[TheOrator]

Well, so he didn't reuse one technically. He combined

This scale goes from 10 being Braindead (Dead-Alive if you're a wuss)...

and

Many many years ago, the sport of football (or 'soccer' if you're fat)...

to that joke in his Painkiller review. Now this would normally be understandable because as a comedian he's totally allowed to reuse jokes from back when no one liked him.

But.

The joke in the Painkiller review was made less subtle.

...and re-enacting the lawnmower scene from Braindead (that's Dead-Alive, if you're American and fat).

Now I remember during that dark period of reading his archives coming across the soccer joke, and, in spite of being one of the slow Americans myself, got it right away. Maybe I even chuckled, and that's all that joke was really worth. And maybe only because I like zombies movies too I got the Dead-Alive joke as well.

But what I don't like is that this reuse makes the joke less funny. Of course saying "That's Dead Alive if you're American" isn't even a joke at all, and adding "and fat" to it doesn't make it a joke, it sounds like it just adds a further restriction to the number of people who don't know the real name of the movie. And surprisingly last I checked 70% of the adult population here in America (admittedly not a figure to be proud of) doesn't fit that description (although from the few times I've seen Yahtzee's entire body he probably thinks Nicole Richie could stand to lose a few, so maybe his standards are a little off-kilter).

Now this sad little Pluto of a joke is pretty alone in the crowded Solar System of Zero Punctuation, so I don't think Yahtzee's losing his touch. Just a little constructive criticism. Overly in-depth, pedantic constructive criticism.

PS Why, when pressed to think of terrifyingly thin people, was my first thought Macaulay Culkin?

PPS "Losing his touch"? Do you think that came from the Midas touch? Did he ever lose it? Wouldn't that be a good thing anyway?

[Papas]

Hey, new orders from headquarters, on the telegraph. Just coming through now.

Message reads: "Get a life."

Comedian reuses joke. *Yawn.*

[TheOrator]

Hey, new orders from headquarters, on the telegraph. Just coming through now.

Message reads: "Get a life."

Comedian reuses joke. *Yawn.*

It wasn't so much that he reused the joke--which I said (twice)--as it was that he fucked it up. It means he changed it so it was easier to understand, which almost worries me because one of his things is that he doesn't do that. While technically it's true the thread is about his reuse of the joke, deeper down it's (slightly) more than that. It's like saying World War II was "Dictator starts a war. *Yawn.*"

And there is of course nothing that screams "I have sex all the time thank you" more than actually taking to the time to tell someone else to stop wasting their own time in new and creative ways.

On the Internet.


EDIT: I could have sworn I got that Z.

This post has been edited by TheOrator: 03 June 2008 - 07:46 PM

[Papas]

You'll still have to battle mighty hard to find someone who gives a toss.

Me? I'm ill, and I'm failing my ASes, so I'm essentially a bear with a sore head.

[TheOrator]

Well I found it interesting, I don't know. I don't want to assume other people would but I figured if they did they might elect me President or something. I also don't want to assume that they wouldn't find it interesting because I don't know much about what they find interesting. Of course from my previous experience in this sub-forum what I find interesting and what they find interesting clash almost to the point of no one caring.

Failing your ASes? It's probably just because I'm not from Shirley but what exactly is an AS? Assuming it's some sort of measure of competence you were bright enough not to pluralize an acronym with an apostrophe, so I'd rate you at least a Yogi.

[Patch]

Hey, new orders from headquarters, on the telegraph. Just coming through now.

Message reads: "Get a life."

Comedian reuses joke. *Yawn.*

I don't think they get it. Send more. Spam them with telegrams if you need to.
I found this a pointless waste of my attention. I'm only replying because I was already here. I read it all so I have a right to reply.
Before you bring something to the peoples attention firstly ask 'Is this something I find interesting' then ask 'Will someone else find this interesting'.
If you answered no to either of these then do not post it.
Alternatively, if it's interesting but dull simultaneous (not as hard as it sounds) then don't post it.

[Thaluikhain]

Yahtzee reused lots of material. He's like some sort of polar bear of material reuse. Only he's not large, ursine and in danger of going extinct due to melting ice caps.

So, he's not really like a polar bear.




He used that formula lots of times in his archive. I don't think anyone complained.

