“Arthur!” Celebrate the Acting Craft at Work on the EZ Bagz Infomercial

The allure of lights, camera, and action tempts many to pursue a career in the performing arts. Not surprisingly, the number of people who hope to be actors far exceeds the number of acting jobs available. Countless men and women dream of being the next Lawrence Olivier or Judi Dench, Johnny Depp or Jennifer Aniston, but the reality for most aspiring thespians is that they will struggle to be an extra in a motion picture, utter a single line on a television show, or appear in a commercial.

Yet even with this glut of available acting talent, infomercials still subject us to performances like the ones on the EZ Bagz ad:

An infomercial Oscar needs to be handed to the woman who shouts, “Arthur!” while holding what looks like 85% of a Cornish game hen on a fork. We have no clue if the “Arthur” this woman blames is her son, her husband, her dog, or a particularly messy male prostitute—but that is more a failure of the script than of her stellar performance.

Best supporting actor nomination goes to the man who delivers the line, “Ah! Come on! Not again!” in a performance that looks like it was inspired by Jackie Gleason on The Honeymooners.

The EZBagz product may not succeed as a more useful garbage bag technology, but the EZBagz infomercial has succeeded in making everyone who views it feel a lot better about his or her own acting talent.

Bravissimo, EZ Bagz! Bravissimo!