I've found that most people either totally love Chris Farley or, when you bring him up, make a face and say, "I never really thought he was funny." Most of the people I am not friends with anymore fall into the latter category- not because of that, but later I look back and say, "Well, I should have known we wouldn't get along when they said they never liked Chris Farley."
If you are in the second category, why are you even reading this (other than morbid curiosity?) If you are in the first, and don't own this video yet, RUN don't walk to the video store (or your PC) and buy one. When they ran it the first time on TV, it wasn't long after Farley's death, and I was still sad about it. After the sober opening by Tim Meadows, however, I started laughing pretty much non-stop till it was over. His better-known routines are on here, such as Bennet Brower, Matt Foley, and the Chippendale's dancer, which are all hilarious. But there's also quite a few skits that I never saw, and we watched pretty much every week when he was in the cast. My only complaint is that it isn't longer, and some funny skits, they only show snippets of, like him playing Alan Hale, and the skit with Sandler where Michael Keaton was the host and Sandler plays his cranky grandmother whom he has to watch for 20 minutes. (if you want to see the whole skit, which is one of the funniest things I've ever seen them do, then buy the Best of Adam Sandler as well, because it the whole skit, plus some other great Farley stuff not on this tape is on there). The only noticeable (if you're a Farley fan) omission is a skit called "The Relapse Guy" where he plays a guy who goes to rehab then gets wasted again over and over (it's way funnier than it sounds, trust me). I think they thought it was a little too close to home (though they did leave in the Ditka stuff with him faking a heart attack-that kind of made me wince).
Every time I see this, several things happen-- I get sad that he wasn't around long enough to make more movies with Spade, or even by himself, because (this sounds corny) he had so much to give. I also get pi$$ed off at him for not taking better care of himself and dying. I also usually laugh so hard I fall off the couch. No matter how bad of a day I had, I can watch almost any of the skits on here and get cheered up instantly. He was a guy who could just say one line that you would think no-one could say and make it funny, and make you fall down laughing just the way he says it. His costars really had a hard time keeping character, which shows even more in the dress rehersal 'blooper' clips they show. Watch David Spade and Christina Appelgate during the Matt FOley thing- they both have to turn away from the camera to hide their faces because they can't keep a straight face, and when he starts in with the "I bet you're asking yourself 'hey Matt, how do we get back on the right track?' " you can see their shoulders shaking they are laughing so hard. Sandler can't keep a straight face when he's doing the "Lunchlady" song with him, either. Come to think of it, I have no clue how anyone on stage with him could ever keep a straight face. If you were bummed out when he died, get ready to get teary (though you'll already have tears running down your face from laughing) when he sings, "so long, farewell" as Matt Foley at the end, sitting on Phil Hartman's lap (I could watch this without tearing up until Hartman was killed, now I can't see the clip without getting choked up). But even if you do get emotional, keep watching, because after the credits they stick on the one thing I'd been hoping for the whole time-a quick clip of Farley as "Sandman" on "Nat X". What a waste- I hope whereever he is he knows how happy he made people during the short time he was around (and how happy he is still making those of us who thought he was funny).
