If you read it knowing what Ogged has said about it, it is not going to be funny. Read it while ignoring Ogged's comments, it is funny then. May be Ogged is just not a funny kind of a guy when it comes to relationships.
The first time I read it, I didn't know who ogged was. It wasn't funny then, either.
Tadhg, you aren't Kurt Stocklmeir, are you? May be ogged is a bad lizard or a slime with the boold of animals between his teeth and that's why he doesn't find it funny. It is probably a cursed theory but may be it should be in the faqy.
That page isn't that funny, but Millington's novel of the same title is laugh-out-loud funny all the way through the book. Of course, you guys know that I pretty much laugh all day long anyhow. All the same, the book is worthwhile.
Again, I fall in ogged's estimation. But ogged, just for the record, you don't find James Lileks funny, correct? Perhaps it would be useful to do a brief diagnostic. So 25 questions: which of the following do you find funny?
1. Chris Rock standup
2. Animal House
3. Groundhog Day
4. There's Something About Mary
5. The Simpsons, season 4
6. The Simpsons, now
7. The Family Guy
8. P.G. Woodehouse
9. James Thurbur
10. The Chapelle Show
11. Jon Stewart/The Daily Show
12. Doonesbury
13. Beavis and Butthead
14. Southpark
15. Pink Panther Movies
16. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Bunuel)
Ok baa, you take the time to draw up the list, I'll give you real answers, on a scale from 1-10, with 10 reserved for not just sidesplitting but somehow also important qua humor (already I'm a joykill, eh?). I'll DK ones I'm not familiar with.
1. Chris Rock standup--9
2. Animal House--8
3. Groundhog Day--7
4. There's Something About Mary--1
5. The Simpsons, season 4--9
6. The Simpsons, now--6
7. The Family Guy--DK
8. P.G. Wodehouse--(Know just a bit, but an 8)
9. James Thurbur--6
10. The Chapelle Show--8
11. Jon Stewart/The Daily Show--6
12. Doonesbury--1
13. Beavis and Butthead--3
14. Southpark--7
15. Pink Panther Movies--5
16. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Bunuel)--6
You are correct: Cathy is an abomination. I placed it in the list to serve as a negative control.
Ogged:
Good news, you don't come out "replicant" according to that test. Indeed, your tastes eerily match mine. So I'm at a loss to explain your zero response to that website, and to James Lileks (of course, we've been down that road...)
Only major discrepancy: I thought Something About Mary was very funny in patches (although gross to repellent in others). So maybe uneven humor, or uneven low humor, is what evokes an allergic response from you. Certainly "Things my girlfriend and I have argued about" is very, very patchy.
Minor discrepancies:
1. I think Thurbur is a geeenius 8 at least, 9 possibly.
2. That Bunuel movie just pissed me off -- pretentious art crap. But that could easily have been a allergic response.
3. Maybe I'm not so hard on Doonesbury. But I'll agree it's hit-and-miss now, and often operates at a Mallard Filmore level of badness.
4. M*A*S*H would be lower for me
But since you opened it up, let's talk philosophy of humor. What do you have in mind by "somehow important as humor" -- humor that redefines the genre, or something more philsophically freighted, like the "golden laughter" of Fred N? What for you is an example of level 10 humor?
Thought you might ask that. 10s are not just funny, but tell us something important, so, relying a bit on fuzzy memory here, some of Richard Pryor's stand-up was a 10, and, from what little I read about him, lots of Sidney Morgenbesser's cracks were 10s.
On the discrepencies:
I read Thurber many years ago, and he might well have been funnier than I recall.
I saw the Bunuel probably back when I was still cheering for the Soviets in the Olympics, so...
Doonesbury has never made me laugh. Though I read it once every few months, so it might be an unfair measure.
M*A*S*H doesn't usually make me laugh either, but I think it's well done.
That's definitely the funniest comment we've had in a while.
You might be right about the uneven low humor. I've recently been assailed in my, uh, personal life for my prudishness, and when low humor doesn't come off, I'm pretty likely to turn off to it.
That said, I thought American Pie was very funny (and I'm sure the fact that Ben Stiller was in Something About Mary made me completely hostile to the whole thing).
Fricking frick! I am a typo machine! I rate a comment that simultaneously obsesses over and contains typos a "6" on the humor scale. Although not enlightening in any way.
For the record, Ogged, you scored that list remarkably close to the way I would have, down to deciding to make it 1-10 rather than binary.
