Over the past few months, the city of Los Angeles has played host to a number of all-star benefit shows, all of which have raised money for wildfire relief after so much of the city was devastated. Each of those benefits has had its own flavor and personality, and the most recent one had more personality than most. On Sunday night, the United Theater was host to a show known as Let's Get L.Aid. Get it? You get it. This one was billed as "a night of comedy and music," and it was headlined by history's greatest comedy musician, "Weird Al" Yankovic.
The Let's Get L.Aid benefit included performances from Rufus Wainwright, Paul Shaffer, the Beach Boys' Al Jardine, Peter Asher, and big-deal comedy types like Margaret Cho, Maria Bamford, Reggie Watts, Neil Hamburger, and Monty Python's Eric Idle. "Weird Al" Yankovic, who's about to head out on a massive costumes-and-all tour, was the big draw, and he did some covers and collaborations. At one point, he brought out a couple of special guests to perform Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'": Puddles Pity Party, the Pagliacci-style clown act who will open Yankovic's tour, and Tim Heidecker, another guy who lives at the border between music and comedy. They make quite a trio. Watch fan footage of that cover below.
The 84-year-old legend Nancy Sinatra was another of the show's guests, and she sang her 1966 smash "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'," with "Weird Al" Yankovic backing her up and adding an accordion solo.
Yankovic also covered Randy Newman's "I Love LA," a song that's been out there a lot lately. He sang it like he meant it.
At the end of the night, all of the show's guests came to the stage to back Eric Idle up when he sang "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life," the grand finale from the 1979 cinematic classic Monty Python's Life Of Brian.
Read our We've Got A File On You interview with "Weird Al" Yankovic here.
