Yankovic launched his 12th concert tour a decade ago, playing 200 shows over two years. Backstage fatigue while putting on a fat suit prompted a desire to perform like a regular musician, leading to the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour in small venues without video screens, costume changes, props, choreography, or song parodies. The performances featured original comedic pastiches in the style of Frank Zappa or They Might Be Giants and were later revived. Yankovic paused releasing parodies for over a decade due to the lack of a clear pop monoculture and the slow, challenging process of creating original pastiches. He later returned to full-scale parody touring with Bigger & Weirder, restoring costumes, props, and expanded band arrangements.
Somewhere along the line, the pop world's foremost parodist was backstage putting on a fat suit "for literally the 1,000th time" when he was suddenly struck by the desire to "go out on stage and do a show like a regular musician." Soon after, he launched his "Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour," playing small venues with no video screens, no costume changes, no props or choreography, and none of the song parodies that made him famous.
The songs were still comedic - "Everything I write winds up a little warped," he says - but were original tunes that were pastiches of, say, Frank Zappa or They Might Be Giants' style. He enjoyed it so much he revived the concept a couple of years ago. Yankovic, 65, has also not released a parody song for more than a decade, in part, he says, because there's no longer a "monoculture where it's more obvious what the hits are,"
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