Tag: Comedy

Tom Lehrer Is A Genius

lizlovelaughLeave a comment

There is a very niche genre of songs my Dad loves.

They’re a blend of weird slapstick-parody comedy. Think Weird Al but more archaic.

Artists like Dr. Demento and Allan Sherman (Camp Granada guy) produce music in this genre. My Dad’s favorite, Tom Lehrer, however, stands out to me.

Like the rest of these creators, he is really smart. In fact, he graduated from Harvard. When I was a kid, I remember watching his song “New Math.” Besides being really catchy, it is overloaded with subtle jokes like the rest of his songs. Anyway, he’s a really clever guy and is one of my favorite satiric songwriters.

I feel like I need to write more so I’ll talk about Weird Al, I guess. I have first introduced to him a really long time ago one night while I was eating dinner. Someone thought I ate too slowly so she started playing “eat it.” I thought it was really funny. Anyway, he’s a cool guy too like Tom Lehrer, really smart. And guess what, he went to Calpoly. Like what’s the deal with all these comedian-songwriters and their impressive educational backgrounds.

PC: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Tom_Lehrer_-_Southern_Campus_1960.jpg

the terrible simply horrible nudge

icaruswithwarmwingsLeave a comment

Have you encountered the terrible nudge?

Expectantly nudging her muzzle

Into the kerfuffle

She expects me to pet her or feed her

Or give her some attention

But literally I just did all of those things

Like more than one time over

And i’m sitting in my rotating chair 

Criss cross like a precarious preschooler

With my noise cancelation 

my reading annotation

And suddenly I notice a wet nose

I look down, big brown eyes, a wet nose

Above my hip 

The cradle of ticklishness

A wet nose

I say “go on”

And point

The interlingual interspecies signal for go on

And she lies down

Maintaining eye contact

That’s weird 

Don’t do that

I look back at the book I’m reading

Nudging the nudge out of my thinking

And then my chair is spinning

The terrible nudge, simply by sheer force of will,

Spins my chair

Now I want to take this opportunity

Just to clarify

I know sometimes things are left a little ambiguous

and I think everyone deserves to understand

So I was literally sitting alone in my room with my dog

I sat in an office chair, criss cross

And this dog nudges me with her nose

Like with her nose

So much that my chair begins to spin

I don’t know about you

But for me

Wow

That’s a breaking point you know

Like oops it looks like it’s an outdoor dog’s life for you

Boom

Fleas

The dog house

The chain

Don’t go nudging

Bitch

So then I take the terrible horrible nudge’s collar off

And scratch where she normally can’t reach

And she promptly lies down and goes for a nap on my floor

Allowing for like half an hour of peace before she takes up the nudge once again

Funny Girls

beetlejus

Before I began to write this, I googled “funny topics to write about”. 

I did this because I am uncreative person who relies on the ideas of others. 

What surprised me was that the number one “funny” topic on the website was “Women can’t be funny”.  Seeing this invoked my inner Hillary Clinton or Susan B. Anthony or whichever feminist you wish to compare me to. 

Obviously I was outraged.  The idea that women can’t be funny is crazy; if I learned anything from my 10 years of watching Saturday Night Live, it would be that Kristen Wiig is hilarious and Justin Timberlake needs to stop writing songs about his…you know.

 In days past, it used to be only ugly girls were funny, now it seems to be only good-looking female comediennes who can crack a laugh.

It used to be that when performing you wanted to look “comical”, much like Lucille Ball in I Love Lucy, but now, if you don’t have good looks and, of course, above a C-cup, it’s hard to even score spot at an open mic night. 

While the comedy world isn’t 100% free of sexism, it’s pretty close. 

That person who wrote that “women can’t be funny” topic isn’t really an outstanding model for the entire comedy world. 

I mean that guy probably thinks “that’s what she said” jokes are hilarious and has based his entire sense of humor off South Park. 

https://i0.wp.com/margaretperry.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/vanity-fair.jpg
credit to Vanity Fair

BMS!!!!

backinphillyLeave a comment

Blue Mountain State, or “BMS” for short, is probably one of the greatest shows I’ve ever watched in my entire life. I’m not a big TV guy. I only watch a few shows. I watch “How I Met Your Mother” with my girlfriend, “Boondocks”, which is arguably my favorite Adult Swim cartoon, “Family Guy” which is arguably my favorite cartoon of all time, and BMS.

Unfortunately, BMS only lasted for three seasons, and I’ve finished all three in one week. I’m disappointed to have already finished the show, but it was great while it lasted.

The show revolves around football teammates who play college football at Blue Mountain State. The teammates and pals engage in college high jinks, ranging from drugs, alcohol, sex and partying all together. The show clearly appeals to a teenage and college demographic. In other words, I would not show this to my parents. Maybe my father, who tolerates this kind of stuff. But my mother would not be pleased to say the least. There is frequent innuendo and occasional implied nudity. There are never any private parts revealed. It leaves the rest up to imagination. But that’s not even why I would enjoy a show like this. As many would find easy to believe, I watched the show expecting a football comedy. I got that, with the college twist along with it. I loved the combo.

Like many TV fans, I chose a favorite character from the beginning. My man was the running back Craig Shilo. Unfortunately, Shilo’s actor went to prison following the first season, and left the show. I was VERY disappointed to not see him in the second season. But, it was ok. The show did not suffer.

