'Drunk History' Season 2: Creator Derek Waters Names His Favorite Narrators And Actors Ahead Of Finale [VIDEOS]
The Season 2 finale of “Drunk History” airs Tuesday on Comedy Central. The show follows host and creator Derek Waters as he travels the country in pursuit of the best hidden-gem stories of history, told to him by comedian narrators who are, well, very drunk. Then, Waters and a rotating list of who’s who in comedy perform lip-synched re-enactments of the narrators’ stumbled-through tales. The show, which gained popularity as a Funny Or Die sketch series before moving to Comedy Central, has been renewed for a third season.
International Business Times caught up with Waters, who said the Season 2 finale, “First Ladies,” is his favorite episode yet “for many reasons.” Not the least of those is the return of comedian Jen Kirkman, who Waters calls “the queen of ‘Drunk History.”
Kirkman returns in the finale to tell the story of Edith Wilson, President Woodrow Wilson’s second wife, who effectively ran the country while her husband was bedridden after a stroke in 1919. The segment features Courteney Cox as Edith Wilson and features an anachronistic, non sequitur rant on Tim Burton’s “Nightmare Before Christmas” that might be one of the show’s funniest moments yet. This is the first appearance on the show for Kirkman since the “Boston” episode in Season 1.
Waters also revealed some of his other favorite narrators and lip-synch performers from the first two seasons, as well as the pre-show sketches. Here is a list of the very best:
Michael Cera
Waters admits that the show would never have taken off if it wasn’t for Cera, who appeared in the first “Drunk History” video as Alexander Hamilton. Cera has returned to the show since it moved to Comedy Central and played a key role in the re-enactment of the Mary Dyer story in the “Boston” episode of Season 1, one of the funniest sketches to date.
Jack Black
After Cera, Jack Black picked up the torch, appearing in the second video as Benjamin Franklin, which Waters says brought more people's attention to the show. Black has knack for the lip-synching and his brand of physical comedy was a perfect match for “Drunk History.”
Jen Kirkman
As stated before, Waters calls Kirkman the “Queen of ‘Drunk History’,” exemplifying what he calls “frustrated passion,” when the narrator is at a level of inebriation to care deeply about the story despite their struggling to tell it. Watch her musing on George Washington’s integrity at the end of the video below:
Jason Ritter
Waters calls Ritter “the master” of the lip-synching reenactments. A contributor from the beginning, the actor has a gift for channeling the narrator's voice for comedic effect.
Winona Ryder
Waters singled out the film actress for her skill during the re-enactments, and it's not hard to see why. She holds her own in multiple episodes, including the “Boston” episode playing Mary Dyer, alongside “Drunk History” vets Cera and Ritter (narrated by Kirkman).
Mark Gagliardi
Gagliardi was the original “Drunk History” narrator, who Waters said is “the smartest guy I know, and he likes to drink.” He has appeared on the show a handful of times since the move to Comedy Central. Watch him narrate a Teddy Roosevelt story in the “Drunk History” video below:
Derek Waters
Although he probably would not admit to it, Waters, who appears in a small role in every re-enactment, is pretty good himself at turning a narrator’s slur into comedy gold.
Check back next Tuesday for the full Derek Waters interview before the Season 2 finale of "Drunk History" on Tuesday at 10 p.m. EDT on Comedy Central. Who is your favorite "Drunk History" performer? Tweet your thoughts to @Ja9GarofaloTV.
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