Favorites and duds from today's commenting.
Favorites, in no particular order (moving quickly):
This is hilarious, from Madoffs Mets in the Oscar Pistorius post. COTY!!1! (No, seriously, this is the Comment of the Day.)
I laughed at this joke, from Raysism in the Oscar Pistorius post. It took some doing, but he got there. Great job.
Here's a funny one-liner-ish joke from BronzeHammer in the Oscar Pistorius post. That's really fucking funny.
I thought this was pretty great, from Same Sad Echo in the Russian Meteorite post. Obviously, not everyone knew what to make of it, but that's okay.
I don't think Eddie Murray Sparkles intended to troll the burners with this comment in the Robbie Rogers post, but it turned out that way. I thought the comment was funny enough even without the hullabaloo it caused. And even without that hullabaloo, I thought this comment was fucking hilarious as a sequel to the first.
Speaking of hullabaloo, this comment, from Steve U in the Robbie Rogers post, caused an enormous stir. Nevermind, I thought the joke was funny even before the burners went berzerk.
And finally, here's a hilarious comment that didn't ruffle the burners, from SavetoFavorites in the Robbie Rogers post. I laughed aloud at this.
Total Fucking Duds
Miserable Shitehawk can't seem to keep his shit together long enough to put together five days of Roundups in five days. Just what the hell is wrong with this guy? I'd sure like to kick him in the balls.
Thanks for reading!
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Thursday Roundup
Favorites and duds from today's commenting.
Favorites, in no particular order:
Have a look at this devastating one-liner from Universal Enveloping Algebra in the Oscar Pistorius Ad post. What a joke! Simple and dynamite. This is the Comment of the Day.
This humdinger, from Eddie Murray Sparkles in the Oscar Pistorius Ad post, was right there in the running. That's just an incredible pull. Later, here's another terrific pull, delivered in as bone-dry and straightforward a manner as possible, from the Darren Rovell post. Let the strength of the reference do the heavy lifting. And finally, here's a hilarious dig at female athletes in the Kangaroo Delay post. I laughed aloud at this one. Great job today.
I chuckled at this silly comment from Bring Back Anthony Mason in the Oscar Pistorius Ad post. This is a fun angle that relies totally upon the author's creativity and imagination. Also, here's a knockout from the Kangaroo Delay post. That's great. Good stuff.
Here's a quick, excellent joke from SavetoFavorites in the Trevor Bauer, MC post. It turns the [drops mic] action into a terrific dig without a whole lot of dense trickery. Nice work.
This funny little poem, from Gene Shalit's Merkin in the Shooting Insomniac post, could have yielded a thread - it sort of did, in fact - but I think it's funny enough all on its own. Stick around and make jokes, you.
Here's a simple enough little joke from BronzeHammer in the Shooting Insomniac post. Sometimes - often, in fact - it's the simple, silly, easy humor that really connects with the audience. There's nothing more exotic than a funny nickname driving this joke, but it works. Great job.
Here's the best of the tiptoeing jokes in the Shooting Insomniac post, from cobra, brah!. The picture helps, but I tend to think it's the way this joke dances around the angle instead of going right at it that makes it so successful. Many other commenters took less subtle approaches to this same line of text, without nearly the same impact.
I laughed at this line from David Hume in the Shooting Insomniac post. Simple enough angle, and of course imbued with that easy David Hume touch that gives the joke some personality to help accentuate the humor of the reference.
This is a great joke, from a burner called ChoosyMomsViewGIFs in the Vikings Logo post. It's so encouraging to see this kind of stuff from unknown commenters. It gets seriously exasperating following the comments closely from day to day. Every fucking day, it's hur dur what's with all the jokes and yadda yadda too soon!!1! and Gawker blah blah liberal blah blah gay worship blah blah, etc., and there are times when I so desperately miss the presence of moderators that even looking at Deadspin's comments ceases to be interesting and becomes a miserable chore. I won't go on and on about dismissing, you guys know how I feel about it. We have reached the point, though, where smart, funny, thoughtful commenters are being almost literally shouted down by complete and total morons. The optimistic view at the onset of Kinja held that new commenters would learn how to stand out as commenters by watching the best and most prominent commenters. The people who wanted to stick around and make jokes and, in general, be interesting and fresh and thoughtful and intelligent would survey the comments, figure out the landscape and tempo, and work their way in, adding their own voices to the mix. The rest would sink to the bottom of the page, be ignored, and move on. And that just hasn't happened. Why? Because every tourist who leaves is replaced by another ten the next day, and all these people have the exact same things to say, and it's all incredibly boring and stupid, and they can't possibly fall away at the rate they're being replaced.
There's a brain-dead, utterly false point hanging out there, and it's this: commenters are just learning to act like one another, all Deadspin commenters are interchangeable, etc. But it's AMAZING how different commenters' personalities and quirks shine through their comments. Yes, from time to time, everyone makes a bone-dry one-liner, but the whole rest of the time, the different commenters I've stalked the last few years couldn't be more distinct. We haven't written a Profile in Commenting in a long while, but trust me, we could write a fresh one about virtually every regular Deadspin commenter by now. Even new guys, like DougExeter, have established noticeably different voices. The respected regular commenters aren't known the way they are for all being the same, they're known for being smart and funny and interesting and distinct. And they're being overwhelmed by a never-ending horde of virtually identical burners and tourists and idiots. And it's frustrating as hell.
Anyway, ChoosyMomsViewGIFs, stick around and make jokes. We need the numbers.
Speaking of DougExeter, here's a funny one-liner in the (hilarious) Ancient Chocolate post. He wasn't the only commenter who took this particular angle, but I like the straightforward, unfussy approach here. It makes a quick turn on the wordplay and finds a funny, indirect way of converting it into a LaRussa The Drunk punchline. Good stuff.
And finally, here's a gross recontextualization from FreemanMcNeil in the Ancient Chocolates post. It's funny how recontextualizations have slowed down in the past year or so. There was a time when they were the dominant joke form on Deadspin. You still see them, but they're more often tucked inside different joke structures, obscuring somewhat their pivot-point. Because they're a bit less common, it's actually nice to see a good, old fashioned line-of-italics recontextualization.
