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talking about comedy - what's so funny?

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
I thought we had a thread for talking about general comedy stuff but I can't find it so I'm starting this new one.

Recently we had a smaller than usual popularity contest to fill the gaps between the full sized Top 50 lists. The list was for Top 20 comedy sketches and was ran by Issun.

Only two of my picks made the list (and another one got an honorable mention). So I thought I'd go through my other picks here.

#25.
The Nerd in Oz - Robot Chicken
(Note: Is more or less NSFW.)

The Nerd dreams that he is in Oz (which isn't really where he wants to be but he probably should have mentioned that as his first choice). He does find the usual progression of the story to be less than impressive but since it's his dream he decides to change things to make it super cool instead.

This sketch contains the usual crude silliness that you can expect from Robot Chicken but I still like it.
 

jpfriction

(He, Him)
I overloaded my list with my favorite sketch show, Kroll Show which aired for a few years on comedy central a while back.

I can and will wax eloquently about how Kroll took a few characters he made up for comedy bang bang and managed to make a scripted show out of it that still feels very improvisational. Ostensibly a parody of reality tv so every time a new character shows up on screen, they’ll probably get their own spin off showcase a few segments or even episodes later. Pretty rare that you have a sketch show with so much continuity you pretty much have to watch it from the beginning. (Sorry about the first Fabrice Fabrice episode, that one sucks, he’s much better later tho. I also promise that they stop going so hard on Dr. Armond eventually (no they don’t)).

I’ll rant about that all day but I do have to admit that I like it so much because it’s mostly just Kroll and his comedy buddies saying a bunch of words that just don’t sound quite right. Very homestar.

Here’s Bobby Bottleservice’s wedding planner ad

 

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
#24
Are You Asian Enough? - CollegeHumor

As a very white whitey I really can't directly relate to the complex social situations a man who is 1/8th asian has to deal with. But luckily for him the Tribunal of Mixed Asian Heritage is available to provide their judgment and guidance.

 
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Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
#23 Every Single Spooky Podcast by Alasdair Beckett-King

Alasdair Beckett-King (AKA The Interdimensional ABK) is a British/English comedian and actor who "sometimes make[s ] funny videos". I very much enjoy his work which makes me laugh, smile or at the very least amuses me.

In this video he does a common thing in satire / parody where you identify the common beats and clichés of a subject and use those to mercilessly skewer it in a reductive fashion. (I'm not sure if there's a term for that but if there isn't then I really think there should be.)

LIke in this case - I have never ever listened to a spooky podcast but I have listened to other types of podcast and I know enough about how the internet "works" nowadays to still find this quite hilarious. (And I think this saves me from ever having to listen to a spooky podcast.)

 
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Kirin

Summon for hire
(he/him)
Obligatory disclaimer that I’m not judging anyone else’s taste, but Bobby Bottleservice up there falls into the same bin for me as a lot of ITYSL, in that humor that’s mostly just douchebags being douchebags leaves me cold.

Asian Tribunal and Sppoky Podcast both made me laugh though!
 

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
#22 I asked my grandma to name ALL the Smash Bros Ultimate characters!!! - SungWon "ProZD" Cho

In case you didn't know SungWon / ProZD is a voice actor who also makes short comedy sketches, which are often based around video game and anime clichés. Or sometimes about social media in general (as is the case with this sketch). I also consider him an unofficially recognized living national treasure.

The sketch contains a small amount of adult language so I'm putting it behind this link. (SungWon has done something similar but different from the trend he is satirizing so this sketch also contains an element of self-deprecation.)

Obligatory disclaimer that I’m not judging anyone else’s taste, but Bobby Bottleservice up there falls into the same bin for me as a lot of ITYSL, in that humor that’s mostly just douchebags being douchebags leaves me cold.

Asian Tribunal and Sppoky Podcast both made me laugh though!
Yeah, humor can often be very subjective but I'm happy that those two sketches made you laugh. Let's see if the streak continues...
 

Violentvixen

(She/Her)
I had a few ProZD bits on my list, and after I submitted the list I mentioned it to my husband and he balked at that, saying that those weren't sketches. To him a sketch had to have more than one person. I don't agree but would be curious what other people think?
 

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
Well... He does often portray more than one character in the same sketch so I feel like they still count. Also I don't think there are such hard and fast rules to comedy (because I think that would be completely opposite to the goal).
 

Johnny Unusual

(He/Him)
I had a few ProZD bits on my list, and after I submitted the list I mentioned it to my husband and he balked at that, saying that those weren't sketches. To him a sketch had to have more than one person. I don't agree but would be curious what other people think?
Well, wikipedia says...

Sketch comedians routinely differentiate their work from a "skit", maintaining that a skit is a (single) dramatized joke (or "bit") while a sketch is a comedic exploration of a concept, character, or situation.
But in that, I think it's the difference between a burger and a slider and if a slider made it into a list of top 50 burgers, I wouldn't mind.
 

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
#21 What's That Name - Saturday Night Live [Season 44?]

SNL is an insitiution in the world of sketch comedy. But I'm not here to debate if it has or hasn't been as funny as it was when (insert year of SNL that you have the most rose-tinted nostalgia for here) or since (insert change which you think irreversibly ruined the show for the rest of time).

Regardless of what you think of SNL I think something it does quite well is use the structure of TV game shows as a vehicle for humor. Sometimes it does that by satirizing or parodying the genre or a specific show and other times (like this one) it uses that genre as a platform to explore other topics. In this case a simple game show concept is modified in later rounds in a way that the contestants are unprepared to deal with.

