"Last Will and Temperament" (also known as "Boot to the Head" or "Mr. Muldoon's Will") is a comedy skit performed by the Canadian comedy troupe The Frantics on their

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

radio series "Frantic Times". It appears on their 1984 album of the same name. The sketch introduced the phrase "boot to the head" that would become their catchphrase, appearing in the sketch " Ti Kwan Leep" three years later in their album ''

Boot to the Head ''Boot to the Head'' is a comedy album performed by the Canadian comedy troupe The Frantics. Originally released as an LP in 1987, it was re-issued in 1996 as a CD with the same track listing. The album features a number of skits from their radio ...

''. In 2007, the skit

went viral Viral phenomena or viral sensations are objects or patterns that are able to replicate themselves or convert other objects into copies of themselves when these objects are exposed to them. Analogous to the way in which viruses propagate, the te ...

on being set to an animated video with characters from the

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

video game series ''

Ace Attorney ''Ace Attorney'' is a visual novel franchise developed by Capcom. With storytelling fashioned after legal dramas, the first entry in the series, '' Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney'', was released in 2001; since then five further main series game ...

'', leading to The Frantics publishing the video to their website and Capcom incorporating it to the 2014

Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

release of '' Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy''.

Premise

The premise is that the

last will A will and testament is a legal document that expresses a person's (testator) wishes as to how their property ( estate) is to be distributed after their death and as to which person (executor) is to manage the property until its final distribut ...

of Arthur Durham Muldoon is being read, by a lawyer, to Muldoon's overly emotional sister Jenny, her timid husband Hank, his drunken brother Hedge, his know-it-all-nephew Ralston, and Muldoon's caretaker Mrs. Mulroy. All are present for this reading and everyone thinks they are getting a piece of his fortune, but as the will is read aloud, they learn that Muldoon has only bequeathed them a "boot to the head" (with the exception of Hedge, who also receives three crates of whiskey and the contents of Muldoon's wine cellar), the lawyer character kicking them physically in the head (illustrated with a

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

leg hitting them from off screen). Every attending member, including Muldoon's cat, receives a boot to the head, though Jenny and Hank each receive an additional boot for every "inheritance" bequeathed per Muldoon's order. Muldoon leaves not a boot to the head to his lawyer, but a rabid

Tasmanian devil The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii''; palawa kani: ''purinina'') is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It was formerly present across mainland Australia, but became extinct there around 3,500 years ago; it is now con ...

down his trousers, and in the midst of this, announces that Mr. Muldoon's entire CDN $10 million fortune will be given to the city of

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

"so they can afford to move somewhere decent." Finally, the lawyer announces that Muldoon is leaving them each a lifetime supply of

ice cream Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

, to which Mrs. Mulroy asks "What flavor is it?" The lawyer replies "Boot to the head!" and each receives one final kick. Sometimes, when this airs on

Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...

's radio program, it is followed by the theme song "

" from said 1987 album.

Cast

Paul Chato Paul Chato is a Canadian comedian and writer, the president of a web design company, and a former television executive. He was born in 1954 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to Hungarian parents. Chato grew up in the first planned community in North A ...

– Lawyer * Rick Green – Ralston *

Dan Redican Dan Redican (born 1956 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian comedy writer and performer and puppeteer, best known for his work with the comedy troupe '' the Frantics.'' As a founding member of the troupe he has worked since 1979 on numerous stage s ...

– Hedge *

Peter Wildman Peter Wildman (born December 29, 1954) is a Canadian actor and member of the Frantics comedy troupe. He appeared as Buzz Sherwood on ''The Red Green Show'', and voiced Mojo in '' X-Men: The Animated Series'' and Mr. Fixit in the series '' The ...

– Hank * Carolyn Scott (guest star) – Jenny, Ms. Mulroy

Television version

The television version, as seen in the second episode of their

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

series ''

Four on the Floor ''Four on the Floor'' is a 1999 compilation album consisting of songs by bands on Panic Button Records. It features four tracks by four of the labels bands, Screeching Weasel, Moral Crux, Enemy You, and The Teen Idols The Teen Idols were a pop ...

'' (known as "The Frantics" outside Canada), is one minute shorter than the radio and album version, and does not include the wine cellar for Hedge (just the three cases of whiskey) nor does it include the nephew Ralston, the Tasmanian Devil joke or the ice cream punchline. Additionally, Rick Green dresses in drag to play Ms. Mulroy and Jenny's husband is renamed Chester.

Animated version

In April 2007, an animated video pitting the skit to character models from the

video game series ''

'', entitled ''Phoenix Wright – Boot to the Head'', was uploaded to YouTube by CMSPyrowolf, subsequently

going viral Viral phenomena or viral sensations are objects or patterns that are able to replicate themselves or convert other objects into copies of themselves when these objects are exposed to them. Analogous to the way in which viruses propagate, the te ...

, and The Frantics posting the video to their website. Consequently, in the 2014

release of the compilation '' Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy'', the script of " Rise From the Ashes" was updated to include reference to the skit, where if the player presents incorrect evidence when trying to connect Chief Damon Gant to the murder of Detective Goodman, the Judge berates defense attorney

Phoenix Wright Phoenix "Nick" Wright, known as in the original Japanese language versions, is the fictional titular defense attorney and the protagonist in '' Ace Attorney'', a visual novel adventure video game series created by Shu Takumi, who was an emp ...

by saying "Don't 'oops' me! Maybe this boot to the head will knock some sense into you."

References

External links

The Frantics web site

The "Four on the Floor" version of "Last Will and Temperament"

{{Ace Attorney Canadian comedy Comedy sketches Ace Attorney