Total Fucking Duds
Burner KevinYoungsHair gives us today's dud, and it's this shameless hack job in the Shooting Insomniac post. I don't believe for a second that this is a coincidence. This might be taking the "do as the best do" notion a little too literally.
Thanks for reading, folks. Look for Friday's Roundup a little bit later today.
Favorites, in no particular order:
Have a look at this devastating one-liner from Universal Enveloping Algebra in the Oscar Pistorius Ad post. What a joke! Simple and dynamite. This is the Comment of the Day.
This humdinger, from Eddie Murray Sparkles in the Oscar Pistorius Ad post, was right there in the running. That's just an incredible pull. Later, here's another terrific pull, delivered in as bone-dry and straightforward a manner as possible, from the Darren Rovell post. Let the strength of the reference do the heavy lifting. And finally, here's a hilarious dig at female athletes in the Kangaroo Delay post. I laughed aloud at this one. Great job today.
I chuckled at this silly comment from Bring Back Anthony Mason in the Oscar Pistorius Ad post. This is a fun angle that relies totally upon the author's creativity and imagination. Also, here's a knockout from the Kangaroo Delay post. That's great. Good stuff.
Here's a quick, excellent joke from SavetoFavorites in the Trevor Bauer, MC post. It turns the [drops mic] action into a terrific dig without a whole lot of dense trickery. Nice work.
This funny little poem, from Gene Shalit's Merkin in the Shooting Insomniac post, could have yielded a thread - it sort of did, in fact - but I think it's funny enough all on its own. Stick around and make jokes, you.
Here's a simple enough little joke from BronzeHammer in the Shooting Insomniac post. Sometimes - often, in fact - it's the simple, silly, easy humor that really connects with the audience. There's nothing more exotic than a funny nickname driving this joke, but it works. Great job.
Here's the best of the tiptoeing jokes in the Shooting Insomniac post, from cobra, brah!. The picture helps, but I tend to think it's the way this joke dances around the angle instead of going right at it that makes it so successful. Many other commenters took less subtle approaches to this same line of text, without nearly the same impact.
I laughed at this line from David Hume in the Shooting Insomniac post. Simple enough angle, and of course imbued with that easy David Hume touch that gives the joke some personality to help accentuate the humor of the reference.
This is a great joke, from a burner called ChoosyMomsViewGIFs in the Vikings Logo post. It's so encouraging to see this kind of stuff from unknown commenters. It gets seriously exasperating following the comments closely from day to day. Every fucking day, it's hur dur what's with all the jokes and yadda yadda too soon!!1! and Gawker blah blah liberal blah blah gay worship blah blah, etc., and there are times when I so desperately miss the presence of moderators that even looking at Deadspin's comments ceases to be interesting and becomes a miserable chore. I won't go on and on about dismissing, you guys know how I feel about it. We have reached the point, though, where smart, funny, thoughtful commenters are being almost literally shouted down by complete and total morons. The optimistic view at the onset of Kinja held that new commenters would learn how to stand out as commenters by watching the best and most prominent commenters. The people who wanted to stick around and make jokes and, in general, be interesting and fresh and thoughtful and intelligent would survey the comments, figure out the landscape and tempo, and work their way in, adding their own voices to the mix. The rest would sink to the bottom of the page, be ignored, and move on. And that just hasn't happened. Why? Because every tourist who leaves is replaced by another ten the next day, and all these people have the exact same things to say, and it's all incredibly boring and stupid, and they can't possibly fall away at the rate they're being replaced.
There's a brain-dead, utterly false point hanging out there, and it's this: commenters are just learning to act like one another, all Deadspin commenters are interchangeable, etc. But it's AMAZING how different commenters' personalities and quirks shine through their comments. Yes, from time to time, everyone makes a bone-dry one-liner, but the whole rest of the time, the different commenters I've stalked the last few years couldn't be more distinct. We haven't written a Profile in Commenting in a long while, but trust me, we could write a fresh one about virtually every regular Deadspin commenter by now. Even new guys, like DougExeter, have established noticeably different voices. The respected regular commenters aren't known the way they are for all being the same, they're known for being smart and funny and interesting and distinct. And they're being overwhelmed by a never-ending horde of virtually identical burners and tourists and idiots. And it's frustrating as hell.
Anyway, ChoosyMomsViewGIFs, stick around and make jokes. We need the numbers.
Speaking of DougExeter, here's a funny one-liner in the (hilarious) Ancient Chocolate post. He wasn't the only commenter who took this particular angle, but I like the straightforward, unfussy approach here. It makes a quick turn on the wordplay and finds a funny, indirect way of converting it into a LaRussa The Drunk punchline. Good stuff.
And finally, here's a gross recontextualization from FreemanMcNeil in the Ancient Chocolates post. It's funny how recontextualizations have slowed down in the past year or so. There was a time when they were the dominant joke form on Deadspin. You still see them, but they're more often tucked inside different joke structures, obscuring somewhat their pivot-point. Because they're a bit less common, it's actually nice to see a good, old fashioned line-of-italics recontextualization.
Total Fucking Duds
Burner KevinYoungsHair gives us today's dud, and it's this shameless hack job in the Shooting Insomniac post. I don't believe for a second that this is a coincidence. This might be taking the "do as the best do" notion a little too literally.
Thanks for reading, folks. Look for Friday's Roundup a little bit later today.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Wednesday Roundup
Favorites and duds from today's commenting.
Favorites, in no particular order:
Here's a terrific dialogue joke from SavetoFavorites in the Will Ferrell post. See what I mean about the heckling? Also in there is a fucking hilarious comeback from SavetoFavorites, well worth checking out all on its own. This could have very easily been the Comment of the Day. It was a tight race today.
This joke, from RMJ=H in the Spider Bite post, ought to have a "Born to Kill" tattoo on its shoulder. This thing had a 100% chance of slaying the crowd. First of all, it's very funny. Second of all, it's sex humor, which is always popular. But most importantly, it's easily accessible. It takes a section of text and repurposes it so cleanly that there's an immediate payoff for any reader. There's an argument to be made that someone was always going to make this joke, but I'm glad it was someone this funny and talented, someone who would give it the lightest of touches and get the most out of it. Good stuff.
