Marlee Matlin makes surprise appearance at Seth Farlane gig, rips on hosts for parodying her

A clip is making the rounds today, an out-take of Family Guy: Seth & Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show.

One constant criticism Family Guy runs up against is its heavy reliance on nonsequitor cracks (a whole episode of South Park called them out on that very thing) and the predilection for offensive jokes over clever jokes. This clip shows Alex Borstein (the voice of Lois) launching into a sendup for the third time of deaf actress Marlee Matlin. Borstein launches into a version of Lady Gaga’s Poker Face as Matlin, hammily feeling up the piano to confirm the player is still playing.

In the middle of the song, a comically enraged Matlin Kanye-Wests the proceedings and injects her own series of cracks about Borstein’s weight, gait, fondness for Oreos and apparent lack of movie roles. Seth McFarlane giggled like a schoolgirl in the background. And everyone in the audience felt a little bit better about laughing at a deaf woman’s speech impediment.

For her part, Marlee insists both on camera and off that she’d love to participate in the send ups using her actual own voice. For the onstage version, Borstein asserts, “I swear, Miss Matlin, we did, we called- but the phone just rang… and rang…”