Comedy and Humor

[tifosi77]

Comprehensively disagree re Birbliglia. While he's certainly funny, he's B-level on his best day.

[Tomas]

Comprehensively disagree re Birbliglia. While he's certainly funny, he's B-level on his best day.

Funny - for me, Birbiglia is by far the best contemporary comedian/author. I wasn't that impressed with the "young" Birbiglia ("What I should have said was nothing"), but once he moved from stand up routines to "one man theater plays" ("My girlfriend's boyfriend", "Thank God for jokes"), I am firmly in his corner. His ability to create a structure, build on each of the jokes, return to it to explain its relevance - is unmatched IMO.

I chuckled when Gervais talked about Bruce J. But when Birbiglia actually provided full context for why he went after his target - that was a talk on a completely different level.

[count2infinity]

I absolutely love Birbiglia. That said, he and Gervais are completely different in style and I see no reason to compare the two.

[Tomas]

I absolutely love Birbiglia. That said, he and Gervais are completely different in style and I see no reason to compare the two.

To a degree, I agree. What made me think about comparisons was the fact that within 20 minutes of Gervais' special, I am thinking "wasn't Birbiglia covering EXACTLY the same main topic just a year ago?" And while I think that there may be simple coincidences in using similar jokes, the fact that on top of the same main focus, Gervais used exactly the same "peanuts on the airplane" joke was rather odd to me.

[tifosi77]

Louis CK made the peanut joke years ago. And I'm sure someone pre-dated him.

[Lemon Berry Lobster]

What was the peanut joke about?

[dodint]

No one on a plane can have a peanut if one person on the plane is a weakling that will die if they see one.

[Lemon Berry Lobster]

Ace Ventura's peanut joke is better.

[Tomas]

What was the peanut joke about?

Here you go, full transcript of the whole joke!

That’s what you always have to think about when you’re writing jokes, is sort of, where is the line? And you don’t want to cross it, but you want to go near it. You know, it’s subjective, sort of where the line is. That’s where it becomes complicated. And that’s what I was mulling over as I was flying back to New York the day before hosting the Gotham Awards. I was on the plane. I was writing jokes, and I was eating a chicken salad sandwich on walnut raisin bread. And I remember that because, actually, the flight attendant came over, and he was like, “Excuse me, are there nuts in your sandwich?” I knew it wasn’t gonna end well. Because that sentence never ends with: “‘Cause I love nuts! Nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts! They’re great in everything! Sprinkle them on your sundae! They’re the building blocks of pesto!” Which they are and nobody’s talking about it. And so, as– So, as I responded, I just kept eating the sandwich. I was like… “I think that there might be… walnuts in the bread.” “Actually, you can’t eat that on the plane ’cause the woman seated by the window… has a nut allergy.” “I won’t feed them to her. Or rub them on her face.” “Actually, she’ll have a reaction even if there are nuts in the air.” “Nuts in the air?” Which just so happens to be my favorite hip-hop song. I tried to be respectful. I said to the woman, “Are you serious? You’ll have a reaction if there are nuts in the air?” She said, “Yeah, I’ll have a reaction if there are nuts in the air.” “You shouldn’t leave the house. There are nuts everywhere.” And I was so hungry, I said to the flight attendant, I said, “Is there anywhere where I can finish my sandwich?” “You can finish it… in the bathroom.” “Okay.” And I head out. And I walked into a JetBlue bathroom, and I ate a chicken salad sandwich. I’m experiencing that great symphony of smells– just bathroom and antiseptic, mayonnaise, and I’m gagging. And I’m eating more of the sandwich, and I’m gagging. And I’m eating more of the sandwich. And I realized at that moment, that I have what is called a fecal airspace allergy. And– Well, you know, it isn’t just if I eat feces. It is if– It’s if the feces… are in the air. If the feces are in the air… I’ll have a reaction. All right. So, you know who doesn’t like this story, are people with nut allergies. And you know who does like this story? Everyone else. And… I feel genuinely conflicted about that, ’cause there’s almost a thousand people in this room together right now. And about 997 of us are like, “Ha ha! Nuts in the air.” And then three of us secretly are like, “That’s my life.” You know? And I don’t– I don’t want to be that to you, but jokes have to be about something. I told that story last year in San Francisco, and this kid came to me after the show, and he asked me if I would sign his EpiPen. ‘Cause he has a nut allergy. And if he has a reaction, his mom has to spike him in his leg so he doesn’t die. And I was really moved by this, ’cause that’s precisely my sense of humor. I have jokes on my albums about having a bladder tumor when I was 19, and how I was once hit by a drunk driver, how I have a life-threatening sleep disorder. And those are my best jokes. That’s sort of what I’m interested in. So, I said to his mom, “How many times have you had to spike him?” And she said, “Three times.” I thought, “Wow. This kid almost died three times… so I could tell that joke.” So I wanted to dedicate this show tonight to him. He’s dead. I’m joking. Wocka Wocka Wocka! Git-R-Done!

