Comedian Don Novello has been portraying the part of chain-smoking priest Father Guido Sarducci ever since he bought the outfit for the character in 1974. Probably best known from his appearances on Saturday Night Live later in the decade, he also recorded a couple of comedy albums. This one’s from 1986. It’s his second album, where he performs live for an audience at Notre Dame (the university, not the cathedral).
He starts by mentioning that his theme song used to be “Zippity Doo Dah,” until he had a run-in with the Disney Company. As this clip begins, he launches into a wonderful story about how the song used to be the National Anthem of the country of Doo Dah, which was named for St. Doo Dah. He then goes on to describe how Doo Dah achieved sainthood, as well as discussing his own education at Doo Dah U.
This next bit is one of my favorite parts of the album. He shares his take on birthdays, in particular a fun idea about birthday candles that sounded so good to me that, if I had had kids of my own, I would have seriously considered doing.
Later he relates a story he wrote for “The Vatican Enquirer” about “The Missing Commandments.” Moses was upset with the Jews for worshiping cows, so he threw down the tablets God gave him. Moses then had to do his best to remember the commandments carved into the tablets. Here are a few of those sacred (but somewhat more lenient) laws that Moses forgot.
The album title “Breakfast in Heaven” refers to an incident in a dream Father Sarducci had. He tells a vivid story that includes why he was handed a box of his belongings when he got there, his encounter with an angel, and the universal problem with breakfast.
Finally, for no particular reason, Sarducci ends with an a cappella medley of Beatles songs.
If you want to hear the rest of what I feel is one of the best (and woefully undiscovered) comedy albums in recent memory, you can find it here.
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