On a recent episode of Up Late with Miss Piggy, Gonzo the Great (Brought to You by Piggy Water) performed his first death-defying stunt in years, shooting himself out of a cannon from the studio roof. In the old days, Gonzo did this kind of thing all the time. Some of us were even lucky enough to catch his 1984 Aquacade show in Michigan (I still have the t-shirt.)
In recent years, he’s been focusing on his writing career. Obviously that’s working out well for him, since he’s the head writer of Up Late. But for those of us who have been paying attention, it comes as no surprise that he’s back to his first love. Recent episodes of Up Late have been littered with hints that this stunt was coming. Over and over, he snuck in hidden messages showing off his love of daredevilry. Here are just a few pieces of evidence:
- The Blackout: A few weeks ago, the show was performed in the dark thanks to a blackout. According to on-set reports, the cause was a giant block of butter (planned to be used by the Swedish Chef) that melted under the hot studio lights, causing mayhem that eventually led to the power shorting-out. Let me ask you this: which sounds more like something Gonzo would write – a benign cooking demonstration or a thinly-veiled excuse for chaos?
When Josh Groban sang “If I Loved You” with Piggy, he was wearing a velvet jacket that looked a lot like Gonzo’s classic purple tux. An awful lot. A little too much of a lot to be a coincidence. Clearly, Gonzo enlisted the show’s costume designer Uncle Deadly to help him plant clues.
- Nick Offerman: When the Parks & Rec star filled in for Fozzie as the show’s temporary announcer, he took some time to demonstrate his wood-working skills by building a furniture set. At the time, I was *certain* that Gonzo was going to drive a motorcycle up the chairs and onto the table, then out into the crowd. The fact that he didn’t only serves as proof that he was waiting for something bigger.
- Dancing with the Tsars: This comedy sketch suggests that Gonzo was longing for the brutality of pre-Communist Russia, a period when his pain obsession would have allowed him to blend right in.
Additionally, that episode was supposed to feature Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron. Since he cancelled, we didn’t get to see what else Gonzo had planned for him, but if you think it didn’t include some classic AFV bodily harm humor, you’re kidding yourself.
- Piggy’s apology to Reese Witherspoon: When all of those dancers hoisted Piggy in the air, it seemed like she might make a daring leap back to the stage at any point. This was Gonzo boldly reshaping Piggy in his own image. Watching the song, I felt like she could smoothly transition into eating a tire, playing bagpipes atop a flagpole, or reciting Shakespeare while hanging from her nose.
- Finally, earlier in the same episode as Gonzo’s big flight, Joseph Gordon-Levitt joined Piggy to sing the classic song “Fly Me to the Moon.” This was undoubtedly chosen as a nod to “I’m Going to Go Back There Someday.” Because later that same day, Gonzo was flying – not walking – on featherless wings all the way from the roof to a giant pool.
As you can see, Gonzo was planning this stunt from the very beginning. These are only a few examples, but I’m sure you could find hundreds more if you want to dig through your tapes of old episodes. And now that his plan has finally been unveiled, we’ll surely see more crazy, dangerous action in the future. Daredevil Gonzo is back, and there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll take it to even more extreme levels. So prepare yourselves for bells on snakes and chocolate cakes, because Up Late with Miss Piggy is becoming a jamboree!
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by Anthony Strand
