As Brad continues to phrase his observations in the form of a question, I am reminded of the original Jeopardy satire which gave us brilliant categories such as:
- Colors That End In "-urple"
- Months That Begin with "Feb-"
- The Number After 2
- Point to Your Nose
A Little Bit Autistic presents...Celebrity Jeopardy, featuring the awesome Will Ferrell as Alex Trebec [via Funny or Die]:
(Click here if the embed isn't working.)
Ferrell's comic genius is undeniable, but is it...special? As in, a special talent associated with an autistic spectrum condition. I have it on good authority that Ferrell had some familiar spectral traits as a child:
Born and raised in the Los Angeles, California, suburb of Irvine, in 1968, Ferrell was an easygoing child. "He was born like that," his mother, Kay, told Scott Raab in Esquire. "You know those little Matchbox cars? Will would line up his Matchbox cars, by himself, and be totally happy. You'd say, 'You wanna go to Disneyland today or line up your cars?' and he'd have to think about it." Ferrell was known as a funny kid even in elementary school, where he would punch himself in the head just to make girls laugh.
Makes me wonder. I know what a quirky kid looks like as a kid, but what does one look like as a grown up?
Of course, some would say spectral sitings are misguided, and that our energy would be better spent examining the relationship between autistic spectrum conditions and talent, and the nature of talent itself, rather than inferring autism where we see talent.
Chew on that. Or watch Funny or Die. Either one.
