The host of this year’s Sunny Awards, David Pogue (CBS News)
“Sunday Morning” honors the very best self-isolating performers with an award show all their own … and here’s your host, David Pogue:
Good morning, and welcome to the first-ever Sunny Awards!
[Fake applause!]As you know, being a performing artist is difficult even under the best of times. But now, when every performer is isolated at home under lockdown, how can the show go on?
[Canned laughter!]Today, we honor the actors, musicians, comedians, dancers and magicians who’ve somehow managed to answer that question, through ingenuity, talent, and just a little bit of technology!
[Monumental fake applause!]And the envelopes, please…
The “‘We’ll Be Here All Week, Folks!’ Award”
Stand-up comedians Taylor Tomlinson and Sam Morril are not just rising superstars; they had just moved in together when the shelter-in-place order came down.
So, they’ve turned their situation into comedy gold, in a series of homemade video skits called, “New Couple Gets Quarantined”:
It’s my honor to present the “We’ll Be Here All Week” Award to Sam Morril and Taylor Tomlinson. Welcome to the stage!
Tomlinson: “Thank you so much!”
Morril: “Thanks for having us!”
Pogue: “And, as a token of our esteem …” [He presents the couple with the Sunny Award – It’s really impressive!]
Morril: “Oh my God, look at that! I was hoping it would be food, but that’s cool.”
Pogue asked, “Is it a different art form creating 90-second routines than 90-minute routines?”
“Well, you called it an art form; we didn’t,” Morril said. “I don’t know if it’s an art form or just a way to pass the time.”
“What was the original idea behind starting this series? Was it, like, A) boredom? B) want to hone your skills? C) quest for glory?”
“Oh, it was D) panic,” Tomlinson said. “Once we realized we could not perform and wouldn’t be able to for awhile, we were like, well, we have to do something that will generate love and validation from strangers. And that’s how the idea was born.”
The “Graduate THIS Award”
Shelbie Rassler was a senior at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, when she got word that the rest of the school year was canceled. But you can’t shut a good musician up! She arranged a classic Burt Bacharach song, invited 75 of her friends to record the individual parts, and the result is spectacular:
Here to accept the “Graduate THIS Award” is the one and only Shelbie Rassler.
Read the whole article – and watch the videos at the URL listed below.
The “Sleight of Plans Award”
The “When Lockdown Gives You Lemons Award”
The “Von Trapped Family Singers Award”
The “Endless Intermission Award”