[Dickie Dunn]

I’m also a fan of Birbiglia.

Louis CK made the peanut joke years ago. And I'm sure someone pre-dated him.

The problem with Louis’ peanut joke is that he came up with it while forcing a woman to listen to him masturbate over the phone and she lost all recollection of how to hang up said phone.

[CBear3]

Pretty sure I saw Gervais running through Central Park when we were there. Dude needs to get in better shape. I felt so bad I almost ran beside him to encourage him.

[Lemon Berry Lobster]

What was the peanut joke about?

Here you go, full transcript of the whole joke!

That’s what you always have to think about when you’re writing jokes, is sort of, where is the line? And you don’t want to cross it, but you want to go near it. You know, it’s subjective, sort of where the line is. That’s where it becomes complicated. And that’s what I was mulling over as I was flying back to New York the day before hosting the Gotham Awards. I was on the plane. I was writing jokes, and I was eating a chicken salad sandwich on walnut raisin bread. And I remember that because, actually, the flight attendant came over, and he was like, “Excuse me, are there nuts in your sandwich?” I knew it wasn’t gonna end well. Because that sentence never ends with: “‘Cause I love nuts! Nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts! They’re great in everything! Sprinkle them on your sundae! They’re the building blocks of pesto!” Which they are and nobody’s talking about it. And so, as– So, as I responded, I just kept eating the sandwich. I was like… “I think that there might be… walnuts in the bread.” “Actually, you can’t eat that on the plane ’cause the woman seated by the window… has a nut allergy.” “I won’t feed them to her. Or rub them on her face.” “Actually, she’ll have a reaction even if there are nuts in the air.” “Nuts in the air?” Which just so happens to be my favorite hip-hop song. I tried to be respectful. I said to the woman, “Are you serious? You’ll have a reaction if there are nuts in the air?” She said, “Yeah, I’ll have a reaction if there are nuts in the air.” “You shouldn’t leave the house. There are nuts everywhere.” And I was so hungry, I said to the flight attendant, I said, “Is there anywhere where I can finish my sandwich?” “You can finish it… in the bathroom.” “Okay.” And I head out. And I walked into a JetBlue bathroom, and I ate a chicken salad sandwich. I’m experiencing that great symphony of smells– just bathroom and antiseptic, mayonnaise, and I’m gagging. And I’m eating more of the sandwich, and I’m gagging. And I’m eating more of the sandwich. And I realized at that moment, that I have what is called a fecal airspace allergy. And– Well, you know, it isn’t just if I eat feces. It is if– It’s if the feces… are in the air. If the feces are in the air… I’ll have a reaction. All right. So, you know who doesn’t like this story, are people with nut allergies. And you know who does like this story? Everyone else. And… I feel genuinely conflicted about that, ’cause there’s almost a thousand people in this room together right now. And about 997 of us are like, “Ha ha! Nuts in the air.” And then three of us secretly are like, “That’s my life.” You know? And I don’t– I don’t want to be that to you, but jokes have to be about something. I told that story last year in San Francisco, and this kid came to me after the show, and he asked me if I would sign his EpiPen. ‘Cause he has a nut allergy. And if he has a reaction, his mom has to spike him in his leg so he doesn’t die. And I was really moved by this, ’cause that’s precisely my sense of humor. I have jokes on my albums about having a bladder tumor when I was 19, and how I was once hit by a drunk driver, how I have a life-threatening sleep disorder. And those are my best jokes. That’s sort of what I’m interested in. So, I said to his mom, “How many times have you had to spike him?” And she said, “Three times.” I thought, “Wow. This kid almost died three times… so I could tell that joke.” So I wanted to dedicate this show tonight to him. He’s dead. I’m joking. Wocka Wocka Wocka! Git-R-Done!

Thanks! I'm sure it is much better when he does it as opposed to me reading it in my head.

[Tomas]

Pretty sure I saw Gervais running through Central Park when we were there. Dude needs to get in better shape. I felt so bad I almost ran beside him to encourage him.

When did you see him? He actually lost a lot of weight (and he talks about that a little during his most recent special):
https://www.pkbaseline.com/how-ricky-ge ... eight-loss

[mikey]

What was the peanut joke about?

Here you go, full transcript of the whole joke!

