Parodies

Activist groups dropped a federal lawsuit against Viacom Inc. on Monday after the parent of Comedy Central acknowledged it made a mistake in asking YouTube to yank a parody of the cable network's "The Colbert Report." Although the video in question contained clips taken from the television show, the groups argued that their use was protected under "fair use" provisions of copyright law, and thus Viacom shouldn't have asked YouTube to remove the item.

Familiar in his clerical collar, cream-colored suit and dyed-blond pompadour, the Rev. Billy has spent much of the last decade parading through the streets of Manhattan, shouting through a megaphone messages such as: "Mickey Mouse is the anti-Christ!" Accompanied by a robed choir belting out gospel songs, the Rev. Billy condemns the "Disneyfication" of Times Square and warns that Wal-Mart is part of the "consumer axis of evil." To passersby, the preacher who shouts: "Can I get a change-a-lujah?"

Inside a brightly lighted downtown theater, a group of actors gathered around a piano, their songbooks open and voices ready, waiting for their cue. Director Tony Humrichouser peered intently at the score. With his nod, the cast began to sing: I remember back in '84 , I went to open up my door And there stood Walter Mondale in my yard. He'd been there since the break of dawn, That's when he'd mowed and raked my lawn And walked and fed my lazy St. Bernard.

Bomani Armah ("I'm not a rapper, I'm a poet with a hip-hop style") hops into a bar chair at the ultracool Artmosphere Cafe in Mount Rainier, Md. It is a Wednesday night, we have the bar to ourselves, we are having a splendid conversation. You may be thinking: Dude, this is such an unextraordinary scene. Except that Armah is simultaneously hosting an open-mike talent show, toggling from bar to stage in five-minute intervals and proving how fluid the mind can be.

When the Hollywood studios say they don't know enough about the Internet to pay writers what they seek for the streaming and downloading of their shows, they might not be kidding. That was made embarrassingly clear Monday when a group of opportunistic writers unveiled a website lampooning the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios in labor negotiations.

An offbeat a cappella group composed mostly of computer geeks, the Richter Scales have performed original ditties and pop parodies in relative obscurity for seven years. That is, until three weeks ago, when they released an online video that mocks the latest Internet frenzy sweeping Silicon Valley. "Here Comes Another Bubble," an original arrangement of Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," pokes fun at the "monster rally all around the valley."

Q: Name three famous Impressionists. A: Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne and Frank Caliendo. OK, one of these names does not belong. The first two are renowned art stars who artfully smeared pigment onto stretched canvas while the third is a contemporary comic who artfully smears the stars by stretching his body into a canvas of caricature.

Computer store owner Charles Smith is the first to admit the T-shirts and mugs he designed to lampoon Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are in bad taste. But Smith had wanted to make a point by comparing the giant retail company to the Nazis. So he created slogans playing off the Bentonville, Ark., firm's familiar logo, including "I {heart} WAL*OCAUST. They have family values and their alcohol, tobacco and firearms are 20% off." Wal-Mart wasn't amused.

After forking over a hard-earned $10 for a blockbuster he loathed, freelance video and sound engineer Hu Ge did something few in his country would dare do, even if they knew how. The blogger sat down at his computer and churned out a video spoof of the film, the kung fu fantasy "The Promise," and e-mailed it to a few friends. Within days, it had became the most downloaded and talked-about item in China's exploding blogosphere, and made Hu an instant cyber-hero.

It used to be if you wanted to see your favorite political/celebrity gaffe/crime satirized, you had to wait for the "Saturday Night Live" skit, which could take \o7weeks. \f7(Of course, it beat waiting for your next issue of National Lampoon or Mad magazine, but that's ancient history.) Now, of course, there's the Internet, so if you're not too fussy about lighting or sound quality or anything approaching good taste, you can have your satire served as it should be -- piping hot and instant.