YouTube Review: AndSarah
Too much to sift through on YouTube? Life’s hard. Bwog’s here to help.
There’s nothing as bad as being in Butler on a Saturday night. But, instead of wasting your study break tonight on another disappointing episode of SNL, Bwog suggests checking out Sarah Dooley’s (BC ‘11) delightful YouTube series, AndSarah.
Sarah’s face may be familiar to you, but her acting and writing will surprise you. In each of the series’ three episodes, Sarah offers clever and carefully crafted portraits of the life and times of college freshman. Her character is a caricature of herself, awkwardly idiosyncratic and simultaneously accessible to all undergraduates.
Her self-conscious fidgets and sputters are well-timed and reinforce her ridiculous, and often poignant, blunders. Although it takes a couple of minutes to get used to Sarah’s mannerisms in the first episode, it’s impossible to resist her lessons in people watching on College Walk and lunching alone in Hewitt.
What is so impressive about AndSarah is the seamless coordination of Rachel Mersky’s cinematography and Sarah’s acting and script. Rachel’s steady hand and sharp editing capitalize on Sarah’s hesitant glances at the camera and draw out her self-reflective pauses. The unadorned camera work adds a confessional tone and almost documentary-like effect to Sarah’s scenes. The plot of the third episode, however, relies on a familiar subject matter: social outcast attempts to make big impression at campus dance. But despite the stock premise, Sarah’s halting intonation and adorably crumpled smile offer an endearing and refreshing take on this theme.
By far the best in the series, the second episode is equally brilliant in its plot line as it is in its performances. Here, Sarah explores the hilarious consequences of a google search gone terribly wrong. Her faux-pas may be inexcusably naive, but Sarah adds an integrity and honesty to her lines that is remarkably rare.
So if you are uninspired and at a dead end with your research paper, take a look at the some of the creativity and talent of your peers. And if AndSarah doesn’t inspire or at least impress, you’re probably just jealous.
Tags: bored at butler, coolness, humor, youtube
19 April 2008 @ 8:55 PM · 47 comments
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You remind me of a female Michael Cera! (That’s a compliment!)
sarah dooley is awesome!
boring…
i think i’ll stick to snl
i thought she was BC not CC?
You’re right, thanks!
funny but the mannerisms are basically george michael from arrested development.
how funny… that girl “friended” me on facebook at the beginning of the semester.
unfortunately, she got purged along with all of the other idealistic young freshman who had friended me without ever meeting or or even realizing that i’m an old creep, nearly ten years their senior.
Why did this video not mention her baby eating habits. I feel like that is very important to know about a young girl.
Incredible. By the way, she sings too.
In the Varsity Show, right?
and you TOO can see her in the cast of the 114th annual varsity show may 2-4
OR KING’S CROWN “as you like it” may 1-3, it’s outdoors AND free!!
Wow, very talented, although she took a lot from the Office clearly.
She channels a lot of Reno 911. Interesting to see the same style in a new setting; the humor works too.
people are accusing her of stealing from the office, reno 911, arrested development… ever thing that maybe the funny awkward character didn’t originate from these individual shows? she has an original take on these tried-and-true characters, and the fact that she can still pull them off is a testament to her acting abilities.
then again, i’m really drunk so everything is funny to me.
this is so fabulous
and it’s 4/20….you shouldnt be drunk!
Sarah Dooley = my hero
I just saw all three episodes. Her character reminded me of Steve Carell from the Office, not so much Michael Cera because her character (like Carell’s) is so oblivious. All in all the episodes were pretty well made, and Dooley is definitely a gifted comedic actress. It puts most (probably all) YouTube series to shame. It is very much of the “awkward” school of comedy, where a lot of the joke is just someone making an ass of himself/herself publicly. The show doesn’t add that many new ideas to this awkward comedy template unfortunately, but it pulls off the basics well. Good job.
This is some solid work. I bet she will make something of herself.
eating carrots and corn with jelly? hahah
to add to the list of AD, reno 911 and the office…
she reminded me of the one fan in flight of the conchords
Kristen Schaal! And she was just on the Daily Show for the first time as a correspondent last week!
woahhh settle down hitler.
Sarah is hilarious. Kind of like clarkandmichael, but maybe even better. It’s great to see such talent on our campus.
It’s spelled yarmulke
We need a deletion of #22 now.
it funny
Dude! Check out her myspace!http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=155439227
to the dance escorted by her laptop was heartbreaking/fucking hilarious. Great series!
this is pretty much amazing.
holy smokes. she is regina spektor redux.
i really want to like this girl, but her humor simply IS a collegiate spin on michael cera and her songs sounds EXACTLY like regina spektor’s but without that something special. that being said, i’m pretty confident that she has the talent and wherewithal to use flagrant emulation as a mere jumping-off point for somewhere pretty great.
Why does Bwog, in EVERY article about a specific campus character, insist on accusing the reader of being jealous? Enough already.
probably because of the flurry of negative comments that usually follow anything creative people are doing on campus. see comments 3, 22, 36 as prime examples of distaste fueled by jealousy.
that being said, it was nice to see people appreciating other student’s art in these comments. and it’s well-deserved — the series is funny and well-made, and I really enjoyed her music, too.
scratch that. i maintain that she’s going to have to find a new niche or broaden her sound, but i officially like her. tried not to. no dice.
she’s more of an artist than Aliza Shvarts.
get anywhere just stealing other ppls comedy.
i just watched all 3 and really enjoyed them. for the critics out there i think you’ve got a stick up your ass — or rather… “if [your] vagina[s] had a monologue…” i thought she was damn funny. of course it shares some stylistic qualities of others in the awkward-deluded humor genre (the video is even tagged michael cera so i don’t think she’s not acknowledging her influences). but overall, very good. let us know when the next one comes out bwog
i’m musically out of touch so i haven’t heard the people that she’s accused of stealing from, but i think she sounds damn good, and even if you’re right, plagiarism is the highest form of flattery
in conclusion, go suck an egg naysayers – i’m a fan.
suck an egg?
love her music!!!
It was boring and was obviously just her rehashing characters from other shows. Are Michael Cera and Michael Scott original characters? Probably not. Does that mean basically remaking them into another show is fine? No.
Wow, the character thinks she’s funny and cool but isn’t, and keeps looking at the camera as if there’s an inside joke.
Please bring the hate. I bet the show resonates a bit *too* much with some of you.
I really liked her videos, and to my surprise, her music as well. Both though, seemed to be rehashes of other people’s stuff, like… the videos were clearly, clearly in the style of Michael Cera, more so from Arrested Development than superbad (thus her tagging her own stuff on youtube with “michael cera”. Her music is also basically a derivative of Regina Spektor. I’d like to hear and see more, maybe with some additional originality.
This lady can make me laugh. Korbach is pleased.
sarah dooley is BETTER than regina spektor
i agree about the plagiarism. i could actually pick out exact quotes originally said by michael cera in superbad
THIS GIRL IS THE BEST. haters, please shut up and just smile.
she’s one of the big talents at columbia.
i can’t stop watching, i want more episodes! a lot of people i showed it to at work are addicted.