Concert Reports
Weird Al Yankovic
08/02/2016, Arlington Theatre, Santa Barbara
Following his wildly successful 2015 tour, four-time Grammy-winning artist “Weird Al” Yankovic has extended his Mandatory World Tour in 2016. The tour made a stop at the Arlington Theatre on August 2
According to Al: “I’ve decided to do the Mandatory World Tour for one more year, after learning that some people didn’t make it out to the show this last time around. Apparently, they don’t know the meaning of the word ‘mandatory’!!”
All Photos: Ray Soto / Central Coast Rocks
The tour follows Yankovic’s Grammy-winning Mandatory Fun, which was the first comedy album in over fifty years to hit #1 on the Billboard charts and the first comedy album in history to debut at the top spot.
In addition to this year’s tour, below are a few other recently-announced Yankovic projects:
• Co-host and bandleader for the fifth season of Comedy Bang! Bang! on IFC, which began airing this spring
• Voice of the title character in Disney XD’s new animated fall series Milo Murphy’s Law (from the creators of Phineas and Ferb)
• Executive Producer of a TV show based on his best-selling children’s books (being developed with the Jim Henson Company)
• Star and creator of an on-air promotional campaign for Sundance TV (now airing)
• A series of Weird Al retro-clothed action figures from NECA, to be released over the next two years which began this spring
• Recent appearances on the ABC hit series Galavant (as a singing monk) and The Goldbergs (as the ‘80s version of himself), as well as numerous voice-over roles including spots on Gravity Falls, Wander Over Yonder, Adventure Time, and the DC animated feature Batman vs. Robin
• Live performances on George Fest: A Night to Celebrate the Music of George Harrison (released in all formats on Feb. 26)
• A career-spanning box set from Legacy Recordings, featuring all 14 Weird Al studio albums digitally remastered in all formats
“Weird Al” Yankovic is the biggest-selling comedy recording artist in history, earning four Grammys and fifteen career nominations. He is best known for his hilariously irreverent parodies of hit songs by the biggest stars in the musical universe over the past three decades, including “Eat It,” “Like A Surgeon,” “Smells Like Nirvana,” “Amish Paradise,” “White & Nerdy,” and “Tacky." In 2015, Yankovic released his 14th studio album, the Grammy Award-winning Best Comedy Album Mandatory Fun making history as the first comedy album to debut at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart and the first time a comedy album has reached the top of the chart in over 50 years.
The single “Word Crimes” debuted in the Billboard Top 40, making Al one of only three people to have had Top 40 singles in each of the last four decades (the other two are Michael Jackson and Madonna). Yankovic has found success in multiple entertainment formats including the film world with his cult classic UHF, his CBS TV series The Weird Al Show, online with The Nerdist Channel with his faux celebrity interview web series Face 2 Face with “Weird Al” Yankovic, and the publishing world with Weird Al: The Book (an illustrated hardcover on Al’s life and career) and his children’s books, including the New York Times bestseller When I Grow Up. Weird Al has performed more than1500 dates over the course of his career and continues to direct videos and be an innovator in the entertainment community.
Facebook: weirdal
Twitter: @alyankovic
Instagram: alfredyankovic
YouTube: alyankovic
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