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A Comedy Woodstock, Courtesy Of Tenacious D

Jack Black and Kyle Gass of Tenacious D mug as 1960s hippies in a promo clip for Festival Supreme, a Los Angeles-based alternative comedy festival of their own creation.
Courtesy of the artist
Jack Black and Kyle Gass of Tenacious D mug as 1960s hippies in a promo clip for Festival Supreme, a Los Angeles-based alternative comedy festival of their own creation.

Woodstock didn't just bring together some of the most important musical acts of the late 1960s: It showed that a music festival could be a truly historic event.

These days, leave any pasture open long enough and someone will start setting up amps and concession stands. The outdoor music festival is ubiquitous in 2013. But so far, there has been no Woodstock for comedy.

Well, two intrepid organizers are trying to change that. Their names? Kyle Gass and Jack Black — or, as you might know them, Tenacious D. The acoustic duo, known for its absurdist delivery and reverence of all things metal, is the organizing force behind Festival Supreme, which will take over the Santa Monica Pier in California next weekend.

On the bill are some comedy legends — Eric Idle of Monty Python, Bob Odenkirk and David Cross of Mr. Show — as well as some of the performers known for incorporating music into comedy, such as Adam Sandler and Reggie Watts.

Jack Black and Kyle Gass recently joined weekends on All Things Considered host Arun Rath in the studios of NPR West in Culver City, and brought along their acoustic guitars. Hear their conversation and performance at the audio link.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

NPR Staff
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