Here Are A Few People That Are Awesome At EVERYTHING They Do
Last night, I watched Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. I'm of the opinion it's one of the great comedies of the last 25 years. Laugh out loud funny start to finish.
In the midst of my watch, I thought to myself, "goddamn. John C. Reilly is pretty fucking good at everything." This thought was brought forth while watching his duet with Darlene "Let's Duet"
Not only is Johnny playing the guitar, he's actually singing in this scene and it's pretty goddamn good. Dude's not only really funny, but can just bust out the guitar and sing no problemo too.
I envy these people. If one doesn't, they should.
Now, that's not to say John C. Reilly is Jimmy Page on the 6 string, that he has Frank Sinatra pipes, or that he's as funny as Dave Chappelle, but the dude's pretty talented nonetheless.
The thought also made me pose this question:
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Who are some of the people that are just awesome at EVERYTHING they do?
It was a little late, but the first two people that popped into my head were Mookie Betts and (for some reason) Steve Martin. Let's start with Betts:
Dude's an MVP on the baseball field. Hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports:
But he's also pro-level good at bowling:
Can hoop:
And if you told me or anybody else he was a scratch golfer, could sing, could jam on the guitar, or is some brilliant MENSA level genius, nobody would bat an eye. He's just one of those guys who's naturally gifted at everything he does.
Then we get to Steve Martin. Obviously he's completely different from Betts as he's a performer and not an athlete. But like Betts, the dude just seems to be good at every single thing he does.
Like standup comedy:
Acting:
And what I think is the most impressive, plucking a banjo:
Now is Steve Martin some awesome athlete? Eh… probably not. But the point remains. Guy is/was just good at everything he touched. I'm sure if his tall, gangly ass decided to pick up a baseball when he was a kid instead of a banjo that he'd have a nice, loose delivery with nice angle on his fastball, spin on his breaking pitches and about 15 MPH separation on his change piece and 4 seamer.
SIDE NOTE
While watching Steve Martin videos last night, I stumbled upon a video of Rob Schneider of all people busting out Elvis while on stage with Adam Sandler…and it actually was good:
Like GOOD good, and I'd wager he's got zero voice coaching or technical training. Just happens to be able to cover Elvis Pressley as well as anyone. Again, natural gifts. He doesn't fall into the category of "awesome at everything" like the aforementioned guys, but I thought this video was worth mentioning.
Another guy that many people mentioned was Justin Timberlake. Goddamn does this guy just dominate life. Not only do chicks of all ages slip in puddles of their own wetness the moment he enters their general vicinity, the dude acts (thought he was GREAT in Alpha Dog and The Social Network), he's funny as fuck, is a almost a scratch golfer…
and he can DANCE!
I sound like Boobie Miles dad…
Now, let's get down to brass tacks: I'm sure there are MANY other names out there. I wanted to start a dialogue and find some names I missed. The replies to my tweet were all talking about the same guys, guys like Jamie Foxx, Tony Romo, Abe Lincoln, Michael Jordan (duh) and more.
One omission I've made thus far is this guy:
I'd like to throw the challenge flag on this response, as I feel like I, WSD, you're loyal neighborly White Sox blogger, am better than Strong Cartoon at all of the things he listed.
That said, lay 'em on me!