I love that bit.
(a) One of my favorite pieces to play, ever.
( He's right.
There's really only one instance of the big chord, and no-one on earth plays it as one chord -- except that guy. It's not even written that way. You're supposed to play the bottom notes, and then -- very quickly, and still part of the same "beat" -- swing your arms up and play the top notes of the chord, but all in one smooth movement, and let the meter/rhythm/time signature imply that it's one big chord. He loses that sense of rhythm, but plays it as one big chord, but it's for comedic effect, and I laugh, so it's funny.
In fact, I think even heard a version recently where the pianist (someone famous -- RCA Living Stereo? I forget...) plays it as two beats. Yuck.