Eddie Murray Sparkles killed me with this one-liner in the Spider Bite post. That's such a great pull, and again, it's so much more than clever. The very idea of the proposed publication is just hysterical. Also today, Eddie Murray Sparkles dropped this letter-perfect dig in the Full Kit Wankers post. Man is that great.
Here's a funny reference from Bring Back Anthony Mason in the Spider Bite post. For whatever reason, spider posts seem to bring out the best in Deadspin's commenters. This is such a simple angle, but it really benefits from that out-of-left-field quality. I laughed aloud at this.
I dig this sort of personal humor, from BronzeHammer in the Spider Bite post. It almost has a sort of AMIRITE???? thing going on, where it calls upon our common experience or understanding of parenting small children. Jerry Seinfeld built most of his career on this exact kind of humor, although it's apparently not good enough for some burner asshole in the replies. Christ.
Here's your Comment of the Day, from Rare Endangered Vuvuzela in the Rob Gronkowski post. This joke satirizes the way athletes' indiscretions are often handled by fans and media, and it's relevant to the post, and I particularly enjoy the way the bracketed sections arrive closer together as the joke moves along. It give the joke a certain pace and timing that really boosts its humor, which is important because it doesn't build towards a punchline. That's a job well done. Good stuff.
Also in the Rob Gronkowski post, I'm surprised this sequence from Madoffs Mets didn't get more attention. It's a very clever pull, but it doesn't rely totally on the reference; it uses it to create a brutally awkward scenario without hammering the reader over the head with it. Great joke.
I also laughed at this dig from Mantis Toboggan, M.D. in the Rob Gronkoswki post. I was sure this was going to be a fat joke, but although it does reference the girl's body, it ultimately veers in another direction altogether. I think the joke really does benefit from that defiance of expectations. Great job.
I wonder how anyone could not laugh at this sequence from Same Sad Echo in the Ski Crash post. That last line delivers so much humor: it reframes the mother's feelings about her son, it gives us the funny idea of the state of his underwear, it makes use of our common experience of mom-like behavior, and it proposes that the state of the man's underwear would actually be reported to his mother after a crash. I love this joke. It's great. Also, here's something creative and silly and charming in the Deer Antler Man post. I really do love this stuff. Keep the silliness coming.
And finally, here's a fantastic reference from DougExeter in the Stadium Renovations post. The reference alone is really fucking strong, but DougExeter gives his presentation a certain voice, just enough to take it beyond "hey, look what I figured out" without also trampling the pull. Awesome joke.
Total Fucking Duds
Peace.
Favorites, in no particular order:
Here's a terrific dialogue joke from SavetoFavorites in the Will Ferrell post. See what I mean about the heckling? Also in there is a fucking hilarious comeback from SavetoFavorites, well worth checking out all on its own. This could have very easily been the Comment of the Day. It was a tight race today.
This joke, from RMJ=H in the Spider Bite post, ought to have a "Born to Kill" tattoo on its shoulder. This thing had a 100% chance of slaying the crowd. First of all, it's very funny. Second of all, it's sex humor, which is always popular. But most importantly, it's easily accessible. It takes a section of text and repurposes it so cleanly that there's an immediate payoff for any reader. There's an argument to be made that someone was always going to make this joke, but I'm glad it was someone this funny and talented, someone who would give it the lightest of touches and get the most out of it. Good stuff.
Eddie Murray Sparkles killed me with this one-liner in the Spider Bite post. That's such a great pull, and again, it's so much more than clever. The very idea of the proposed publication is just hysterical. Also today, Eddie Murray Sparkles dropped this letter-perfect dig in the Full Kit Wankers post. Man is that great.
Here's a funny reference from Bring Back Anthony Mason in the Spider Bite post. For whatever reason, spider posts seem to bring out the best in Deadspin's commenters. This is such a simple angle, but it really benefits from that out-of-left-field quality. I laughed aloud at this.
I dig this sort of personal humor, from BronzeHammer in the Spider Bite post. It almost has a sort of AMIRITE???? thing going on, where it calls upon our common experience or understanding of parenting small children. Jerry Seinfeld built most of his career on this exact kind of humor, although it's apparently not good enough for some burner asshole in the replies. Christ.
Here's your Comment of the Day, from Rare Endangered Vuvuzela in the Rob Gronkowski post. This joke satirizes the way athletes' indiscretions are often handled by fans and media, and it's relevant to the post, and I particularly enjoy the way the bracketed sections arrive closer together as the joke moves along. It give the joke a certain pace and timing that really boosts its humor, which is important because it doesn't build towards a punchline. That's a job well done. Good stuff.
Also in the Rob Gronkowski post, I'm surprised this sequence from Madoffs Mets didn't get more attention. It's a very clever pull, but it doesn't rely totally on the reference; it uses it to create a brutally awkward scenario without hammering the reader over the head with it. Great joke.
I also laughed at this dig from Mantis Toboggan, M.D. in the Rob Gronkoswki post. I was sure this was going to be a fat joke, but although it does reference the girl's body, it ultimately veers in another direction altogether. I think the joke really does benefit from that defiance of expectations. Great job.
I wonder how anyone could not laugh at this sequence from Same Sad Echo in the Ski Crash post. That last line delivers so much humor: it reframes the mother's feelings about her son, it gives us the funny idea of the state of his underwear, it makes use of our common experience of mom-like behavior, and it proposes that the state of the man's underwear would actually be reported to his mother after a crash. I love this joke. It's great. Also, here's something creative and silly and charming in the Deer Antler Man post. I really do love this stuff. Keep the silliness coming.
And finally, here's a fantastic reference from DougExeter in the Stadium Renovations post. The reference alone is really fucking strong, but DougExeter gives his presentation a certain voice, just enough to take it beyond "hey, look what I figured out" without also trampling the pull. Awesome joke.
Peace.
Tuesday Roundup
Favorites and duds from today's commenting.
