Stephen Thompson | August 20, 2026

For "Weird Al" Yankovic — pop parodist, comedy lifer, occasional movie and TV star, and improver of countless adolescences — coming up with a fresh set of songs for the Tiny Desk was never going to be an issue. The singer and should-be Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has a massive arsenal of parodies, pastiches and originals at his disposal. And the band he's brought to the Tiny Desk has grown from the lean, unplugged configuration that graced our stage in 2010 to a high-spirited and electrified crowd of players.

Yankovic focused on originals the first time around, but for this show he brought parodies of Don McLean's "American Pie" ("The Saga Begins," from 1999's Running with Scissors) and Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way" ("eBay," from 2003's Poodle Hat), as well as the Weezer pastiche "Skipper Dan," from 2011's Alpocalypse. And, for fans of the breathtakingly factual 2022 biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, he performs the film's Emmy-losing closing-credits blues-rock jam "Now You Know."

We only get so many gifts in this life, so let's set an intention here and now to return "Weird Al" Yankovic to the Tiny Desk in the summer of 2042. But if he's gonna come back and see us (or whoever's buried us and moved on) at a sprightly 82, we'll have to ask him to bring a string section, just to keep things fresh.

SET LIST

"Skipper Dan"

"eBay"

"Now You Know"

"The Saga Begins"

MUSICIANS

Al Yankovic: vocals, keys

Jim "Kimo" West: guitar, background vocals

Steve Jay: bass, background vocals

Jon "Burmuda" Schwartz: drums

Chad Thomas: keys

Payton Rose Velligan: guitar, background vocals

Monique Donnelly: tambourine, background vocals

Scheila Gonzalez: alto sax, baritone sax, background vocals

Probyn Gregory: trumpet, background vocals

TINY DESK TEAM

Producers: Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

Director: Joshua Bryant

Audio Director/Mix: Josh Newell

Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter

Video Editor: Kara Frame

Videographers: Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Maia Stern

Audio Engineer: Neil Tevault

Production Assistant: Ashley Pointer

Photographer: Bronson Arcuri

Series Editor: Lars Gotrich

Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed

Executive Director: Sonali Mehta

Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

#tinydesk #nprmusic #weirdalyankovic

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