Funny Stuff What You Done Found on The Interweb

[Anonymous]

Thought it would be nice to have a special place for all the random shite one comes across on journeys around the interweb.

Here’s a couple to get started:

Pain on the shopping channel:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZhMfzc9RbU

Bloopers from a very accident-prone fellow on an American fishing show:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wWIbmOT7l0s

Make sure you have your sound turned up. This website has the best jingle ever:

http://www.deagostini.co.uk/ilovehorses/

Topic

[Danny Stephenson]

I have known about this website for a good long while, and many of you have not seen it, but it’s a web site dedicated to the creation of immense gigantification of snacks. It’s called Pimp That Snack

This is one of my personal faves!

Mike: That’s not a ladder!
Mr Ingleby: Well, What do you call that, then?
Mike: A Curly Wurly…

[John Hoare]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lUPlHcZDk8

[Andrew]

I’m Fucking Matt Damon:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WLG3S5WzHig

I’m Fucking Ben Affleck:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=j_pFTAY7MF8

And even I’m Fucking Seth Rogan:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bScbukS82iY

Are but a (necessary) prelude to the editing genius of – I’m Fucking Obama:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=skIlZflDs9Y&feature=bz301

[Jonathan Capps]

I want to have sex with Sarah Silverman.

[Ben Paddon]

Name a man alive who doesn’t.

[John Hoare]

It would be terrifying.

[Zombie Jim Undead]

Rrrrrd drrrr hrrrrrr rrrrrp thrrrrr rrrrrrssss.

[peas_and_corn]

Back in the early 90s the Late Show team got a TV show called ‘Rush’, cut it up, and voiced it over in hilarious fashion- in the commentary they believe they were the first people to cut the footage together to create internal story lines. Anyways, here’s part one, and from there you can go onwards to the other parts (I have the DVD of this and Bargearse, the other show they made- brilliant)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_KR9sljZu4

[Ben Paddon]

This is a triumph.

[penny]

It’s not funny, but it’s brilliant playing:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XBS8rLxQHdw&feature=related
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jxF4qQKOA1Y&feature=related

His other vids are great too, but these are the two I’m watching at the moment.

[Ben Paddon]

Bohemian Rhapsody in MarioPaint.

[Phil]

Holy barf.

[penny]

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=IY1Fn796MoY&feature=related
The end part is quite funny.

[Ben Paddon]

Looks like I’ll be composing some MarioPaint tunes myself.

[Danny Stephenson]

I gave up trying to use that thing when I couldn’t workout how to make flats and sharps. So now I know it’s possible, expect musica from me as well!

[Ben Paddon]

It’s possible using the Mario Paint Composer for Windows/OSX (Google it) but not in Mario Paint itself, I think.

[Danny Stephenson]

Yeah, that’s what I thought. because I remember not being able to do it in the original Mario Paint, I foolishly assumed that it wasn’t possible on this version either, as people usually stay true to the emulations and systems contained therein.

[Phil]

Nah, that’s not foolish, Danny (unless you were being sarcastic!). I think the enormous majority of emulations are just direct ports.

In fact, for the most part, I’d prefer that to mucking around with the game/program mechanics. In this case, however, it’s kind of neat to include some additional functionality.

I remember with Mario Paint, in my circle of friends at least, the musical composition feature got no attention at all. We’d spend a few minutes on it, get bored, and never really use it again.

I’m not sure if it was commonly popular outside of my small peer group, but either way it’s very interesting to see this one small feature of the game receiving such a resurgence.

[John Hoare]

One of my favourite Fast Show sketches ever:

Weirdly enough, that was never in one of the regular shows – it was on You Ain’t Seen These, Right?, a oollection of VERY funny unused (until that point) sketches from the show. HOW can you cut a series of sketches which ends in a punchline which has the best audience reaction the show EVER HAD EVER?

[Pete Part Three]

How did I know it was going to be that one?