That’s what you always have to think about when you’re writing jokes, is sort of, where is the line? And you don’t want to cross it, but you want to go near it. You know, it’s subjective, sort of where the line is. That’s where it becomes complicated. And that’s what I was mulling over as I was flying back to New York the day before hosting the Gotham Awards. I was on the plane. I was writing jokes, and I was eating a chicken salad sandwich on walnut raisin bread. And I remember that because, actually, the flight attendant came over, and he was like, “Excuse me, are there nuts in your sandwich?” I knew it wasn’t gonna end well. Because that sentence never ends with: “‘Cause I love nuts! Nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts! They’re great in everything! Sprinkle them on your sundae! They’re the building blocks of pesto!” Which they are and nobody’s talking about it. And so, as– So, as I responded, I just kept eating the sandwich. I was like… “I think that there might be… walnuts in the bread.” “Actually, you can’t eat that on the plane ’cause the woman seated by the window… has a nut allergy.” “I won’t feed them to her. Or rub them on her face.” “Actually, she’ll have a reaction even if there are nuts in the air.” “Nuts in the air?” Which just so happens to be my favorite hip-hop song. I tried to be respectful. I said to the woman, “Are you serious? You’ll have a reaction if there are nuts in the air?” She said, “Yeah, I’ll have a reaction if there are nuts in the air.” “You shouldn’t leave the house. There are nuts everywhere.” And I was so hungry, I said to the flight attendant, I said, “Is there anywhere where I can finish my sandwich?” “You can finish it… in the bathroom.” “Okay.” And I head out. And I walked into a JetBlue bathroom, and I ate a chicken salad sandwich. I’m experiencing that great symphony of smells– just bathroom and antiseptic, mayonnaise, and I’m gagging. And I’m eating more of the sandwich, and I’m gagging. And I’m eating more of the sandwich. And I realized at that moment, that I have what is called a fecal airspace allergy. And– Well, you know, it isn’t just if I eat feces. It is if– It’s if the feces… are in the air. If the feces are in the air… I’ll have a reaction. All right. So, you know who doesn’t like this story, are people with nut allergies. And you know who does like this story? Everyone else. And… I feel genuinely conflicted about that, ’cause there’s almost a thousand people in this room together right now. And about 997 of us are like, “Ha ha! Nuts in the air.” And then three of us secretly are like, “That’s my life.” You know? And I don’t– I don’t want to be that to you, but jokes have to be about something. I told that story last year in San Francisco, and this kid came to me after the show, and he asked me if I would sign his EpiPen. ‘Cause he has a nut allergy. And if he has a reaction, his mom has to spike him in his leg so he doesn’t die. And I was really moved by this, ’cause that’s precisely my sense of humor. I have jokes on my albums about having a bladder tumor when I was 19, and how I was once hit by a drunk driver, how I have a life-threatening sleep disorder. And those are my best jokes. That’s sort of what I’m interested in. So, I said to his mom, “How many times have you had to spike him?” And she said, “Three times.” I thought, “Wow. This kid almost died three times… so I could tell that joke.” So I wanted to dedicate this show tonight to him. He’s dead. I’m joking. Wocka Wocka Wocka! Git-R-Done!

Thanks! I'm sure it is much better when he does it as opposed to me reading it in my head.

That's funny because I laughed harder when I read it than when he did it...

That said, I like MB and have for a while now...Gervais doesn't do a lot for me personally, but I respect his talent level...

British stuff in general doesn't do it for me...I watched a good chunk of "Humanity" special on Netflix...it's funny, not hysterical and I fell asleep midway through it...so I'll give it another shot, maybe after having a tequila or two...

[Lemon Berry Lobster]

What was the peanut joke about?

Here you go, full transcript of the whole joke!

