More cowbell! I gotta have more cowbell! Christopher Walken's music producer Bruce Dickinson kept demanding "More Cowbell" in Saturday Night Live's now iconic sketch on Blue Oyster Cult recording "(Don't Fear) the Reaper." The SNL bit became a little too popular for Walken, since he told Will Ferrell -- who co-wrote "More Cowbell" -- that the sketch has ruined his life.
In the 2000 SNL sketch, producer Bruce Dickinson (Christopher Walken) keeps pushing for musician Gene Frenkle (Will Ferrell) to play more cowbell in "(Don't Fear) the Reaper." The random bit is dominated by episode host Christopher Walken and SNL cast member Will Ferrell, but also includes Chris Kattan, Chris Parnell, Horatio Sanz, and Jimmy Fallon.
Will Ferrell is returning to host SNL this Saturday, November 23. While promoting that, Ferrell and Jimmy Fallon discussed the "More Cowbell" sketch on The Tonight Show. That's when Ferrell shared that Walken might actually be kind of annoyed with Ferrell for making him do the bit:
Here’s the crazy thing. I go to see Christopher Walken years later, in a play. I say hello to him backstage and he’s like, ‘You know, you’ve ruined my life. People during curtain call bring cowbells. The other day I went for Italian food for lunch, and the waiter asked if I wanted more cowbell with my pasta bolognese.’ I think he was really mad at me.
Heh. Yeah, if I ever meet Christopher Walken, I can't promise I wouldn't yell "Guess what? I've got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell!"
It's worth noting that Will Ferrell said Christopher Walken had a little smile while he was talking about the cowbell sketch ruining his life, so he probably wasn't really that mad. Still, if you're doing a play and people start playing cowbells during curtain calls -- I can see how that would get old. Maybe stop that. We don't need Walken to snap.
Watch the "More Cowbell" sketch again below. Jimmy Fallon always did break during scenes, but I can't blame him for cracking up over Christopher Walken and Will "Muffin Top" Ferrell:
Will Ferrell hosts SNL Season 45 this Saturday night on NBC, with King Princess as musical guest. Here's hoping Christopher Walken shows up in the audience with a cowbell.
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