 
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jpfriction

(He, Him)
Bill Hader’s sociopath game show hosts were always a delight. I decided on “It’s a date” for my list.


Girls can’t pregnant in the summertime, Science!
 

That Old Chestnut

A E S T H E T I C
(he/him)
I had a few ProZD bits on my list, and after I submitted the list I mentioned it to my husband and he balked at that, saying that those weren't sketches. To him a sketch had to have more than one person. I don't agree but would be curious what other people think?
I second what Torzelbaum said.


The egg delivery man lives rent-free in my head.
 

ArugulaZ

Fearful asymmetry
I had a few ProZD bits on my list, and after I submitted the list I mentioned it to my husband and he balked at that, saying that those weren't sketches. To him a sketch had to have more than one person. I don't agree but would be curious what other people think?
There are so, so many one man sketch comedy shows on YouTube, shot entirely within the house where they live. They're working on the shoestring-iest of budgets. ProZD is just the tip of the iceberg.
 

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
#19 White, White, Baby - In Living Color

In Living Color doing what they can to comedically strike back at white men who try to make money by appropriating black culture.


(Also a favorite of @jpfriction .)
 
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Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
#18 cancelled

There are so, so many one man sketch comedy shows on YouTube, shot entirely within the house where they live. They're working on the shoestring-iest of budgets. ProZD is just the tip of the iceberg.
Instead of my #18 (that I picked without remembering about the cancelling) for this one I decided to post some other youtubers who do more or less the same thing as ProZD.

https://www.youtube.com/c/CalebCity/videos : a guy who is both black and nerdy

https://www.youtube.com/c/Stanzipotenza/videos : "Sketch comedian from hell" [Who I think is also LGBTQ but I'm not sure if they have ever stated their orientation and gender identity.] They tend to repeatedly mine the same concepts in sketches but I feel they still manage to keep things funny.

https://www.youtube.com/c/hayleygeorgiamorris/videos: female British comic who makes videos that are often from the perspective of the different parts of her body talking to her.

And here are a couple of others who have more than one person:
https://www.youtube.com/c/RDCworld1/videos : a group of guys who are like CalebCity but lean into hip-hop culture more than he does

https://www.youtube.com/c/SydOliviaTube/videos : chaotic pair of white ladies who make funny stuff
we all have that one uncle* featuring Ruben Rabasa
*Note: Not the creepy kind​
 
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Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
#17 Meet Your Second Wife - Saturday Night Live

SNL is back using the game show format with Helen Walsh (Amy Poehler) and Tina Fey as the hosts instead of Bill Hader. And this time the two ladies are roasting the tendency of middle-aged men (especially rich ones) to remarry much younger women. There are some good moments of non-verbal humor in the sketch to go along with everything else.

(This sketch also placed on the top 20 list.)


Take my first wife... please.
 

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
If there's one thing I enjoy more than almost anything it's fake movie trailers especially when they're being used for comedy. Now these may not technically be skits/sketches but Issun did allow them in the Top 20 and this thread is about comedy in general so I'm including it here.

#16 Cleopatra Schwartz from Kentucky Fried Movie

This is a parody / spoof of the blaxploitaiton movie genre. That genre certainly has its fair share of controversies and possible problems. So do those transfer over to parodies of it? I'm not sure but if that bothers you then I think you can just skip this.

Note: NSFW - contains partial female nudity
link
 
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Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
Another excellent Samuel L. Bronkowitz production.

edit:
Yeah... I'm not taking that dare. Catholic High School Girls in Trouble is a parody of sexploitation/softcore porn/women-in-prison films and even less safe for work than the Cleopatra Schwartz trailer.

In fact here's about the only safe for work parts of the entire 2 minute or so trailer:
 
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Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
#15 Deathfight 5000 - The State

In case you're not familiar with it - The State was a sketch comedy series that was broadcast on MTV in the mid-90s and was loved by many Gen-Xers (like me).

In this sketch The State satirizes pro wrestling and extreme sports while also engaging in some humor that bites the hand that feeds them. I just love how absurd and over the top the entire sketch is but it still feels like they're playing it completely straight.

Note: The sound in this is very loud so you should probably turn down your volume before watching.
 

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
#14 Lifetime's First Original Game Show: What's Wrong with Tanya?! - Saturday Night Live

SNL is back to using the game show format as a vehicle for satire with the Lifetime channel (specifically their "original" movies) as their target.

Now when satirizing something you could slowly ease into ripping into the target but that's not the case here - SNL starts mercilessly skewering the channel in the first 4-5 seconds of the sketch.

Trigger / Content Warning: The usual Lifetime stuff.
 
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jpfriction

(He, Him)
Good choice, I love that one. Game shows are an easy button for SNL but I’m seldom terribly disappointed in them.

I completely missed the State, not sure how, MTV was pretty much always on in my house throughout the 90s.
 

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
#13 MC Mom Tears It Up - Key & Peele

I assume everyone here knows who and what Key & Peele are right?

In this video a young college student's video greeting from his mother is intercepted by his dormmates and they razz him while they collectively watch it but things don't quite end up the way they thought it would.


Indeed, MC Mom put the pussy on the chainwax!
 

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
#12 Who's on Stage? - Slappy and Skippy Squirrel (Animaniacs)

While visiting Woodstock, New York (without knowing that there would be a music festival there) Slappy Squirrel tries to get information about the currently performing musicians from her nephew Skippy. This leads to their homage to the classic Abbott & Costello bit.

 

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
#11 They Really Did That to Othello - Key & Peele

Key & Peele are back in a sketch where they address a tragic literary racial injustice from the past. While also referencing Mel Brooks and taking full advantage of their NM-word privileges.

 
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