Favorites, in no particular order:
Here's an imaginative sequence from Same Sad Echo in the Joe Buck post. I've noticed lately there seems to be a bit of an anti-dialogue-joke movement brewing. It seems one or two dialogue jokes (or "made-up conversations") per day are getting flamed by surly burners. I suppose you funny types ought to instead focus on Simpsons quotes and one-liners featuring porn references. Later, I chuckled at this Phil Mickelson joke in the Derrick Rose post. Very good.
Here's a rather bizarre recontextualization-like joke from All Over But The Sharting in the Eliminated Wrestling post. All Over But The Sharting is one of the masters of letting the air out of the balloon all at once, the jokes that take their time getting where they're going and then deliver an abrupt, effective punchline.
I laughed at this long tease from SavetoFavorites in the Eliminated Wrestling post. That's really great. All along you're enjoying the creative wrestling references, but ultimately it's what isn't said that serves as the punchline of the joke, and that's just so smart and creative. I also laughed at this little sequence in the Derrick Rose post, and I'm sort of surprised it didn't get more attention. It's that clever deployment of the absurd that works on me virtually every time. Good stuff.
This is just so ridiculous, from Gamboa Constrictor in the Daddy Juice post. It makes use of the circumstances of the post, but redirects them for a completely off-the-wall joke that happens to also have something smart to say about OJ. I love it. Great joke.
Then, of course, there's this astonishing one-liner from Eddie Murray Sparkles in the Daddy Juice post. Some jokes are more clever than funny, and sometimes, in the urgent search for material within a post around which to form a joke, we forsake funny and settle on clever. This is a wordplay joke, and it's so, so clever, but it's also really funny, and Eddie Murray Sparkles has an unbelievable talent for just that kind of combination. It's impressive.
Here's a kick-ass quote from RobTheStreet in the Connor Bird post. This thing is smokin'. Presented exactly as-is, without any set-up or context, it's just fucking perfect. Stick around, guy. That's a hell of a joke. I'm thinking this is the Comment of the Day . . . yep. Yes. This is the Comment of the Day.
Here's something silly and charming as hell from Bevraj of Choice in the Connor Bird post. The goofiness and glee of the Operator character is funny enough, but of course the real laugh comes from the abrupt shift in tone at the very end.
I chuckled at this one-liner from Bring Back Anthony Mason in the Connor Bird post. It's a funny pull packaged effectively. Later, I had to research this joke, in the Mike Piazza post, but it was well worth it. Even if you happen to already know what the fuck a Karate Gi is, you really get no advance clues for where this joke is headed, which is part of what makes that last line so damn hilarious. Great job.
This joke, from Sponsored by V8 in the Connor Bird post, makes great use of what we know about the Bird/Jordan relationship. It's such a simple angle, but Sponsored by V8 approaches it with the appropriate amount of silliness. Good stuff.
I very nearly missed this joke, from Raysism in the Popes, Ranked post. Posts like these are often a wasteland, at best featuring a few burner throwaway comments. I'm glad I checked. This joke obviously just piles on the silliness, and there's nothing wrong with that.
And finally, here's a well-timed Fred Hoiberg joke from David Hume in the Shaun Livingston post. I'm still chuckling about this. Poor fuckin' Hoiberg.
Total Fucking Duds
Favorites, in no particular order:
Here's an imaginative sequence from Same Sad Echo in the Joe Buck post. I've noticed lately there seems to be a bit of an anti-dialogue-joke movement brewing. It seems one or two dialogue jokes (or "made-up conversations") per day are getting flamed by surly burners. I suppose you funny types ought to instead focus on Simpsons quotes and one-liners featuring porn references. Later, I chuckled at this Phil Mickelson joke in the Derrick Rose post. Very good.
Here's a rather bizarre recontextualization-like joke from All Over But The Sharting in the Eliminated Wrestling post. All Over But The Sharting is one of the masters of letting the air out of the balloon all at once, the jokes that take their time getting where they're going and then deliver an abrupt, effective punchline.
I laughed at this long tease from SavetoFavorites in the Eliminated Wrestling post. That's really great. All along you're enjoying the creative wrestling references, but ultimately it's what isn't said that serves as the punchline of the joke, and that's just so smart and creative. I also laughed at this little sequence in the Derrick Rose post, and I'm sort of surprised it didn't get more attention. It's that clever deployment of the absurd that works on me virtually every time. Good stuff.
This is just so ridiculous, from Gamboa Constrictor in the Daddy Juice post. It makes use of the circumstances of the post, but redirects them for a completely off-the-wall joke that happens to also have something smart to say about OJ. I love it. Great joke.
Then, of course, there's this astonishing one-liner from Eddie Murray Sparkles in the Daddy Juice post. Some jokes are more clever than funny, and sometimes, in the urgent search for material within a post around which to form a joke, we forsake funny and settle on clever. This is a wordplay joke, and it's so, so clever, but it's also really funny, and Eddie Murray Sparkles has an unbelievable talent for just that kind of combination. It's impressive.
Here's a kick-ass quote from RobTheStreet in the Connor Bird post. This thing is smokin'. Presented exactly as-is, without any set-up or context, it's just fucking perfect. Stick around, guy. That's a hell of a joke. I'm thinking this is the Comment of the Day . . . yep. Yes. This is the Comment of the Day.
Here's something silly and charming as hell from Bevraj of Choice in the Connor Bird post. The goofiness and glee of the Operator character is funny enough, but of course the real laugh comes from the abrupt shift in tone at the very end.
I chuckled at this one-liner from Bring Back Anthony Mason in the Connor Bird post. It's a funny pull packaged effectively. Later, I had to research this joke, in the Mike Piazza post, but it was well worth it. Even if you happen to already know what the fuck a Karate Gi is, you really get no advance clues for where this joke is headed, which is part of what makes that last line so damn hilarious. Great job.
This joke, from Sponsored by V8 in the Connor Bird post, makes great use of what we know about the Bird/Jordan relationship. It's such a simple angle, but Sponsored by V8 approaches it with the appropriate amount of silliness. Good stuff.
I very nearly missed this joke, from Raysism in the Popes, Ranked post. Posts like these are often a wasteland, at best featuring a few burner throwaway comments. I'm glad I checked. This joke obviously just piles on the silliness, and there's nothing wrong with that.
