Bill Brasky

Bill Brasky
Saturday Night Live skit
Bill Brasky stares down at the gang in the skit, Holiday Inn
Written by:	Will Ferrell Adam McKay
Stars:	Alec Baldwin Will Ferrell David Koechner Mark McKinney Tim Meadows John Goodman Ana Gasteyer Paul Rudd Taran Killam Kenan Thompson Cecily Strong Norm Macdonald Chris Farley
Timeline:	1996–1998; 2013

Bill Brasky is the subject of a series of sketches on the television sketch comedy program Saturday Night Live. The sketches were a recurring feature on the program between 1996 and 1998, and were written by cast member Will Ferrell and writer Adam McKay. The sketch made a reappearance on the show on December 7, 2013, during which Ferrell made a guest appearance, as the episode was guest-hosted by his Anchorman 2 co-star Paul Rudd.

The format of the sketches resembles the improv game "Two Describe a Third." Three or four friends (known as the "Bill Brasky Buddies") gather in a public place to drink Scotch, smoke cigars, and loudly reminisce about their mutual acquaintance Bill Brasky. The Brasky Buddies are all apparently businessmen who worked with Brasky. They all have red cheeks, red noses, and big white teeth. They appear to be coming from a business conference, and are already very drunk.

The discussions begin with an agreement that "Bill Brasky is a son of a bitch," at which point the Buddies proceed to tell tall tales of Brasky's superhuman feats, usually focused on his huge size, virility, celebrity connections, amazing tolerance for drugs and alcohol, and reckless disregard for human life. If their stories are to be believed, Brasky is enormously tall and heavy, superhumanly tough, can eat anything, has numerous affairs, and has killed and maimed many people. All of the salesmen have been his victim at one time or another, but they are all celebrated with the same gusto. At regular intervals, they raise their glasses to toast him, shouting "To Bill Brasky!"

Typically, the three cycle through the same genres of comment four or five times. The first buddy will begin a long anecdote about Brasky, interrupted by the second drunkenly blurting out something embarrassing (e.g. "I'm wearing a diaper"). The buddies then exchange several shorter claims about Brasky. The cycle will then repeat, starting with the second Brasky Buddy, getting more outrageous each time around. At some point another man, usually Tim Meadows, will interject with "Are you guys talking about Bill Brasky? I know Bill Brasky!" and be welcomed into the group.