You shouldn't have to explain your joke as you tell it.
So that's how you clear out the break room. Or, for that matter, any meeting.
What the hell is that from?
Okay, never you mind. That's what I get for not having cable.
that was actually really funny. i kind of hate myself for thinking so, though.
It has the same problem as The Burg, an internet sitcom whose creators are so unselfconfident that they're sure to provide an outsider perspective within the show, whose befuddlement at the ridiculous goings-on around him helpfully shows us what goings-on really are ridiculous, as if they were afraid that, without such a character, we wouldn't understand what was supposed to be funny or strange about the proceedings. If your bit involves contravening a norm, you shouldn't simultaneously announce "observe the contravention of a norm!", any more than you should have a flashing JOKE sign.
So, is it lack of confidence, or is it not believing that one's audience is relatively sophisticated enough to get the joke? Which, in this bit, ain't all that hard. ATM.
This situation reminds me of an incident at my coblogger's workplace, where the local asshole breezily popped into his office to say, "Hey, did you ever notice that Florida totally looks like a dick? Haw haw."
To which my dear one responded, "Wow, yeah, and Florida, like my dick, is also really hot and sweaty and home to large insects that feed on human flesh!"
Dude has stopped dropping by.
5: We have discussed this before, but I think Ryan serves a lot of other purposes besides being the "norm." He's a foil, yes, but he's from his own odd, repellent subculture. He's an outsider who resists the normative herding of his new friends, and manages to charm nonetheless.
That said, the "Secret" episodes are terrible and should not be included in any evaluation of the show as a whole.
I thought that explaining the joke was the joke. It rings true enough to me anyhow. All the idiotic 22 year-olds I work with would behave exactly the same way if we didn't make them sit through 17 different HR "quizzes" about how not to tell penis jokes in the office. Fuckers.
Right. The other two have to react somehow.
Does 5 not understand the concept of the "Straight Man"?
Also, if you're going to link to something, link to the best.
I thought that explaining the joke was the joke.
Exactly right. Ben's head has been infected by Theory of Comedy.
Nowadays, the only jokes left are meta-jokes.
Nowadays, the only jokes left are meta-jokes.
Q: Why did the knock-knock joke cross the road?
A: No soap radio.
that was actually really funny. i kind of hate myself for thinking so, though.
My thoughts exactly.
Knock knock.
Who's there?
Elephant?
Elephant who?
You don't get down off an elephant, you get down off a duck.
Kotsko's been infected by Theory of Everything.
How many knock knock jokes does it take to screw in a fuck you clown?
How many knock knock jokes does it take to screw in a fuck you clown?
Most guys just leave her hanging on the tree.
11: Does 5 not understand the concept of the "Straight Man"?
Ben Wolfon is so gay, he refuses to accept the concept of the "Straight Man."
The straight man isn't there to get that there's a joke going on, and let the audience in on it; the straight man is there not to get what's going on. Straight men don't pertain to what I'm talking about.
Of course they do. The straight man is there to establish a norm from which the joke deviates. Whether that person "gets" the joke or not is irrelevant.
I once read a critique of Aqua Teen Hunger Force that referred to Carl as their "straight man." Apparently the concept isn't as clear as I thought it was.
I guess I thought of The Burg as a sort of small-scale Menippean satire.
There's a difference between establishing a norm which is necessary for the punchline even to make sense (imagine someone just saying "that was no lady, that was my wife" totally unprompted—huh?), or being the norm-bearer who gets twitted by the jokester, and a situation where what is ostensibly funny is funny in a freestanding way. We know the norm and it doesn't have to be stated for our benefit in order for the joke to make sense; to have it obtrude anyway is not choiceworthy.
But Ryan himself is an object of satire, too. He's the Wall Street guy who wants to hang out with the cool kids, and several episodes are devoted not only to mocking his roommates for trying to change him, but also to mocking his recalcitrant obsession with square self-improvement (as in "Chemistry"). The show is not just about mocking hipsters; it's also about mocking those who surround themselves with hipsters.
Who else is going to log her cobs?
AWB, as a Protestant, subscribes to the ideal that every man (or woman!) should be his (or her!) own coblogger.
28: He hasn't posted since, like, December, despite my repeated entreaties. He's my old roommate from my BA/MA school.
I thought it was funny, and I don't even hate myself. Freedom!