[Andrew]

> HOW can you cut a series of sketches which ends in a punchline which has the best audience reaction the show EVER HAD EVER?

Kinda FOR that reason, I’d have thought.

It’s a decent punchline, but it’s the conclusion of a fairly so-so series (which, aside from anything else, are totally misdirected, going all hand-held and choppy was a misguided attempt to make them look different). It’s a lot of screen time for a one-laugh reward – especially when you could argue that the reaction is overegged due to the rudeness. It’s arguably a cheap laugh, no matter how big.

Not that TFS was immune to such things, but still…

[John Hoare]

i wouldn’t say it was a cheap laugh at all – it’s all nicely set up. It’s not just rudeness for the sake of rudeness – and the timing is immaculate, which is what really nails it.

Still, I like the whole series of sketches. If I didn’t like them, I’d be more inclined to see why they dropped it. Although the team seem to agree with you!

Actually, I love the whole of that show – I think it’s easily as strong as the main series, and in some ways stronger – because there’s obviously more one-offs, and slightly less repetition. “Burn him. And burn his face first.”

[Andrew]

> i wouldn?t say it was a cheap laugh at all – it?s all nicely set up. It?s not just rudeness for the sake of rudeness – and the timing is immaculate, which is what really nails it.

Oh, I wouldn’t say AT ALL that it was ‘just for the sake of’. Indeed, I’d say what I said – it?s a decent punchline. And I agree that the timing’s spot-on. But the reason it’s arguably a cheap laugh is because while it’s mainly about the character, and the comedy of blurting, the size of the reaction suggests it’s partially the “ooh, what a rude thing to say” laugh.

Not saying it’s not justified within the scene, not at all, but the extreme reaction comes from a combination of factors, and one of those is the crass factor. How relevant that is is up to the user, but I can see how it might lead the makers to not trust the reaction as a true guide to the gag’s qualities.

[Zombie Jim Undead]

“Burn him. And burn his face first”. First time I heard that I nearly died.

Not too keen on the “xxx on her xxxx” sketch. Agree that the big audience laugh is only because he says something naughty.

The audience gives the kind of explosive “whoop” that Are You Being Served audience gave at the mention of Mrs Slowcombe’s pussy.

[John Hoare]

The audience gives the kind of explosive ?whoop? that Are You Being Served audience gave at the mention of Mrs Slowcombe?s pussy.

I think this is true. But, then, *I* give an explosive whoop whenever someone mention’s Mrs Slocombe’s pussy. And very enjoyable it is too.

Which all leads in to what you’re saying Andrew – but in the end, forgetting about humour that targets the defenceless for a moment – does *why* someone laugh matter? Are all laughs equal? I think they probably are – belly-laughs, at least, not embarrassed giggles – and I’m not entirely sure there *is* any such thing as a “cheap laugh”. A laugh is a laugh, however it’s arrived at. And if the rudery stops being funny through over-use, or if it isn’t done well-enough… then hopefully it doesn’t get one.

[Pete Part Three]

What’s an Iguana?

[Zombie Jim Undead]

Talking about inappropriate “laughs”…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlACLa4042o

Fucking hell.

[Pete Part Three]

The thing about Jim Davidson… the thing you have to remember about Jim Davidson… Jim Davidson… Jim Davidson was a prat.

[Andrew]

> does *why* someone laugh matter?

I think it does when they’re YOUR laughs, and you have to justify their appearance on-air. To viewers, to critics, to commissioners…yes, I think you have to believe you’ve earned it. Or, at least, you have to convince enough people that you have.

> And if the rudery stops being funny through over-use, or if it isn?t done well-enough? then hopefully it doesn?t get one.

I think the fact that there ARE cheap laughs suggests that you’re being optimistic. (Cue tedious Series VIII snippery.)

[John Hoare]

I think the fact that there ARE cheap laughs suggests that you?re being optimistic.

Can you give me an example of something you would consider to be a cheap laugh?