And finally, here's a well-timed Fred Hoiberg joke from David Hume in the Shaun Livingston post. I'm still chuckling about this. Poor fuckin' Hoiberg.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Monday Roundup
Favorites and duds from today's commenting.
Favorites, in no particular order:
Here's a smart, funny one-liner from Raysism in the Parachutist post. Simple enough, but a sharp pull executed perfectly.
I'm pretty surprised this funny one-liner from RMJ=H in the Lil Wayne post didn't get more attention. It's thin as hell and very, very stupid, but its silliness totally got to me. Good stuff.
I laughed aloud at this recontextualization from FreemanMcNeil in the Jay Williams post. It's a terrific joke, direct and simple and funny. You see a lot of tortured recontextualizations, many of them worth the effort, but this one is straightforward and wonderful.
Here's a funny dig at Michael Jordan from BlairWalshProject in the Jay Williams post. The idea of this is funny enough that it doesn't require very careful delivery. It's not presented as a set-up/knockdown joke, but this allows the joke to have a pleasant conversational tone, and that totally works.
Maybe it's just me, but I thought this wordplay gag from OmahaOmahaHut in the Michael Vick post was pretty good. That's a pretty damn clever pull and right on the money.
Here's a rather unpleasant one-liner from Madoffs Mets in the Warriors Unis post. I once worked in an office where the term "wizard's sleeve" was considered the very pinnacle of humor for virtually a year. Still, this is a great pull.
Here's a great dig at New Jersey from Bronze Hammer in the Warriors Unis post. This one was destined to kill. Great job. We'll call this the Comment of the Day.
I enjoyed this line from Greg "The Aryan" Stiemsma in the Weird Baseball Injury post. It's essentially a recontextualization, but the laugh obviously comes from the dig at the Pirates. Good stuff.
This line from SavetoFavorites in the Tokin' Bulls post is good for a hearty chuckle. It's a pretty good pull, in addition to having some funny wordplay.
Total Fucking Duds
Somebody fucking get rid of this guy, please. It shouldn't be so hard. Whatever pile of shit bureaucracy now stands between this asshole and a banning needs to get itself in gear, and fast.
Jennifer A already took a stiff elbow for this execrable comment in the Weird Baseball Injury post, but it's worth piling on. Get a fucking clue, you total jackass. For crying out loud.
Hey, have a great evening. Don't let your dogs get into any fake sugar, lest you find yourself out two grand and possibly a couple of goofball but nonetheless lovable pooches.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
The Week In Review Director's Cut
Hey, Awards!
Last Week's Swinging Dicks
In third place, winner of two long screws meant for use in the mounting of Pottery Barn's Rustic Wine Glass Ledge in my dining room: Steve U, with 7 Favorites in the last five days.
Here's my favorite comment from Steve U from last week. This was one of last week's very best comments.
In a tie for second place, proud co-winners of a pair of "toggles", meant to anchor two long screws in the mounting of Pottery Barn's Rustic Wine Glass Ledge in my dining room: RMJ=H and Doug Exeter, with 8 Favorites each in the last five days.
Unbelievably, this is my favorite comment from RMJ=H from last week. RMJ=H had a lot of funny comments last week, but as I go back through them, I find myself really laughing a lot at this one.
This is far and away my favorite comment from DougExeter from last week. I know it's dark and some people are doing the whole "too soon" thing, but this joke absolutely killed me.
And in first place, winner of Pottery Barn's irredeemably awful Rustic Wine Glass Ledge, for which one will need neither the long screws nor the toggles because it is completely stupid and dysfunctional and is surely meant as some kind of malicious eff-you to anyone unfortunate enough to purchase it, but should do just fine as fuel for the fireplace: Raysism, with 9 Favorites (!) in the last five days.
Here's my favorite comment from Raysism from last week. So simple and so funny.
This fucking crap is yours if you want it. If anyone wants to putty up and repaint my goddamn wall while you're here, well, I sure wouldn't complain about it.
Wait, there's more!
The Monday Comment of the Day, from Raysism.
The Tuesday Comment of the Day, from IronMikeGallego.
The Wednesday Comment of the Day, from Steve U.
The Thursday Comment of the Day, from DougExeter.
The Friday Comment of the Day, from RMJ=H.
Congratulations, funny types.
The Unwelcome Lesson of the Week
So, I'm going to use someone's joke here, and I'm going to do it entirely without permission, and I'm going to beg that person's forgiveness, but, anyway, I think we can use it to work something out.
Here's the joke. Sorry, boss.
So, this is a dialogue joke. It has a couple of things going on:
1. It references the picture at the top of the post.
2. It appears to suggest something about Adam Morrison's personality.
3. It appears to suggest something about Luke Walton's personality.
4. It appears to suggest something about Ron Artest's personality.
5. It uses repetition, presumably to develop rhythm and timing.
6. It seems to be taking a shot at Adam Morrison's clothing.
7. It seems to pivot at the end, redirecting the dig at Lamar Odom.
I'm using this joke because I had a chance to learn what it is about: Lamar Odom is known among some people for having questionable taste in clothing.
Or . . . hang on a second, is that really what this joke is about?
For people who know a thing or two about Lamar Odom, his consistent choice of strange-looking jackets probably has a little bit of juice in it as a joke angle. For the rest of us, we might be able to divine from the content of this or another, similar joke that it reveals this particular truth about Lamar Odom, but that's not likely to be a very funny realization. And the author of the joke was smart enough to realize that Lamar Odom's poor taste in jackets was not, alone, enough to carry a joke. He packaged it, intuitively enough, inside a dialogue set-up, giving himself plenty of room to tease out this angle and supplement it with other funny little touches. That's the right move.
But let's look at the joke again: what is it about? I ask this because you've got to do an accounting of your joke, and in that accounting, the question must be asked: what's really funny about this joke? What's funnier: that Lamar Odom is known by some to wear ugly jackets? Or that a group of NBA players is sitting on the sideline of a game playing broken telephone? For my money, the broken telephone angle is the far funnier of the two. Think of all the room you're given to play around within that premise! Think of how perfectly absurd that idea is, before you even start dumping in the outrageous details! That's a fine starting point for a great joke, and if you want to punch it up with a silly, over-the-top criticism of Adam Morrison's clothing or, by extension, Lamar Odom's clothing, by all means, go nuts.
