Ashley Bulayo
Comedy Central made a comeback in Ballroom 20 with the cult classic crank call show Crank Yankers. The original Crank Yankers first aired in 2002 in which celebrities would crank call small businesses. The show would then take these recordings and set up elaborate set pieces in which the crank call would be re-enacted by puppets. The show had a solid run of 4 seasons and 70 episodes but was over by 2007.
The panel consisted of the moderator Brian Posehn, executive producer Jonathan Kimmel, production designer Gary Kordan, alongside comedians Jeff Ross and Bobby Moynihan. After the panel was introduced they spared no time in showing us a clip of Bobby’s freshly edited crank calls in which he phones up a dispensary claiming that the vape pen he purchased had ruined his life and he adopted a persona of Dr. Penis (a tekashi 69 inspired puppet with colored dreads and tattoos dawning the name Dr. Penis on both his face and chest). After the clip, Bobby was treated to seeing the actual puppet that was created for the particular skit, needless to say, he was blown away by the craftsmanship, no small feat for production designer Gary Kordan since Bobby has been very active in the recent run of Sesame Street.
We were also treated to an audio version that has not yet been filmed in which Roast Master General Jeff Ross rings his “favorite” Pub and mercilessly roasts them for typical stereotypes.
After we were gifted the two clips from the comedians on the panel the floor was open for questions. One of the biggest questions regarding the reboot of the show was, of course, will we see the return of the beloved character Special-Ed voiced by comedian Jim Florentine. Executive producer Jonathan Kimmel addressed the current climate of our political correctness and felt that it wouldn’t be appropriate to showcase characters who are misrepresented in today’s media. Technologies evolution was also a big discussion amongst those who were able to ask a question to the panel. Everyone on the panel seemed to be excited about how they now have access to ring anyone in the world thanks to websites like Yelp, no longer having to thumb through old phone books and make something out of nothing.
Needless we are pumped for the return of Crank Yankers and their all-star cast of comedians. Crank Yankers will officially return in late September keep your eyes peeled.