The thing is – I think I laugh at a LOT of things that lot of people would consider cheap jokes. But for me, the pleasure of the laugh comes before all else – I don’t care how it’s arrived at. There’s sometimes a joy in the most obvious, or just blatantly rude material imaginable (which seems to be what people generally mean by ‘cheap laughs’) if it’s done right.

Sorry, I’m not trying to be obtuse or anything – it’s just a subject that interests me. I remember using the phrase once in a review I wrote – and then I read it back later, and I didn’t know what the hell I meant by the term!

[Pete Part Three]

Ooh, cheap laughs:

1) Characters acting out-of-character

Oft-used example: Lister doing a dot-to-dot puzzle. We KNOW he’s not that stupid.

2) Characters doing rather illogical things which don’t make much sense within the reality of the show.

Example: Lister dressing in a pink dressing gown and bunny slippers and *not* taking them off for no real reason.

3) Running jokes/ catchphrases that rely on the writer doing a copy/paste and only changing a few variables.

Example: Most sketch shows, Space Corps directives, Allo Allo (sorry!)

As you say, there are examples of the above that do make me laugh quite a bit. Cheap doesn’t automatically mean “bad”, but it’s one of the things that’s easy to pick up on if it jars with you to such an extent that it doesn’t amuse.

[Andrew]

See, I knew that’d happen.

I’d go with ‘amusingly holding up a pair of melons’. Or something.

> But for me, the pleasure of the laugh comes before all else.

Well, fair enough. But I think when you write and perform this stuff, you realise that sometimes you ended up saying something you didn’t quite mean, or you changed the tone in a way you didn’t want. Or you just didn’t earn the laugh you got. Which are all valid reasons for dropping the joke, regardless of how it played.

[John Hoare]

See, I can understand why out-of-character, over-used, or gags that don’t fit the tone might be cut. I think any three of them, as Pete says, can be justifed if the joke is good enough, mind. (Even the melons gag – done well, it can *still* be funny!)

But the notion of “cheap laughs” bugs me somewhat. Partly because it’s so inspecific, as much as anything – it doesn’t really get to the heart of what an objection over a certain joke is. It’s just a catch-all term for “a joke I don’t like”. And it’s all-too-often used as a way of slagging off what’s seen as lowbrow humour, although I honestly don’t think anyone’s doing that in this thread.

[Andrew]

Yeah, there are problems with the term. (A similar debate was had recently, where the definition and misuse of a term certainly took me away from the point being made regarding clumsy narrative storytelling.) But you know what I mean – laugh taken over logic or tone or better judgement.

[Pete Part Three]

>See, I knew that?d happen.

Didn’t want to disappoint you. ;-)

>But the notion of ?cheap laughs? bugs me somewhat.

In the midst of my endless examples, I forgot my definition. By “cheap” I understand it to mean a throwaway thing that’s a lot easier to write than character stuff or a clever bit of plotting. It just feels “cheap” because it doesn’t seem to take nearly as much effort as writing something that’s ingrained in the characters and doesn’t rely on a formula.

>It?s just a catch-all term for ?a joke I don?t like?.
Uh…maybe.

But, to repeat, there’s plenty of “cheap laughs” I like. The Fast Show and early Little Britain (before it turned into complete tripe) are extremely formulaic with an interchangeable situation leading to a oft-repeated catchphrase.

By its very nature it’s cheap, but if the setup is good enough and the characters strong enough, it tends to work for me.

[John Hoare]

It just feels ?cheap? because it doesn?t seem to take nearly as much effort as writing something that?s ingrained in the characters and doesn?t rely on a formula.

Although I think a lot of catchphrases, which you mentioned as an example, *are* ingrained in the characters. They often sum up the character, or an aspect of the character, in one sentence.

