Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly Play David Bowie and Bing Crosby, Reenact a Christmas Classic

By Zach Dionne Posted Dec 14th 2010 12:04PM

Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly Reenact a Christmas Classic

Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are at it again, reenacting a classic video of Bing Crosby and David Bowie's 1977 medley of 'Peace on Earth' and 'Little Drummer Boy.'

Most of the FunnyOrDie clip is an exact recreation of the Crosby/Bowie collaboration. Reilly and Ferrell, who have showcased their joint chops for absurdity in films like 'Talladega Nights' and 'Step Brothers,' seem downright reverent of the original, performing without breaking into ridiculousness or parodied lyrics ... until the very end. See the clip after the jump >>

And compare with the original:

Interestingly, this video drops just days after Jack Black and Jason Segel put out an animated clip of the same song, slight rock-ified. Black told Spin.com, "The original version is pretty mellow. So we delivered the sweet nectar of the rock gods."

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Tags: FunnyOrDie, John C. Reilly, Will Ferrell

Comments

(62)

Tuesday 14 December

By Nanzilla

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Nice job! Never liked Will Farrel much, but this may make me change my mind, at least for now.

Thursday 16 December

By ROGER NICHOLSON

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GREAT CHRISTMAS SONFS

By mojo

funny thing or weird ? this was on pbs last night

Wednesday 15 December

By WGASA Paul

Have some courage and screw the PC on the fence BS.

Great for the SHOCK value, not so great for Christmas and
without taste, untimely and dissrespectful to the Christians
celebration of the birth of Christ.

By CW

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The writer says they "seem downright reverent of the original, performing without breaking into ridiculousness or parodied lyrics ... until the very end." Surely you don't think that's them singing the body of the song? If you don't know Bing Crosby's voice, or even David Bowie's for that matter, you shouldn't be writing an article like this. Will Ferrell and John C Reilly are only singing at the very end of the song, when they start goofing.

By Melanie

Umm, I don't think so. I know both voices & know this song very well. Will & John are both pretty good singers. You obviously haven't seen much of them.

By Sylphie

The writer of the article is much more familiar with the voices of Bowie and Bing than you thought because that is most definitely Will Ferrell and John C Reilly singing in the video.
Both of them have sung in much of their work and can actually sing very well, even when it's supposed to be funny...the good singing actually makes it funnier to me.
Also, Bowie's voice is so distinctive, even to untrained ears there is no mistaking his voice; you hear one of his songs and you know for a fact that it is David Freakin' Bowie!

By bnl1181

Seriously? Have you not seen Chicago? John has a big part in that and is quite the singer. And say what you will about Will but he showcased his chops in Step Brothers when he sang in that at the the end. Also a few years back at the Oscars I believe, he sang live with Jack Black...he's got a good voice.

By Angie

They have recorded this earlier, probably apart because of the harmony and the round-type of the song. John's lip syncing is spot on for most of the song. Will's is horrible throughout but I do beleive it is both of their voices and you have that backwards; Will can sing so-so. John is really good. How good you ask? I believe he has been called the song-bird of his generation, ha!

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Apparently, I was mistaken. I stand corrected, and am impressed.

By tornado

It really is them singing...

By stinkfistula

where is Rob Schneider when we need him?

By Hugh Jassol

Will Ferrell reminds me of Dane Cook. Why? Because the next time either one of them is funny will be the FIRST time.

By YellowRose3218

I always liked John's acting, he seems to be a good guy.
He was hilarious in the movie Step Brother.
Will can sing, and hes a good actor,, in my opinion.
I have heard hes not so nice though.

By Bernie

If this is their idea of Funny - they both need to get real 9-5 jobs cause this is stupid and NOT FUNNY.

By boogityshu

Let me know when Will Ferrell starts being funny...
this is nt it.

By New York

Couldn't you think of anyone else besides Will Ferrell???? He is so not funny. Put him out to pasture please.

By Bill

The only thing Bing Crosby ever approved of was beating his kids.

By Tammy

Disgusting. Once again Will Farrell ruining something good. He is not funny at all and I offended that they are trying to ruin one of my favorite Christmas songs.

By lnyk

I agree with you ,Ferrell's humor is running thin. I watched the special with Bing and Bowie,they sang beautifully together.Why ruin a great piece?

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