That's one of my favorite sketches evah!

On the DVD commentary, the Mr. Show guys talk about what a pain in the ass it was to film that piece before a live audience, since after each pratfall, they had to re-hang the shelves, retrieve all the little tchotchkes that had scattered to all corners of the stage, and put them all back in place before starting up the scene again, only to send it all crashing back down again a few seconds later. The first few times it happened, the audience laughed, but after about the fourth one, they realized it could go on pretty much indefinitely, and the laughs more or less dried up from there on out.

It never fails to slay me, though. I think Jay Johnston is a gifted physical comic, and a very underrated member of that cast.

I love Mr. Show. Nothing further to add.

Hah...I was wondering about that! As I was watching it the second time I wondered (hopefully) if there were more thimble shelves already lined up and waiting off camera so that the crew could just come out, hang 2 more, and quickly sweep up the thimbles that were strewn on the floor.

It's a laugh riot.

Love it still.
Not to derail, but some of the new Human Giant stuff is quite funny.
Carpet Monkey

Carpet Monkey is awesome! I never heard of Human Giant. That's exactly the kind of stuff I love.

We have Mr. Show on DVD, and every single time I see that sketch, I'm wincing even more than I'm laughing.

Also: am I the only-lonely person in the whole wide world who thought Paul Reiser's schtick was funny?

If nothing else, I have to thank him for ingraining "not so much" into my lexicon through pure repetition.

iconomy - In that case, I'll go ahead and push L'il 9/11 on you. Part 2 is okay, but you have to watch part 3 for Bobby J's amazing performance.

Played the Everest one without sound. Didn't laugh.

I have high hopes for when I go home and can listen to it.