Consummate indie rockers The National are the focal point of a terrific new Comedy Bang! Bang! sketch. Comedian Scott Aukerman plays a snake oil salesman host in this sendup of Extreme Home Makeover-esque reality TV. The band plays itself, on-site to teach music to underprivileged public school students. Well, an aggressively pragmatic version of itself.
The sketch will air Friday night on the new Bang! Bang! episode. In it, Aukerman restocks an underfunded school’s music department with state of the art equipment. The band is there to be cheerful and make dry, comically obvious puns: “Music education is important to our country on a national level.”
Things go south when Aukerman presents the school principal with an itemized expense report for costs incurred—including booking the Cincinnati, Ohio, rockers as teachers.
“I’m not gonna pay $300,000 for The National,” says an incensed principal.
“Who do you think you’re dealing with here—those pussies in Arcade Fire?” singer Matt Berninger replies.
Don’t forget it: The National does not teach for free.
Screengrab via IFC