When I think of this joke, it brings to mind this joke, from a few months ago. Both jokes start with something known (or supposed) about a marginal NBA player. Both jokes use an absurd circumstance as a way of making use of what is known (or supposed) about that player. But the first joke fails to realize that what it is about is the silly circumstance, whereas the second joke packs all of its humor inside the circumstance. In other words, the punchline of the first joke shouldn't be that Lamar Odom wears crappy clothing - there's just not much there. When you've incorporated a circumstance that is all alone a lot funnier than that idea that spawned the joke, stick to the circumstance, and use the original idea as just some of the accent work of your joke. There's no rule that says your joke needs a punchline - this is one of the funniest things I've ever read, and it has nothing like a punchline. Don't feel like you're bound to the idea that spawned your joke, especially if it brings you to a delivery device that is so, so much funnier than the original idea.
Make your joke about NBA players playing broken telephone on the sideline, use the players' idiosyncrasies to punch up that idea, and if there's not one strong punchline among those idiosyncrasies, say "to hell with a punchline" and just work the angle. It's the difference between a joke about Lamar Odom's bad jacket and a joke about Nick Young washing his dishes in the dryer. Or a joke about something that's not really widely known about a marginal player and a joke about all the fun that can be had inside the premise of a sex-for-access advertisement written by a depraved Edgar Allen Poe. Know thyself, gentle joke!
Hey, how about that Beyonce! Have a splendid evening. It's wonderfully flattering that you talented sumbitches keep checking in. Thanks for reading, as always.
Last Week's Swinging Dicks
In third place, winner of two long screws meant for use in the mounting of Pottery Barn's Rustic Wine Glass Ledge in my dining room: Steve U, with 7 Favorites in the last five days.
Here's my favorite comment from Steve U from last week. This was one of last week's very best comments.
In a tie for second place, proud co-winners of a pair of "toggles", meant to anchor two long screws in the mounting of Pottery Barn's Rustic Wine Glass Ledge in my dining room: RMJ=H and Doug Exeter, with 8 Favorites each in the last five days.
Unbelievably, this is my favorite comment from RMJ=H from last week. RMJ=H had a lot of funny comments last week, but as I go back through them, I find myself really laughing a lot at this one.
This is far and away my favorite comment from DougExeter from last week. I know it's dark and some people are doing the whole "too soon" thing, but this joke absolutely killed me.
And in first place, winner of Pottery Barn's irredeemably awful Rustic Wine Glass Ledge, for which one will need neither the long screws nor the toggles because it is completely stupid and dysfunctional and is surely meant as some kind of malicious eff-you to anyone unfortunate enough to purchase it, but should do just fine as fuel for the fireplace: Raysism, with 9 Favorites (!) in the last five days.
Here's my favorite comment from Raysism from last week. So simple and so funny.
This fucking crap is yours if you want it. If anyone wants to putty up and repaint my goddamn wall while you're here, well, I sure wouldn't complain about it.
Wait, there's more!
The Monday Comment of the Day, from Raysism.
The Tuesday Comment of the Day, from IronMikeGallego.
The Wednesday Comment of the Day, from Steve U.
The Thursday Comment of the Day, from DougExeter.
The Friday Comment of the Day, from RMJ=H.
Congratulations, funny types.
The Unwelcome Lesson of the Week
So, I'm going to use someone's joke here, and I'm going to do it entirely without permission, and I'm going to beg that person's forgiveness, but, anyway, I think we can use it to work something out.
Here's the joke. Sorry, boss.
So, this is a dialogue joke. It has a couple of things going on:
1. It references the picture at the top of the post.
2. It appears to suggest something about Adam Morrison's personality.
3. It appears to suggest something about Luke Walton's personality.
4. It appears to suggest something about Ron Artest's personality.
5. It uses repetition, presumably to develop rhythm and timing.
6. It seems to be taking a shot at Adam Morrison's clothing.
7. It seems to pivot at the end, redirecting the dig at Lamar Odom.
I'm using this joke because I had a chance to learn what it is about: Lamar Odom is known among some people for having questionable taste in clothing.
Or . . . hang on a second, is that really what this joke is about?
For people who know a thing or two about Lamar Odom, his consistent choice of strange-looking jackets probably has a little bit of juice in it as a joke angle. For the rest of us, we might be able to divine from the content of this or another, similar joke that it reveals this particular truth about Lamar Odom, but that's not likely to be a very funny realization. And the author of the joke was smart enough to realize that Lamar Odom's poor taste in jackets was not, alone, enough to carry a joke. He packaged it, intuitively enough, inside a dialogue set-up, giving himself plenty of room to tease out this angle and supplement it with other funny little touches. That's the right move.
But let's look at the joke again: what is it about? I ask this because you've got to do an accounting of your joke, and in that accounting, the question must be asked: what's really funny about this joke? What's funnier: that Lamar Odom is known by some to wear ugly jackets? Or that a group of NBA players is sitting on the sideline of a game playing broken telephone? For my money, the broken telephone angle is the far funnier of the two. Think of all the room you're given to play around within that premise! Think of how perfectly absurd that idea is, before you even start dumping in the outrageous details! That's a fine starting point for a great joke, and if you want to punch it up with a silly, over-the-top criticism of Adam Morrison's clothing or, by extension, Lamar Odom's clothing, by all means, go nuts.
When I think of this joke, it brings to mind this joke, from a few months ago. Both jokes start with something known (or supposed) about a marginal NBA player. Both jokes use an absurd circumstance as a way of making use of what is known (or supposed) about that player. But the first joke fails to realize that what it is about is the silly circumstance, whereas the second joke packs all of its humor inside the circumstance. In other words, the punchline of the first joke shouldn't be that Lamar Odom wears crappy clothing - there's just not much there. When you've incorporated a circumstance that is all alone a lot funnier than that idea that spawned the joke, stick to the circumstance, and use the original idea as just some of the accent work of your joke. There's no rule that says your joke needs a punchline - this is one of the funniest things I've ever read, and it has nothing like a punchline. Don't feel like you're bound to the idea that spawned your joke, especially if it brings you to a delivery device that is so, so much funnier than the original idea.