That’s what you always have to think about when you’re writing jokes, is sort of, where is the line? And you don’t want to cross it, but you want to go near it. You know, it’s subjective, sort of where the line is. That’s where it becomes complicated. And that’s what I was mulling over as I was flying back to New York the day before hosting the Gotham Awards. I was on the plane. I was writing jokes, and I was eating a chicken salad sandwich on walnut raisin bread. And I remember that because, actually, the flight attendant came over, and he was like, “Excuse me, are there nuts in your sandwich?” I knew it wasn’t gonna end well. Because that sentence never ends with: “‘Cause I love nuts! Nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts! They’re great in everything! Sprinkle them on your sundae! They’re the building blocks of pesto!” Which they are and nobody’s talking about it. And so, as– So, as I responded, I just kept eating the sandwich. I was like… “I think that there might be… walnuts in the bread.” “Actually, you can’t eat that on the plane ’cause the woman seated by the window… has a nut allergy.” “I won’t feed them to her. Or rub them on her face.” “Actually, she’ll have a reaction even if there are nuts in the air.” “Nuts in the air?” Which just so happens to be my favorite hip-hop song. I tried to be respectful. I said to the woman, “Are you serious? You’ll have a reaction if there are nuts in the air?” She said, “Yeah, I’ll have a reaction if there are nuts in the air.” “You shouldn’t leave the house. There are nuts everywhere.” And I was so hungry, I said to the flight attendant, I said, “Is there anywhere where I can finish my sandwich?” “You can finish it… in the bathroom.” “Okay.” And I head out. And I walked into a JetBlue bathroom, and I ate a chicken salad sandwich. I’m experiencing that great symphony of smells– just bathroom and antiseptic, mayonnaise, and I’m gagging. And I’m eating more of the sandwich, and I’m gagging. And I’m eating more of the sandwich. And I realized at that moment, that I have what is called a fecal airspace allergy. And– Well, you know, it isn’t just if I eat feces. It is if– It’s if the feces… are in the air. If the feces are in the air… I’ll have a reaction. All right. So, you know who doesn’t like this story, are people with nut allergies. And you know who does like this story? Everyone else. And… I feel genuinely conflicted about that, ’cause there’s almost a thousand people in this room together right now. And about 997 of us are like, “Ha ha! Nuts in the air.” And then three of us secretly are like, “That’s my life.” You know? And I don’t– I don’t want to be that to you, but jokes have to be about something. I told that story last year in San Francisco, and this kid came to me after the show, and he asked me if I would sign his EpiPen. ‘Cause he has a nut allergy. And if he has a reaction, his mom has to spike him in his leg so he doesn’t die. And I was really moved by this, ’cause that’s precisely my sense of humor. I have jokes on my albums about having a bladder tumor when I was 19, and how I was once hit by a drunk driver, how I have a life-threatening sleep disorder. And those are my best jokes. That’s sort of what I’m interested in. So, I said to his mom, “How many times have you had to spike him?” And she said, “Three times.” I thought, “Wow. This kid almost died three times… so I could tell that joke.” So I wanted to dedicate this show tonight to him. He’s dead. I’m joking. Wocka Wocka Wocka! Git-R-Done!

Thanks! I'm sure it is much better when he does it as opposed to me reading it in my head.

That's funny because I laughed harder when I read it than when he did it...

That said, I like MB and have for a while now...Gervais doesn't do a lot for me personally, but I respect his talent level...

British stuff in general doesn't do it for me...I watched a good chunk of "Humanity" special on Netflix...it's funny, not hysterical and I fell asleep midway through it...so I'll give it another shot, maybe after having a tequila or two...

I do like MB, and I agree I can't really get into the British comedy.

[tifosi77]

Referring to my post in the TV thread where I squeed over the anticipated arrival of Monty Python on Netflix, I very much do get into British comedy. It's a different mindset, for sure.

[Jim]

If you wife is in the middle of the forest, and there is no one there to hear... is she still wrong?

[CBear3]

Pretty sure I saw Gervais running through Central Park when we were there. Dude needs to get in better shape. I felt so bad I almost ran beside him to encourage him.

When did you see him? He actually lost a lot of weight (and he talks about that a little during his most recent special):
https://www.pkbaseline.com/how-ricky-ge ... eight-loss

Two weeks ago.

[count2infinity]

He talked about how he's starting to put on more weight in his new special because he never actually learned how to control his diet, he just exercised... a lot. Now that he has more on his schedule he can't work out as much and is starting to put the weight back on.

[Lemon Berry Lobster]

If you wife is in the middle of the forest, and there is no one there to hear... is she still wrong?

No you are for leaving her in the middle of the forest.

[Tomas]

He talked about how he's starting to put on more weight in his new special because he never actually learned how to control his diet, he just exercised... a lot. Now that he has more on his schedule he can't work out as much and is starting to put the weight back on.

But unless he totally went to Spurlock-diet since the special, I think that "filming-time-Gervais" was comfortably in the top-50 percentile of physical fitness for men of his age (55?).

[Tomas]

[meecrofilm]

Since I'm not above plugging shows to essentially strangers, I'm gonna be in the final round of a March Madness-style improv comedy tournament this Friday at Arcade Comedy Theater downtown, called Comedy Royale. It's a good time -- it's essentially Whose Line, but the points actually matter, and they're distributed by guest PGH-celebrity judges, which are gonna be Val Porter, Heather Abraham, and Sean Collier. Check it aut.

https://www.showclix.com/event/cr-impro ... 0186217523

[count2infinity]

Are you funny like a clown?

[Lemon Berry Lobster]

We can send Jim to be the faf judge and jury.