12 Most Hilarious Moments In Weird: The Al Yankovic Story Ranked

Contains spoilers for "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story"

When Daniel Radcliffe pretended to see his future during the filming of 2004's "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," he might have had a few things in mind. He foresaw more "Potter," certainly, as the series was far from finished. Maybe he imagined a continuation of his acting career beyond the series. As Emma Thompson performed the eccentric Professor Trelawney and instructed the class of Hogwarts students to seek their "inner eye," something teenage Radcliffe probably couldn't have predicted — nor could anyone else — was that in about two decades' time, he'd trade in his wizarding wand for an accordion to portray none other than Al Yankovic.

Radcliffe plays the titular character in "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story," the Roku biopic that, like Weird Al's music, defies the very category of media into which it's placed to subvert expectations of the traditional biopic genre. To put it in 2022 terms, this is Radcliffe in goblin mode. The actor channels the iconic parody musician with an energy that's committed to the role and capable of taking it on.

While the comedy of "Weird" occasionally leans into the dramatic side of several traumatic incidents in Yankovic's past, even in those moments it can't help itself from cracking a joke or two to ease the tension, perhaps indicative of Yankovic himself. From its first seconds all the way through until literally the very end of the credits, "Weird" keeps its audience laughing. Here are the movie's top 12 funniest moments ranked.

In biopics with musicians as their subjects, there's usually at least one scene in which the audience sees a famous song seemingly get written before their very eyes. It's as if an idea simply occurred to the musician and, voila, they instantly thought of music and lyrics for the whole thing. "Weird" is no exception to this trope, though if anyone can write a hit song in a matter of minutes, it's Weird Al.

After the film begins with a prologue mapping out Al's childhood, the story jumps ahead into its subject's early adulthood, living away from his restrictive parents for the first time in his life. Lounging around one day, one of his roommates asks Al, "What's something you've always wanted to do, but weren't allowed to?" Pausing with consternation, Al replies without a hint of irony, "Making up new words to a song that already exists."

Al moves over to the kitchen area of their home and starts making sandwiches for his roommates while their radio plays "My Sharona" by The Knack. Al asks one of his roommates, Steve, if he can use the bologna in the fridge marked with his name on it. "Sure," Steve (Spencer Treat Clark) replies, "just open up a package of my bologna." Their previous conversation fresh on Al's mind — and the radio glitching to repeat the phrase "My Sharona" over and over — Al stares at the bologna and becomes dazed as he puts two and two together. He's got his first song.

Thinking of song ideas while fully conscious is so overrated. Coming up with your next hit while your body is medically not alive and seemingly coming back from the dead to sing it? That's true artistry. The opening moments of "Weird" place the audience in medias res during a chaotic hospital scene, in which doctors rush Al to an operating room and eventually proclaim him dead. Not going down that easy, Al bolts upright to the doctors' shock. He demands, "Quick! I need paper and a No. 2 pencil." He's got an idea for his next tune.

The movie then rewinds its narrative and ultimately catches up to that moment. It turns out that a severe car accident is what sent Al to the hospital, and the song idea in question is for "Like a Surgeon," a parody of Madonna's "Like a Virgin." At this point in the film, Madonna (played by Evan Rachel Wood) and Weird Al have been a romantic item for a while. In death, he finds what he seeks — a parody of a Madonna song to appease his girl — showing that inspiration can truly arrive at any time.

As Al's career takes off, he grabs the attention of high-profile artists looking to partner with him. However, Al is proud of the unique person he is, and isn't one to yield to popular opinion just because it might be an opportunistic business venture. That, and all he can think about is making out with Madonna. Poor Dr. Demento (Rainn Wilson), Al's manager, tries to get a word in edgewise to discuss business opportunities between Al and Madonna's constant kissing.

"Led Zeppelin is thinking of getting back together," Dr. Demento tells Al, "but they say the only way they'll do it is if they can open up for you on tour." Completely unphased by this opportunity to change music history, Al replies, "That's sweet, but I already offered the gig to Howie Mandel." Dr. Demento is dumbfounded, but Al stands his ground, reiterating, "Look, I am not bumping Mandel for Zeppelin, ok? Pass!" Dr. Demento then asks Al if he's interested in accepting an offer to replace Roger Moore as James Bond. Al adamantly refuses. Again, the audience must remember the hyperbolic nature of the film's entire existence.

Once Al's career skyrockets, he moves to a spacious, luxurious home, and one day his doorbell rings, its unexpected tones echoing through the empty halls of the bachelor pad. Scurrying to the threshold in nothing but his boxers and unbuttoned nightshirt, Al answers the door to find ... "Do I know you?" he asks the blonde woman. She replies, "Madonna. Ring any bells?"