Make your joke about NBA players playing broken telephone on the sideline, use the players' idiosyncrasies to punch up that idea, and if there's not one strong punchline among those idiosyncrasies, say "to hell with a punchline" and just work the angle. It's the difference between a joke about Lamar Odom's bad jacket and a joke about Nick Young washing his dishes in the dryer. Or a joke about something that's not really widely known about a marginal player and a joke about all the fun that can be had inside the premise of a sex-for-access advertisement written by a depraved Edgar Allen Poe. Know thyself, gentle joke!
Hey, how about that Beyonce! Have a splendid evening. It's wonderfully flattering that you talented sumbitches keep checking in. Thanks for reading, as always.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Friday Roundup
Favorites and duds from today's commenting.
Favorites, in no particular order:
I enjoyed this smart Ed Koch joke from Lionel Osbourne in the Up With People post. It happens he's heterosexual! This joke might have been a bit obscure for some people, but I loved it, and I think we can do away with the obscurity=bad thing once and for all.
Here's a quick little sequence from RMJ=H in the Diabetes Dog post. I laughed aloud at this. And later, here's a completely ridiculous sequence in the Piggyback Bandit post. Those are both terrific. I think the Diabetes Dog one might be my favorite Favorite of the two, and I'm making it the Comment of the Day.
I liked this dig at the Cubs from TheCarlosRuizSpanishEnglishDictionary in the Orphaned Bear Cubs post. I don't know that it's "amazing" or the commenting equivalent of a "perfect game", but it's a solid pull packaged with personality. Good stuff.
Speaking of ridiculous, check out this insane sequence from BronzeHammer in the Whippit Standoff post. Holy moly. For me, the best part of this joke is the listing of 1-10 and then hitting us with 11-23 all in one line. For whatever reason, that really cracked me up.
Raysism took a shot at the Pelican lady in the Twitter Handle post, earning a big round of applause. This joke positions the reader to expect one misunderstanding, and then dumps a second, even more glorious misunderstanding on top of it at the end. I'm not sure if that counts as misdirection, but it definitely puts your expectations in one place and then hits you full force with a punchline from another angle. Great joke.
And, finally, here's a funny recontextualization from Gamboa Constrictor in the Pepper Spray post. Or is it? Is he suggesting a different sequence of events, or is he playing the dummy and using his line to reveal his misunderstanding of the content? Either way, it's funny and I laughed. Good shit.
Total Fucking Duds
Keep an eye out for a Week In Review sometime today or tomorrow.
Favorites, in no particular order:
I enjoyed this smart Ed Koch joke from Lionel Osbourne in the Up With People post. It happens he's heterosexual! This joke might have been a bit obscure for some people, but I loved it, and I think we can do away with the obscurity=bad thing once and for all.
Here's a quick little sequence from RMJ=H in the Diabetes Dog post. I laughed aloud at this. And later, here's a completely ridiculous sequence in the Piggyback Bandit post. Those are both terrific. I think the Diabetes Dog one might be my favorite Favorite of the two, and I'm making it the Comment of the Day.
I liked this dig at the Cubs from TheCarlosRuizSpanishEnglishDictionary in the Orphaned Bear Cubs post. I don't know that it's "amazing" or the commenting equivalent of a "perfect game", but it's a solid pull packaged with personality. Good stuff.
Speaking of ridiculous, check out this insane sequence from BronzeHammer in the Whippit Standoff post. Holy moly. For me, the best part of this joke is the listing of 1-10 and then hitting us with 11-23 all in one line. For whatever reason, that really cracked me up.
Raysism took a shot at the Pelican lady in the Twitter Handle post, earning a big round of applause. This joke positions the reader to expect one misunderstanding, and then dumps a second, even more glorious misunderstanding on top of it at the end. I'm not sure if that counts as misdirection, but it definitely puts your expectations in one place and then hits you full force with a punchline from another angle. Great joke.
And, finally, here's a funny recontextualization from Gamboa Constrictor in the Pepper Spray post. Or is it? Is he suggesting a different sequence of events, or is he playing the dummy and using his line to reveal his misunderstanding of the content? Either way, it's funny and I laughed. Good shit.
Keep an eye out for a Week In Review sometime today or tomorrow.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Thursday Roundup
Favorites and duds from today's commenting.
Favorites, in no particular order:
Here's a great and incredibly popular dig from Bevraj of Choice in the Dan Marino Love Child post. This joke was destined to kill. I've got no problem with that, but I don't think it was Thursday's best joke. It's great, undeniably great, great great great, but the 120 +1s are more a reflection of its accessibility.
Here's a strong pull from Kid Canada in the Dan Marino post. This one was there for the taking, and Kid Canada got there, and it's funny, and he gets the credit. Nice job.
This joke, from BronzeHammer in the Coyotes Sale post, kinda overwhelms you with its commitment. It's just full-bore crazy-ass balls-to-the-wall ridiculousness, and sometimes that does the trick. Later, BronzeHammer dropped this creative visual joke in the Rick Reilly post. And even later, I enjoyed this bonehead collection of stereotypes in the Ronaiah Tuiasosopo Interview post. Great work today.
Here's a terrific one-liner from Raysism in the J.J. Watt Proposal post. That's such a smart, hilarious turn of events.
Here's a great reference from Lionel Osbourne in the Rushing the Court post. Not just the clever use of a previous post, but also the way it provides a funny and ridiculous backstory for the video. I laughed aloud at this. Later, I laughed even harder at this absurd one-liner in the Caleb Moore post. That's so, so funny.
Here's ye olde fat joke from Eddie Murray Sparkles in the Rick Reilly post. Of course, because it's Eddie Murray Sparkles we're talking about, the joke involves strong wordplay and letter-perfect delivery. Not your average fat joke.
Here's a great dig from Gamboa Constrictor in the Rick Reilly post. I'm frankly running out of ways to say "Gamboa is great at one-liners". Gamboa is very great at one-liners.
Yeah, I'm always going to laugh at a ridiculous Polish joke, like this one from RMJ=H in the X Games post. Taking a second glance at the photo after reading the joke yields something wonderful. And here's an outstanding one-liner in the Amani Toomer post. There are only so many Ray Lewis = Murderer jokes left to be made, but (of course) there's still juice left in there for the creative commenter.
