Tuesday Roundup

Hey, that's more like it, you motherfuckers!

Favorites and duds from Tuesday's commenting.

Favorites, in no particular order:

I chuckled this morning at this cultural statement from Same Sad Echo in the Daily Screencap post. This joke can be funny in a couple different ways: first, it can be a recontextualization, suggesting that the photographed gesture really is aimed at (of all things) the rain. Or, it can point inward, making a joke of the author, who wrongheadedly assumes that this is how the impolite address the weather. And then there's the idea that there is a polite way of doing it, and that the polite way is the "rain rain go away" nursery rhyme - there's humor there, too. It's a damn good joke. Also today, Same Sad Echo brought the house down with this big set-up/knockdown joke in the Phil Jackson post. Excellent.

This is just a great combination of clever and silly, from SavetoFavorites in the Daily Screencap post. I'm surprised to see this didn't get a little more love. And here's a tremendous shot at Tiki Barber in the . . . well, the Tiki Barber post. That's just savage. One hopes Tiki and Ronde don't read Deadspin's comments, or they may have a very awkward conversation in front of them. Ouch.

Speaking of awkward, here's a flat-out ridiculous dialogue from Rare Endangered Vuvuzela in the Airport Fight post. As far as I can tell, this dialogue is just an excuse to break out what amounts to an impression of the incoherent vocalizations of a redneck. And somehow, I wound up laughing at it. The movement cues help, I suppose. For whatever reason, dialogue jokes benefit quite a bit from specific non-verbal touches, like [exaggerated hip gesticulation], or even simple ones, like [blinks]. At any rate, this is obviously a goofball comment, and there's nothing wrong with that.

This is a whale of a comment, from RMJ=H in the Airport Fight post. It's a series of misunderstandings, right? Fast-moving and direct, the very picture of elegance. And there's something especially delicious about the use of the word "pirouettes" there at the end. For my money, it's how specifically appropriate the word is - it follows the line of the joke perfectly, one great word that supplies the next step in the evolution of the exchange. When you think about it, "pirouette" is the only choice for that non-verbal stage of the confrontation RMJ=H has put together. And, what's more, because these idiots fought, actually came to blows, presumably there is another misunderstanding that happens after the end of the joke. RMJ=H has created a joke with a penny-drop punchline, and that's just . . . it's fucking wonderful.

Bring Back Anthony Mason earned a reluctant chuckle with this uncomfortable wordplay joke in the Airport Fight post, but his real winner came later, in the Pirates Scout post, with this silly, creative name joke. This is great. Much of the fun of these kinds of jokes is anticipating the punchline and then seeing how nutty and outrageous the final iteration of the gag can be. We expect the names to get more absurd and what we want, as readers, is a big payoff. I'd say an eight-syllable surname satisfies that expectation. Good shit.

This is probably your Comment of the Day, from (who else) David Hume in the Phil Jackson post. It's just so goddamn perfect. It's a simple idea and he left it that way. Of course, he personalized it, turned it into his own confusion, and thereby pointed the joke inward a bit. Hume is a master, the master of that very kind of simple little touch, that easy understated infusion of personality that makes a joke more than a punchline vehicle. I wish I could make jokes that had that same natural breeziness. I really do.

Speaking of naturals and how envious I am of them, Eddie Murray Sparkles dropped this winner of a wordplay one-liner in the Sanderson Photo post. I have no talent for one-liners. None. And he makes it look so fucking easy! It's bullshit. And here's a funnier one, a sharp little dig at the miserable Chiefs in the Eric Berry post. It takes major confidence to stay out of the way of this punchline. With something so simple, mere mortals might have to fight the instinct to dress that thing up. Here Eddie Murray Sparkles leaves it alone and lets the reference do all the work, and it's a goddamn winner.

I'm convinced everyone missed this, from Steve U in the Eric Berry post. It's wonderful! It's a funny little wordplay joke, tightly packaged and delivered with the confidence to leave out the actual pun altogether. And it's funny! The actual suggestion is damn, damn funny. So, Steve U, here's a goddamn +1 for your sharp, fresh take on the whole "horse" thing. As we'll see in a bit, not everyone took a new angle.

I would not have predicted that Brett Favre would turn up in a successful joke in 2012 or 2013, but here it is, from snoop-a-loop in the Eric Berry post. It's a good ol' fashioned zinger, a shot to the sensitive parts, and damn its eyes, it's funny. Good work.

Here's a desperate reach from our guy Raysism in the Big East West post. That's okay, though, because it winds up in a good place, with a funny punchline. And maybe it's not so desperate. But I like to think that part of what makes Raysism so funny is his willingness to go for it and the kind of high-wire act that routine is. It has the effect, at times, of making his jokes seem like a glimpse inside his train of thought, and how his mind always circles around to something funny. In other words, this joke doesn't read as much like a set-up as it might coming from another commenter, because Raysism's body of work gives us a certain context for this joke: this is Raysism's zany and sure-to-be-funny train of thought. And look! Our expectations are satisfied - it is funny.

The Amazing Sneijderman pulled the rug out with this misdirection gag in the Robinson Cano post. We're all familiar with this kind of joke, but it's important to note that this format, done with confidence and in the right order, is well beyond the capabilities of your average Deadspin burner ass-wipe. The fact that it's familiar doesn't hurt the punchline because The Amazing Sneijderman assembles the joke carefully and has a funny, sharp thing to say about a relevant target. Nice work.

Total Fucking Duds

I never saw this coming, from Rock517 in the Eric Berry post. Mind = blown. I never, and I mean never noticed that some people think Sarah Jessica Parker looks like a horse. Sensational.

Whoa. Wait a minute. I think donlemonrules might have hacked his joke from Rock517. Not cool.

Well, leave it to Deadspin's worst active commenter, Lamont Sanford III, to be third in line with this angle. And look at that fucking bozo in the replies who was beaten to the punchline. Holy fucking shit.

That's it for tonight, friends. Great work today. Believe it or not, I left a handful of solid jokes out of the favorites today. There were a lot of good jokes in today's posts. Let's do it again tomorrow.

Gimme a D! Gimme a U! Gimme an A! Gimme an N!