At first, Al seems to slowly piece together who this person is. "Oh, right. Madonna, yeah," he says before listing a few of her songs absentmindedly. Then, in a sharp turn of the conversation, Al basically recites a biography of Madonna's entire life, spoken nonchalantly as if it's a perfectly normal thing to say in conversation. "Born in Michigan, Catholic schoolgirl, dropped out of college and went to New York City with nothing but the clothes on your back and $35 in your pocket. Maybe it was to become the queen of pop. Maybe it was to get back at Dad for marrying the housekeeper." Madonna is thrown off. "Wow," she replies. "You know a lot more about me than you let on."

The scene is an example of the consistent habit the film has of starting a bit in one direction before quickly swerving the audience's expectations of what comes next. Taking a turn yet again, within minutes, the two musicians wrap themselves in each other's company physically and metaphorically, affirming what Al tells Madonna at the doorway. "What can I say? I'm full of surprises."

During Al's youth, his passion for the accordion swells within him, but his father's (Toby Huss) belligerent stance against the instrument is clear. Nonetheless, Al's mother (Julianne Nicholson) gives him an accordion, and the boy hones his craft secretly for years. As a teenager, Al is simultaneously elated and horrified to arrive at a party to find that it's polka-themed. This is his whole world! This is the part of himself he loves the most! But it's also the part of himself he can't share with anybody, so he pretends to be dismissive of the theme at the party.

When the party host brings out an accordion, though, it's game over for Al. After a few people poorly try their hand at the instrument, one of Al's friends encourages him to "try" it, but he refuses. At the insistence of partygoers chanting his name and then peer-pressuring him by performing the chicken dance, Al finally gives in and shocks everyone away with his mad skills. After his exceptional solo, the party guests take a moment to collect their jaws from the floor before bursting into applause. Not only is it hilarious to see their reactions to Al's near-perfect performance juxtaposed with their amateur attempts, but it's also a sweet moment to see Al's passion affirmed in the face of his fear that his friends might reject him.

After Pablo Escobar (Arturo Castro) kidnaps Madonna and Weird Al — which, let's be clear, is an absolutely insane sentence — Al takes the bizarre moment one step further by throwing one of his platinum record medallions toward Escobar. The disc makes contact with Escobar's skull in a particularly gruesome visual, murdering the drug lord on the spot.

With this obviously fictional moment having already gone off the rails for the sake of comedy, Al and Madonna take the moments immediately after Escobar's death — his body still on the floor and his skull split — to re-examine their relationship status. Madonna reveals that the only reason she dated Al was for business reasons, as both of their music benefitted from the symbiotic song-parody cycle. Al effectively breaks up with her, and as he walks away, Madonna attempts to shoot him ... over and over and over. Her bullets comically never make contact with Al, despite him not being very far away and walking away at a snail's pace.

Hilariously, the entirety of Al and Madonna's romantic involvement was made up for the film. Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon while promoting the movie, Yankovic disclosed, "Our relationship is platonic." Laughing, he continued, "The only time I actually met her was in 1985. I talked to her for maybe, like, 45 seconds backstage, so that's the extent of the relationship."

"Abbott Elementary" fans will be thrilled to see the sitcom's creator, writer, producer, and star, Quinta Brunson, appear in "Weird" as none other than Oprah Winfrey. As Al's parody music reaches a tipping point and he becomes a sensation, he does a guest spot on Oprah's talk show in a number of interview locations, including his closet. "I have never seen a collection of Hawaiian shirts like this," Brunson remarks as Oprah, embodying the icon's enthusiastic reactions to the most fascinating qualities of her subjects' lives.

All in a matter of a few minutes, we get to see Oprah in the casual interview setting of Al's closet, a more formal sit-down setting to tackle serious topics like Al's parents, and a bookended informational moment at her classic studio audience. Though it's brief, Brunson's spot-on performance channels the essence of Oprah in a variety of the host's most repeated and recognizable scenarios. If there was a such thing as the WCU (Weird Cinematic Universe), Brunson as Winfrey would make a great choice for a follow-up parody biopic.

While Al and Madonna enjoy a night out at a fancy restaurant, Al learns troubling news: Michael Jackson just released a new song called "Beat It," a parody of Al's existing song called "Eat It." Yes, in the fictional version of this particular narrative, "Eat It" came first as an original tune that Jackson then parodied. That concept in itself is humorous, and Radcliffe's enraged reaction as Al sells the moment even more.

Al is downright infuriated, completely losing his cool in the middle of his date, much to the disparity of his humble server (Josh Groban). As Groban calmly approaches the table to present Al with his meal, politely gesturing, "Your filet, sir," Al knocks the plate out of the waiter's hands, and the server is reduced to shambles on the floor. Al laments how, given his reputation, future generations will assume that "Eat It" parodied "Beat It," not the other way around. It's just a ridiculous enough plot point that the viewer can't help but Googling juuussst to make sure they have their facts straight.