But I see where you’re coming from, and I get what you mean. (I think there’s room for all kinds of comedy in a show – if there’s enough character stuff, then there’s also room for other kinds of gags – but I think we agree on that one.) I think the problem is that the term is used for all different kinds of things, not all of them compatible – so when one person talks about “cheap jokes”, it doesn’t mean the same thing to someone else. It’s not a useful critical term, because I don’t think people agree enough on what it means.

[John Hoare]

But you know what I mean – laugh taken over logic or tone or better judgement.

Yeah, I see what you mean.

Still, if the laugh is big enough, I generally think it’s worth trampling over all three, unless it COMPLETELY wrecks things. It depends on the show, of course – and perhaps I’m just more hungry for jokes than a lot of viewers, and more forgiving of any issues of tone caused by them. Certainly, I think it’s more of an issue with sitcoms than it is with sketch shows, dragging things back to the original sketch.

[Andrew]

> and perhaps I?m just more hungry for jokes than a lot of viewers

Not at all. But I do think you’re coming from an almost wholly viewer direction – when this is about the authors as much as anything. (Not least cos it’s about a deleted scene.)

While they’re there to serve and entertain an audience, there are…other considerations.

[John Hoare]

I seem to recall that in the Radio Times article about Fast Show Night, there were some worries about Higson’s performance in the sketches. But don’t quote me on that – I may be misremembering. But if he was worried about it, then I suppose see why they cut it. I have no issues with the performance, but it’s perhaps telling that by far the best joke (and best performance, in that one line) in the sketch isn’t delivered by him!

The whole of You Ain’t See These, Right? is fascinating though – because it’s clear that it’s all the stuff that they don’t think quite worked, but has some merit – they didn’t just stuff it full of sketches which didn’t work at all (which I’m sure there must have been a few of!) But most of it works for me. A lot better than pretty much all of Arabella Weir’s characters which made it into the final shows, but that’s a whole other argument!

The sketches with Simon Day as the king are brilliant – but I *definitely* recall in that Radio Times article that the reason they cut them is because he didn’t do the character nearly as well as he did in rehearsals. Which is probably true… but he did the character more than well enough to justify it going into the final show, in my opinion. But I suppose when you’ve seen him do it better, you’re too close to it, and can’t judge the end result as being more than worthy of inclusion.

(Also, there was some miscommunication with the set department – the set was supposed to be really small and crummy, but they ended up building a proper throne room, which wasn’t what they intended at all.)

[Danny Stephenson]

Pelican Crossings: you’re in the right…

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=corwx2d8xa

[Danny Stephenson]

The Universe itself keeps on expanding and expanding, in all of the directions it can whizz…

http://www.techdo.com/images/largest-know-star.htm

This is intensely mindboggling!

[John Hoare]

One of my favourite Smith and Jones sketches:

I love how there isn’t a spare line in it. It’s meticulously crafted. And fucking hilarious.

It features Danny Peacock, who is also in:

Which is a fantastic ad – instantly memorable, as much as anything else. (I have a habit of loving both the straight and spoof versions of things.) I wish there were more ads like that these days.

[Dave]

True Blue Urdu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqDiCUgjeIM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87PZLij9lqo

[John Hoare]

A more well-known Smith and Jones sketch, but it makes me laugh every time I watch it:

“FINE THANKS.”

[John Hoare]

Perhaps the best advert ever made:

[pfm]

Now that the arguing over one of the most mediocre and overrated shows of all time has finished in this thread I’ll post a link to something that was on the brilliant Comedy Sketchbook last night:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=8DqvXRd64Mo

[Danny Stephenson]

An unbelievable little creature.

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=xxoi0xm9cb

The Lyre bird: Nature’s Sampler

[Danny Stephenson]

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=djlbx3xxd

PIXAR ROCK!!

[Danny Stephenson]

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=hk8h6bioud

Or how about a kid playing EVERY part of Come Together simultaneously?

[Danny Stephenson]

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=03asjxy0s3

I didnt’ know guitars could make that sound…

[Author]

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