Here's a funny extended repurpose of the word "patronize" from DougExeter in the Banned Goodell post. That's very good. And, for my money, this is the Comment of the Day, in the Caleb Moore post. This killed me. And, finally, here's something somewhat lighter in the Ronaiah Tuiasosopo Interview post. That Caleb Moore joke is a fucking knockout. Also, I wish I could personally uppercut every person who made a "too soon" comment in that post. Even the "see you in hell" stuff makes me crazy. Seriously.
Here's a big dramatic playaction fake from SavetoFavorites in the Recovering Homosexual post. Later, I thought this was one of the day's very best comments, in the Caleb Moore post. This could have very easily been the Comment of the Day. It's not so much the idea that it's all an X Games trick so much as the notion of someone hoping it's an X Games trick . . . this fucking knocked me over.
This is an incredibly smart, gruesome joke from Sponsored by V8 in the Caleb Moore post. Yes, it required a little research, but it was so worth it. And later, here's a kickass one-liner in the Amani Toomer post. Amani's first and last names were each featured in great one-liners today. A guy's got a right to feel proud about that.
This sequence, from Universal Enveloping Algebra in the NFL Team Doctors post, also does the whole overwhelm-you-with-absurdity thing. It's a bit of a high-wire act, because at times the laid-on-thick craziness can read like schtick, and only burners love schtick. This joke stays well short of that threshold and retains its funniness.
This is just so simple and funny, from Steve U in the Liquor Store Robbery post. It's a completely stupid silver-lining joke, executed perfectly.
All Over But The Sharting cracked me up with this excellent contribution to the Phil Mickelson post. The word "goddamn" is a smart way of giving the joke a particular tone of voice. If you make this joke as a simple math problem, it's still pretty clever, but it's the subtle little personality clues that really make it funny.
And finally, here's some good-natured ribbing from Same Sad Echo in the KSK Roundtable post. Also, that's a pretty goddamn hilarious .gif as a comeback. I really enjoyed this whole exchange. Good stuff.
Total Fucking Duds
Favorites, in no particular order:
Here's a great and incredibly popular dig from Bevraj of Choice in the Dan Marino Love Child post. This joke was destined to kill. I've got no problem with that, but I don't think it was Thursday's best joke. It's great, undeniably great, great great great, but the 120 +1s are more a reflection of its accessibility.
Here's a strong pull from Kid Canada in the Dan Marino post. This one was there for the taking, and Kid Canada got there, and it's funny, and he gets the credit. Nice job.
This joke, from BronzeHammer in the Coyotes Sale post, kinda overwhelms you with its commitment. It's just full-bore crazy-ass balls-to-the-wall ridiculousness, and sometimes that does the trick. Later, BronzeHammer dropped this creative visual joke in the Rick Reilly post. And even later, I enjoyed this bonehead collection of stereotypes in the Ronaiah Tuiasosopo Interview post. Great work today.
Here's a terrific one-liner from Raysism in the J.J. Watt Proposal post. That's such a smart, hilarious turn of events.
Here's a great reference from Lionel Osbourne in the Rushing the Court post. Not just the clever use of a previous post, but also the way it provides a funny and ridiculous backstory for the video. I laughed aloud at this. Later, I laughed even harder at this absurd one-liner in the Caleb Moore post. That's so, so funny.
Here's ye olde fat joke from Eddie Murray Sparkles in the Rick Reilly post. Of course, because it's Eddie Murray Sparkles we're talking about, the joke involves strong wordplay and letter-perfect delivery. Not your average fat joke.
Here's a great dig from Gamboa Constrictor in the Rick Reilly post. I'm frankly running out of ways to say "Gamboa is great at one-liners". Gamboa is very great at one-liners.
Yeah, I'm always going to laugh at a ridiculous Polish joke, like this one from RMJ=H in the X Games post. Taking a second glance at the photo after reading the joke yields something wonderful. And here's an outstanding one-liner in the Amani Toomer post. There are only so many Ray Lewis = Murderer jokes left to be made, but (of course) there's still juice left in there for the creative commenter.
Here's a funny extended repurpose of the word "patronize" from DougExeter in the Banned Goodell post. That's very good. And, for my money, this is the Comment of the Day, in the Caleb Moore post. This killed me. And, finally, here's something somewhat lighter in the Ronaiah Tuiasosopo Interview post. That Caleb Moore joke is a fucking knockout. Also, I wish I could personally uppercut every person who made a "too soon" comment in that post. Even the "see you in hell" stuff makes me crazy. Seriously.
Here's a big dramatic playaction fake from SavetoFavorites in the Recovering Homosexual post. Later, I thought this was one of the day's very best comments, in the Caleb Moore post. This could have very easily been the Comment of the Day. It's not so much the idea that it's all an X Games trick so much as the notion of someone hoping it's an X Games trick . . . this fucking knocked me over.
This is an incredibly smart, gruesome joke from Sponsored by V8 in the Caleb Moore post. Yes, it required a little research, but it was so worth it. And later, here's a kickass one-liner in the Amani Toomer post. Amani's first and last names were each featured in great one-liners today. A guy's got a right to feel proud about that.
This sequence, from Universal Enveloping Algebra in the NFL Team Doctors post, also does the whole overwhelm-you-with-absurdity thing. It's a bit of a high-wire act, because at times the laid-on-thick craziness can read like schtick, and only burners love schtick. This joke stays well short of that threshold and retains its funniness.
This is just so simple and funny, from Steve U in the Liquor Store Robbery post. It's a completely stupid silver-lining joke, executed perfectly.
All Over But The Sharting cracked me up with this excellent contribution to the Phil Mickelson post. The word "goddamn" is a smart way of giving the joke a particular tone of voice. If you make this joke as a simple math problem, it's still pretty clever, but it's the subtle little personality clues that really make it funny.
And finally, here's some good-natured ribbing from Same Sad Echo in the KSK Roundtable post. Also, that's a pretty goddamn hilarious .gif as a comeback. I really enjoyed this whole exchange. Good stuff.
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