"Weird" leaves a lot for the audience to think about, with the item on most viewers' minds probably being how much of the film was actually true. Since it's blatantly clear that some moments were completely made-up, it stands to reason that some might question everything they've just witnessed.

Not to worry, though, because those who stay for the end credits are rewarded with a new, original song performed by Weird Al that sets the record straight. The song, called "Now You Know," reveals the exact amount of truth woven into the movie: all of it. Al sings, "That's how it all went down, bro. We proof-checked every fact." He continues, "If you still don't believe it, well, no skin off my back. Just don't call me a liar 'cause shut up, you weren't there. This movie is now canon. Every word is true, I swear."

As Al and his background vocalists belt their peppy, sarcastic tune, the audience can't help but smile. With the lyric "If it's in a movie, it's gotta be true," we perhaps discover the core of the entire film. Did we just watch two hours of fiction disguised as fact to challenge our perception of how quickly we believe what we see on screens? Did Weird Al just teach us a philosophy lesson ...? Nah, that can't be it. Guess it's all true.

The real-life Yankovic appears in "Weird" as a secondary character, Tony Scotti, a businessman at a record company — though it's understandable if viewers don't recognize him at first in his decidedly not weird corporate attire. Will Forte plays Ben, Tony's brother and business partner. In the movie, Radcliffe's Al approaches the two men with hopes that they'll sign him for a record deal.

Upon hearing Al's first song, "My Bologna," Tony and Ben are revolted at the concept of Al's parody schtick and are convinced it's not a sound business proposition. Tony remarks, "Nobody wants to hear a parody song when they can hear the real thing for the same price. What's the point?" It's certainly a strange sentence to hear coming from the mouth of the man who built an empire of parody music.

Adding insult to injury — and more comedy to the scene, knowing the real Yankovic is literally in the room hearing him say these things — Ben gets in Al's face and all but rips him to shreds. "I'm gonna remember your name because you, Al Yankovic, are the most untalented, pathetic loser that I've ever met in my entire life," Ben says. "You're nothing but a hack, a stupid, useless parasite. And you're so ugly that ridiculous hair, that horrible mustache, stupid glasses... You make me wanna throw up!" Tony calms him down, the meta humor all too real. "All right, thank you, Ben, for your thoughts."

Early in their partnership, Dr. Demento invites Al to a pool party. Upon arrival, Al quickly discovers he's surrounded by artistic genius — and as an audience, we quickly discover we're in the middle of a kaleidoscope of cameos. A flurry of prominent comedians portray their take of prominent artists of the '80s: Conan O'Brien as Andy Warhol, Jack Black as Wolfman Jack, Demetri Martin as Tiny Tim, Paul F. Tompkins as Gallagher, David Dastmalchian as John Deacon, and Nina West as Divine. Completing the bunch are two-thirds of The Lonely Island, only missing Andy Samberg — in a brilliantly unhinged choice, Jorma Taccone plays Paul Reubens in character as Pee Wee Herman, while Akiva Schaffer portrays Alice Cooper.

They all help Al spontaneously transform the song "Another One Bites the Dust" into "Another One Rides the Bus," using random objects as makeshift musical instruments. Some of the appearances happen so fast that it's possible the viewer might not catch them all on the first watch.

Having these comics simply make surprise appearances in the movie is one thing. Having them channel a collection of '80s icons in period-specific attire and body language takes the sequence to the next level, making it one of the most hilarious — and probably one of the most expensive — moments in "Weird."

An hour and 37 minutes into "Weird," it's beyond evident to the audience that this is no ordinary biopic, just as Weird Al is no ordinary musician. Stretching reality with more elasticity than a rubber band, the film constantly heightens how it strays from the truth, with its closing moments being the biggest offender of them all. To be clear, if this sequence portrayed true events, it would be horrifying, disturbing, and sad. As it stands, though, being completely false with a stamp of approval from the real person it depicts, it's hilarious.

The final scene in the movie shows Al accepting an award for "Perhaps Not Technically the Best, But Arguably the Most Famous Accordion Player in an Extremely Specific Genre of Music" — a category that, as it turns out, Al promised his father he'd win way back in his childhood. As Al gives his acceptance speech, things take a turn when Madonna's hired gunman shoots Al dead. Yes, that's right, "Weird" concludes with Al Yankovic dying in 1985, despite the artist obviously being alive and well in 2022.

Spoofing traditional biopics, the film ends with a freeze frame of Al's fatal moment as text appears onscreen that reads, "'Weird Al' Yankovic was assassinated at the Shrine Auditorium in 1985... but his music will live on forever." It leaves the audience staring blankly at their televisions asking, "What?" Exactly as all the best Weird Al songs do.