During Comedy Central’s biennial Night of Too Many Stars benefit for New York Collaborates for Autism, Weird Al Yankovic and 13-year-old autistic singer Jodi DiPiazza performed a stunning rendition of the classic “Yoda” that moved me to tears.
It’s not that “Yoda”, Weird Al’s 1985 parody of “Lola” by The Kinks is a particularly moving song. It’s just it was one of my childhood favourites, a tune responsible for the obsessive need I have to make up alternate lyrics on the spot to songs playing on the radio. It’s a definitive piece of lyrical geekery.
That, and the fact that twin three-year-old boys, who I’ve already introduced to Weird Al’s music, have both been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, so when the chorus of autistic children joins the due on stage towards the end of the song, I made the illogical-yet-hopeful leap that one day Seamus and Archer could be up there singing with my childhood musical comedy hero.
Check out Comedy Central for more clips from last night’s telethon, and visit New York Collaborates for Autism‘s website for more info on that sort of thing.
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10 responses to “Weird Al Singing ‘Yoda’ With Autistic Children Made Me So Happy”
One of these days Al is going to do something that isn’t awesome and the world will never be the same.
I dread that day.
But really, what are the chances of Al doing something that isn’t awesome?
Wow. My face is saturated. The tears.
Time to find that Weird Al Spotify playlist i made…
I don’t often leave comments however I would never of seen this video if not posted here.
I have a brother with downsyndrome and spent my childhood around people with varying levels of autism, seeing this brought a tear to my eye.
Thank you. I’m going to go visit my bro and give him a hug for being awesome and not caring even the slightest what other people think of him.
Awesome.
You know that you listen to too much Weird Al though when you notice that he misses a line in a song…
im probably going to sound like an ass here, but what is so special about the video? i watched it and all i saw a normal 13 year old singing a great parody song with an awesome entertainer.
Did you even read the article’s *title* before clicking?
The girl is autistic. People with autism spectrum disorders are often kept away from the works at large for fear that they’ll be ridiculed or can’t cope. Seeing a kid with that kind of issues getting the opportunity to do something so cool is pretty damn great warming and Al is being a cool guy for helping her her that chance.
I have a feeling you are implying that being autistic doesn’t make her not normal. It’s a nice sentiment, but pretending that people with disabilities aren’t disabled often does more harm than good.
that’s just about the best thing ever