CliqueClack Flashback – The Sifl and Olly Show

Dude. When I was a teenager, I was obsessed with Sifl and Olly. I don’t even know how to explain it, but I can tell you this: sock puppets are awesome.

It started when I was around 14. My older brother was staying with us after he had surgery on his knee, and we were about to move to South Korea at the end of the summer. We were all so stressed out, but my brother and I got a break from it all watching Sifl and Olly on MTV late at night and laughing our asses off.

A year later, after moving back to the States, I found out my best friend loved the show just as much as I did and we cracked ourselves up (and believe me, we were the only ones laughing) talking about sock puppets and people who look like sock puppets. Dave Grohl? Sock puppet. Our newest American Idol, Kris Allen, is definitely a puppet of the sock variety.

For those unfamiliar with The Sifl and Olly Show, it goes a little something like this: Sifl, the black sock puppet, and Olly, the white one, were the hosts of the show. Besides the puppet thing, the show was a lot like a half hour version of the skits you see on SNL about a talk show on a public access channel. Two dudes trying so hard to be professional, but it just doesn’t quite pan out. There was a variety of regularly featured segments, as well as a lot of funny banter in between. Here are just a few of them, but if you want to see more, there is a wealth of Sifl and Olly videos on YouTube, which was a happy surprise to me when I started thinking about this post.

A Word with Chester and Letters to Chester

Most sockheads I know will say that Chester is their favorite character. He’s not mine (that title goes to Olly, after whom one of my dogs is named), but he is pretty awesome. And by awesome, I mean that he’s socially awkward, loves bubbles, and sounds like a serial killer when he talks about women. He is also a very accomplished cook, as he demonstrates when he’s asked to share one of his favorite recipes.

Precious Roy’s Home Shopping Network

Oh, I loved Precious Roy, and especially his intro song. “Precious Roy, Precious Roy, makin’ lots of suckers out of girls and boys!” Some of his more memorable products were Precious Roy’s Pirate Cripplers, Edible Sandals, and Chicken Flavored Air Conditioning, a personal favorite of mine. And a visit from Precious Roy wouldn’t be complete without him calling us all “Suckers!”

Rock Facts

You know how you’ll be watching CNN or some other news show and they ask a trivia question right before the break, and answer it when they come back? That’s what Rock Facts was. Only, most of them involved Björk and none of them were actually facts. What male singer has been in every single rock band since 1975? Björk. What hidden talent does Celine Dion hide from her fans? Why, she’s a world class bass-fisherman, and can fit four pool balls in her mouth at once. What, you didn’t know that?

Musical Numbers

You know that song, “United States of Whatever”? It originated with Sifl and Olly. Liam Lynch, who released the song on his album “Fake Songs“, was co-creator and co-writer for the show, as well as providing the voice (and hand) of Olly, the first person puppet to sing the song. That may have been the only song from Sifl and Olly to ever reach the top 10 in two different countries, but it wasn’t the only one worth remembering.  There was “Rock n Roll Friends,” “Baby for Gravy,” and of course, “Crescent Fresh.”

I’m ashamed to say that I actually forgot about Crescent Fresh, both the term and the amazingly hilarious song that goes with it. My friend’s (the same one from above) husband wrote on his Facebook status not too long ago that he was crescent fresh, and I had no idea what he was talking about. For shame…to make up for it, I give you the song that explains the meaning of “Crescent Fresh.” May it give you the giggles as much as it did me.

Clacked by Cate Cropp
on May 27, 2009 @ 15:29 EST5EDT