February 22, 2017
Saturday Night Live/YouTube
Melissa McCarthy plays White House press secretary Sean Spicer on "Saturday Night Live."
The resurgence of "Saturday Night Live" throughout the 2016 presidential race and into the early days of the Trump administration has been a breath of fresh air for many who felt the series had begun to lose steam and relevance.
No "SNL" skit captures this return to form better than Melissa McCarthy's ill-tempered portrayal of White House press secretary Sean Spicer, whose outbursts against the media debuted on Feb. 4. The original skit has collected more than 24 million views on YouTube in the span of about two weeks, and some of that success can be attributed to a local prop-maker from Glenside.
According to The Times Herald, the imitation White House podium used in the Spicer skits was crafted on a rush order by Monkey Boys Productions, a multi-medium fabrication company that serves clients in television, film and theater.
Co-owners Marc Petrosino and Michael Latini got a call from the producers of "Saturday Night Live" on a Wednesday afternoon leading up to the first skit, which returned for a second time the following weekend. They were asked to make two light-weight foam podiums (an extra in case the first one got destroyed) for the show, each weighing about 15 pounds, that would be appropriate for McCarthey's size.
When the skit was a smash hit, "SNL" called Monkey Boys back to create a third, motorized podium for McCarthy to rush the journalists attending Spicer's press conference.
Petrosino and Latini described the opportunity as the "highest profile and quickest turnaround" job they've been asked to pull off since the small company was established in 2006. They said they got the show's attention after they were asked in the past to make some "Little Shop of Horrors" puppets for another skit that ultimately never aired.
Monkey Boys does everything from puppets, props, creatures to costumes and practical effects.
Examples of the company's work can be found at the Monkey Boys Productions website.
