the right answers'!"
"You, the class of 1990.. How do you feel about your valedictorian with the 4.9 Grade Point Average who arrived in this country six months ago speaking no English in a rowboat from Saigon?"
  • (On Dan Quayle:) A reporter once asked vice-president Quayle, 'What would you do if you were suddenly thrust into the office of the presidency?' Quayle's answer: 'I would say a prayer.' (pregnant pause) OH-H-H, WOULDN'T WE ALL, MY FRIENDS??"
  • (On Michael Dukakis during the 1988 Presidential campaign) "Dukakis is a little lacking in romance and poetry, you know? It's amazing; The one bland Greek in the world and he's running for president! Zorba the Clerk!"
  • (On Bill Clinton's impeachment trial) "Here is what I think will happen with the impeachment. I believe President Clinton will get off...Let me rephrase that."

[edit] Cultural references

  • A parody of Mark Russell was used in an episode of The Simpsons called "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington" where the character sang three songs ("The Deficit Rag", "The Trading Gap Shuffle" and "Lisa S.") in the style of Russell's political satire songs.
  • in the NewsRadio episode "Public Domain", Bill McNeal (Phil Hartman) decides to become a Mark Russell-like singer of song parodies, like "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again (He's Gay! He's Gay!)".
  • In an episode of King of Queens Doug and Carrie go to a Mark Russell performance, when afterwards Doug quips, "I never knew there were so many words that rhyme with bipartisan!".

[edit] External links