It may be 2024 but to us it's still the Al Franken decade! One of SNL's original staff writers (and occasional on-air talent), Al Franken first announced his "decade" on SNL way back in the 1970s, but since then he has gone on to a career in movies, tv, radio, standup comedy, and a stint as the United States Senator from the state of Minnesota. He also penned a number of wickedly funny books of political analysis and satire, winning a Grammy in 1996 for the audio version of "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot". He's also collected five Emmy award for his writing and today, Al hosts his own podcast. So what if Al's is now approaching 50 years?? We say, well played, Mr. Franken!
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As we said in the intro, Al once pronounced it "The Al Franken Decade" -- here's Al from SNL taking stock of progress. https://youtu.be/wyoaOZW7rTo?si=hvv619eODQxNbddE
One of Al's best loved characters was his least political -- a very "new age" self help hosted named Stuart Smalley. He turned it into a book and a movie, but first it appeared as an SNL skit. https://youtu.be/HMRX-Wj2WOk?si=ZKVCg_sQLyob_kCL
Al was on top of the comedy world back in 1996 after his very funny and very pointed book about Rush Limbaugh (and his ilk) scaled the NYT best seller chart. That year Al was also tapped to host the White House Correspondent's Dinner. Here are some more highlights. https://youtu.be/Cp4vZG-PqII?si=RahZsVsFktJyRzWa
Al recently returned to the spotlight with a well-received guest hosting stint on The Daily Show and a sold out standup tour -- "The Only Former U.S. Senator on Tour Tour". Here's Al with a promo for that tour. https://youtu.be/daGrLOtkyE0?si=LfweOFzKTSeNo_9f