I have a few variants, since I've not had cable for more than a year, so haven't seen the cable shows, and somehow have yet to see The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. Somehow haven't seen Looney Tunes in some years, so am a bit reluctant to say how I'd react today. And on the sporadic occasions when I still see Doonesbury, I tend to like it -- but the sample rate here is extremely low. Lastly, I don't regard Cathy as an "abomination"; merely not funny. Clouseau movies variable; I seem to recall A Shot In The Dark as the funnier one, the others "eh," more of a 3-4, but it's also been a very long time. MASH: much better in later David Ogden Stiers days, the post-Larry Linville laughtrack days.
Other than that, I'd pretty much have put down exactly the same numbers. FWIW. (Scrubs: 3.)
Well, maybe it's a British thing, because I found Mil Millington's thing frequently knee-slapping funny, both when it was partially serialised in the Observer (or was it the Guardian?), and when I discovered the website accidentally a while ago. And even glancing at it now, it's still chucklesome.
Sounds like a challenge to me. I think this is hilarious. Especially the interview with Richard Nixon. And it's all true.
Posted by Daniel Geffen | Link to this comment | 08-17-04 7:24 PM
I've seen that list before. It's not funny. You're in the right here.
This, though, is funny.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 08-17-04 8:25 PM
Actually, let me revise that; this is probably funnier.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 08-17-04 8:29 PM
That seems eerily like the kind of relationship I will end up in.
But you're right -- it's not funny.
Posted by Adam Kotsko | Link to this comment | 08-17-04 9:26 PM
Don't do it Adam; it's not fun either.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 08-17-04 9:32 PM
Maybe it's just not funny if you've been there. To use voyeurs, it's worth a chuckle.
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 08-17-04 9:50 PM
us, not use
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 08-17-04 9:51 PM
If you read it knowing what Ogged has said about it, it is not going to be funny. Read it while ignoring Ogged's comments, it is funny then. May be Ogged is just not a funny kind of a guy when it comes to relationships.
Posted by Tadhg | Link to this comment | 08-17-04 10:26 PM
That comment above by Tadhg, I think he meant it to be insightful, but I didn't gain any insight.
Am I too late?
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 08-17-04 10:33 PM
The first time I read it, I didn't know who ogged was. It wasn't funny then, either.
Tadhg, you aren't Kurt Stocklmeir, are you? May be ogged is a bad lizard or a slime with the boold of animals between his teeth and that's why he doesn't find it funny. It is probably a cursed theory but may be it should be in the faqy.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 08-17-04 10:45 PM
That page isn't that funny, but Millington's novel of the same title is laugh-out-loud funny all the way through the book. Of course, you guys know that I pretty much laugh all day long anyhow. All the same, the book is worthwhile.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 08-17-04 11:43 PM
This, however, is hilarious.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 08-17-04 11:53 PM
Again, I fall in ogged's estimation. But ogged, just for the record, you don't find James Lileks funny, correct? Perhaps it would be useful to do a brief diagnostic. So 25 questions: which of the following do you find funny?
1. Chris Rock standup
2. Animal House
3. Groundhog Day
4. There's Something About Mary
5. The Simpsons, season 4
6. The Simpsons, now
7. The Family Guy
8. P.G. Woodehouse
9. James Thurbur
10. The Chapelle Show
11. Jon Stewart/The Daily Show
12. Doonesbury
13. Beavis and Butthead
14. Southpark
15. Pink Panther Movies
16. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Bunuel)
17. Being John Malkovitch
18. Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes
19. Scrubs
20. M*A*S*H (tv show)
21. Jay Leno
22. Everybody Loves Raymond
23. Cathy (the comic strip)
24. Arlo and Janis (the comic strip)
25. Old Glory Insurance
Posted by baa | Link to this comment | 08-18-04 5:33 AM
"Cathy" is one example of why we need to abolish the tenure system for comic strips.
Posted by Adam Kotsko | Link to this comment | 08-18-04 6:49 AM
Ok baa, you take the time to draw up the list, I'll give you real answers, on a scale from 1-10, with 10 reserved for not just sidesplitting but somehow also important qua humor (already I'm a joykill, eh?). I'll DK ones I'm not familiar with.
1. Chris Rock standup--9
2. Animal House--8
3. Groundhog Day--7
4. There's Something About Mary--1
5. The Simpsons, season 4--9
6. The Simpsons, now--6
7. The Family Guy--DK
8. P.G. Wodehouse--(Know just a bit, but an 8)
9. James Thurbur--6
10. The Chapelle Show--8
11. Jon Stewart/The Daily Show--6
12. Doonesbury--1
13. Beavis and Butthead--3
14. Southpark--7
15. Pink Panther Movies--5
16. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Bunuel)--6
17. Being John Malkovitch--6
18. Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes--7
19. Scrubs--DK
20. M*A*S*H (tv show)--6
21. Jay Leno--4
22. Everybody Loves Raymond--2
23. Cathy (the comic strip)--DK
24. Arlo and Janis (the comic strip)--DK
25. Old Glory Insurance--7
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 08-18-04 7:58 AM
Adam:
You are correct: Cathy is an abomination. I placed it in the list to serve as a negative control.