As the show continued, it seemed like I was laughing a little bit less, but the show was beginning to have more meaning as the characters went from freshman to senior year.

Upon conclusion of the show, Alex Moran, the main character, was only a junior. This begs the question, “Will they ever have a season 4?” According to reports, the show has already been cancelled. So most likely not. Alex Moran will forever be an unfinished story.

I’m upset to finish the show. But maybe I can find a new one.

Caution!!!! Anything pertaining to Blue Mountain State should not be viewed by young children. I recommend 13+ at the minimum. Don’t say I didn’t warn you all. Everyone loves Scarface, so I see no reason to say no to something like BMS. There’s all sorts of inappropriate things in both. Don’t be a hater.

The Second City

Daphne PsaledakisLeave a comment

Over the summer, my dad had a business trip in Chicago, and I had nowhere to stay. We decided that I would go along with him, and while he was working I would wander around Michigan Avenue by myself. He tried his hardest to make it fun, and he did an excellent job.

I went shopping, which is always productive, often more so than you can afford. I watched movies in the hotel room, and went to Wow Bao for lunch every day (it’s absolutely delicious for those of you who have never been).

At night, my dad and I would go dinner somewhere new, and then to a movie or back to the hotel to relax. One night though, he really wanted to go see a The Second City show. I resisted, but my dad was determined, as he often is. I had never been to a comedy act, and I didn’t really know what to expect. I honestly thought the show would be filled with cheesy humor that wasn’t especially funny.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

The Second City turned out to be one of the world’s leading comedy acts, and experts at improvisation. Their website advertises 50 years of funny, which is an accurate statement. I could hardly stop laughing the entire show, even during the political acts which I knew nothing about. The show was hilarious, and the humor was priceless.

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Good ol’ Santorum

therightliberalLeave a comment

I must say I enjoy seeing a candidate claim a victory when he is not going to win. Santorum is doing exactly that and it sums it all up for the GOP.

Santorum has been winning primaries, with the most recent being Kansas. He claimed a “landslide” victory, although the validity of that is questionable.

Santorum recently gave a speech claiming that he was on the way to getting the GOP nomination. Ironically, Santorum doesn’t really have a hope in hell of getting the nomination unless Romney is accused of something quite shocking.

It seems to be the pattern of the times that GOP members have a total disregard for the strength of their party. As a liberal it makes me happy to see as it is comical the way in which the wheels have fallen off.

Yet, I think that the political world will follow in the separation of parties into every (wo)man for themselves. We are not getting much done as parties and we have a better chance of getting things done individually.

That being said, the Democrats will enjoy sitting back and watching the GOP fall apart. But the first to fall could also be the first to get up. Only time will tell.

The Inbetweeners Movie

Yourcupatea1 Comment

The Inbetweeners

Yes the nerdy quartet are back. After the end of their third and final season in October 2010 The Inbetweeners are back with a movie.

Released this summer, the film is truly hilarious. I can honestly say that I have never been in a full cinema where everyone laughed so much including my American boyfriend who doesn’t understand much proper English.

The film tracks the four boys adventure to Malia, one of the biggest party destinations in Europe. And follows their unlucky, laughable mistakes as well as their desperate attempts to find women.

Out soon on DVD the film is definitely the perfect Christmas for anyone who wants a good laugh. It is truly one of the funniest movies you will ever watch.

Nigel Tufnel Day

therightliberalLeave a comment

Although I usually write about politics, today is a very special day, special enough to write about something else.

In Asia, today is singles day (because the date is made up of ones). In the US (as well as many other countries), it is considered an auspicious day.

But for Spinal Tap fans such as myself, 11/11/11 is Nigel Tufnel Day.

This day was chosen based on the famous scene where Nigel explains why his amp goes to 11.

Now if you have not seen Spinal Tap, go see it, now. It is a fantastically funny movie as well as being a cultural staple.

I cannot count how many times I have seen and I am now at the point that I can recite almost every line.

What makes this movie special is that, although it makes fun of Rock & Roll, the musicians/actors in the movie are actually quite talented. They play hilarious songs but they play them well.

If you enjoy humor and good music, watch this movie. It will help you in dinner conversations when people refer to the movie and it will help you in life because every time you see the number 11 you will giggle a little bit.

P.S. I would like to also acknowledge Veteran’s Day. Although there is this very silly post about a very silly movie, it is also a day to say thank you to the people who put their life on the line every day. Thank you to those men an women who put their lives on the line to protect us at home. You get an 11 out of 10.

Misfits.

Yourcupatea1 Comment

Misfits. Misfits is a television series based on a group of young offenders who gain superpowers after a freak storm. Coming together each day to work off their community service the group faces a series of challenging obstacles as a result of  their new found powers.

Now creating a third series the comedy drama has been a roaring success among viewers. In 2010 the show won a BAFTA Television Award for the Best Drama Series, an award they definitely deserved.

In the show we witness the characters struggle to come to terms with their powers. We also see how although the characters may look like a group of useless teens, they ultimately come together and solve livesaving challenges. The show explores strange but great themes through conundrums the group face.

Although at many times serious, the show is guaranteed to cheer you up. With characters who are both comical and entertaining paired with story lines that are absorbing and dramatic, the two combine to make the perfect recipe for a TV show.

Misfits is full of great plots that will make you laugh, cry and smile.  With witty characters and entertaining scenarios, it is definitely a series to get watching. I must warn you though, it is rather addictive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODl-kAhVsXY