Ogged:
Good news, you don't come out "replicant" according to that test. Indeed, your tastes eerily match mine. So I'm at a loss to explain your zero response to that website, and to James Lileks (of course, we've been down that road...)
Only major discrepancy: I thought Something About Mary was very funny in patches (although gross to repellent in others). So maybe uneven humor, or uneven low humor, is what evokes an allergic response from you. Certainly "Things my girlfriend and I have argued about" is very, very patchy.
Minor discrepancies:
1. I think Thurbur is a geeenius 8 at least, 9 possibly.
2. That Bunuel movie just pissed me off -- pretentious art crap. But that could easily have been a allergic response.
3. Maybe I'm not so hard on Doonesbury. But I'll agree it's hit-and-miss now, and often operates at a Mallard Filmore level of badness.
4. M*A*S*H would be lower for me
But since you opened it up, let's talk philosophy of humor. What do you have in mind by "somehow important as humor" -- humor that redefines the genre, or something more philsophically freighted, like the "golden laughter" of Fred N? What for you is an example of level 10 humor?
Posted by baa | Link to this comment | 08-18-04 8:47 AM
Thought you might ask that. 10s are not just funny, but tell us something important, so, relying a bit on fuzzy memory here, some of Richard Pryor's stand-up was a 10, and, from what little I read about him, lots of Sidney Morgenbesser's cracks were 10s.
On the discrepencies:
I read Thurber many years ago, and he might well have been funnier than I recall.
I saw the Bunuel probably back when I was still cheering for the Soviets in the Olympics, so...
Doonesbury has never made me laugh. Though I read it once every few months, so it might be an unfair measure.
M*A*S*H doesn't usually make me laugh either, but I think it's well done.
And who's Fred N?
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 08-18-04 9:24 AM
Nietzsche. Sorry, didn't mean to be cutesy, but I felt I had butchered enough spelling in your comment, and was too lazy too google.
What do you think about my major discrepancy hypothesis? Did you find Amerian Pie Funny?
Posted by baa | Link to this comment | 08-18-04 9:45 AM
That's definitely the funniest comment we've had in a while.
You might be right about the uneven low humor. I've recently been assailed in my, uh, personal life for my prudishness, and when low humor doesn't come off, I'm pretty likely to turn off to it.
That said, I thought American Pie was very funny (and I'm sure the fact that Ben Stiller was in Something About Mary made me completely hostile to the whole thing).
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 08-18-04 9:58 AM
Fricking frick! I am a typo machine! I rate a comment that simultaneously obsesses over and contains typos a "6" on the humor scale. Although not enlightening in any way.
Posted by baa | Link to this comment | 08-18-04 1:47 PM
Not funny. It made me think (about the relationship) why bother? Then I thought the same thing about reading the article, and quit.
Posted by Tripp | Link to this comment | 08-18-04 2:04 PM
For the record, Ogged, you scored that list remarkably close to the way I would have, down to deciding to make it 1-10 rather than binary.
I have a few variants, since I've not had cable for more than a year, so haven't seen the cable shows, and somehow have yet to see The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. Somehow haven't seen Looney Tunes in some years, so am a bit reluctant to say how I'd react today. And on the sporadic occasions when I still see Doonesbury, I tend to like it -- but the sample rate here is extremely low. Lastly, I don't regard Cathy as an "abomination"; merely not funny. Clouseau movies variable; I seem to recall A Shot In The Dark as the funnier one, the others "eh," more of a 3-4, but it's also been a very long time. MASH: much better in later David Ogden Stiers days, the post-Larry Linville laughtrack days.
Other than that, I'd pretty much have put down exactly the same numbers. FWIW. (Scrubs: 3.)
Posted by Gary Farber | Link to this comment | 08-18-04 11:57 PM
[redacted]
Posted by [redacted] | Link to this comment | 08-19-04 9:00 AM
Well, maybe it's a British thing, because I found Mil Millington's thing frequently knee-slapping funny, both when it was partially serialised in the Observer (or was it the Guardian?), and when I discovered the website accidentally a while ago. And even glancing at it now, it's still chucklesome.
But if you don't dig it, shrug, 'snot a big deal.
Posted by AkiZ | Link to this comment | 08-22-04 12:24 PM