[Uszi]

It seems like he made a new joke with old material, as opposed to repeating an old joke. The movie Brain Dead can legitimately be hashed into any number of jokes -- hell, most stand up comedians will take a single concept, like a movie, and do a 5-10 joke bit about it.

And the fat Americans thing---well, I mean, if you puruse through ZP and FR, you'll find that he refers to us United Statesians as fat ALL THE TIME. He has some long article about the 4th of July or something, where he basically just rants about how he doesn't like America. Or look at Yahtzee goes to Valve. Or... anything.

Anyway, let me end this reply on a note of wit: A baby seal goes clubbing. ::Drum roll::

This post has been edited by Uszi: 04 June 2008 - 06:47 AM

[AdamM]

No, look, everyone knows Americans are fat, and know the film Braindead as 'Dead-Alive', hence the appending of "'Dead-Alive' if you're American and fat". It's not a joke. It's a statement.

[joshofalltrades]

It's funny to say all Americans are fat (even if it's inaccurate) so it can be repeated to humorous effect.

It would be closer to the truth to say that many Americans have a weight problem. I'm 6'1" and 147 lbs. and therefore underweight by many charted standards. I'll start caring about it when I gain weight after eating until I feel like I have food poisoning.

Orator, I do have to agree with one point: the joke is less subtle that way and therefore less clever, but I don't think clever was what he was going for on the repeat. Still, it's his own material and maybe he felt a wider audience should hear that particular joke.

My worthless two cents, anyway.

[Ghello]

I think he just wanted to point out that Americans are indeed fat and American.

[Uszi]

On another note, I felt like the main portion of the joke came in when he said "And You're American," and the cowboy hat and gloves with, "Yee-haw!" came up. I'll make the argument here that the humorous appeal of ZP is as much visual as it is audio.

So the joke is not a repeat nor inferior, since the "Fat American" portion of it was... just that, a portion of the overall product.

[TheOrator]

Yes, I realize he calls Americans fat all the time, which is exactly why he shouldn't have had to make it less subtle. Also it is true he reuses jokes from his site in ZP all the time, and he even made the DOOM 3/System Shock 2 joke funnier, which is why I didn't mention that. Also true is saying all Americans are fat is kind of funny, but he didn't even say all Americans were fat. He didn't say "If you're American, and therefore fat," just "American and fat," so he might as well have said "American and called Bill."Hell, he could have said "also known as Dead-Alive in America."

A possible joke could have been either of the previous ones he used before, or something like "if you're American, but that's not even an excuse unless you are yourself Braindead," or to continue with the fat theme, "If you're American, but that's not even an excuse unless all the fat you've been drip-feeding 24/7 from the greasy mitts of the Croc dynasty have actually prevented communication between your brain cells."

Uszi, you're right, a lot of ZP's humor comes from what he uses to illustrate what he's said, and this often adds a new dimension of humor (though sometimes it just comes off as him explaining the joke).

And Patch:

Clearly some people cared enough to post. Go through these archives and you'll find more than one thread started by me that no one at all responded to. I learned my lesson from that and even though you may not care and cannot in your little world conceive of anyone else caring, don't go and tell me about it. I'll find out on my own.

If nothing else Yahtzee may see this and not make the same mistake again, and we'll get one more funny joke out of the ZP experience and no one could complain about that.

[DreamerM]

Orator, I nominate you the Dean of the Yahtzee Studies Dept. I know you'll do a bang-up job.

They are funny video game reviews. You can make yourself sick taking them so seriously.

[TheOrator]

They are funny video game reviews. You can make yourself sick taking them so seriously.

Humor has to be taken seriously. When it isn't you get Adam Sandler.

There are tricks in art composition to make your picture more interesting. Most people don't notice things like the rule of thirds but when you are taught them you start to notice them, and start to realize why you don't like some pictures and how to improve them.

Same goes for humor. There are things that make things funny and then there are things that make them dumb. While most people are content just finding things funny (which is perfectly all right), when you figure out what makes something funny you notice why a joke isn't funny. I was thrown because I expected better of Yahtzee. Although he may be past it by this point I'm sure when he was starting out he went over the rough drafts of the script looking for places to put more jokes, and rewriting old jokes to make them funnier. Hell, you can even hear places where he's cut out or inserted recorded material because he's improved ( or removed) a joke that made into the final draft. It's how humor is written and the fact that most people don't know this or don't care is why most of the Internet humor just isn't funny.

EDIT: A sentence was added.

This post has been edited by TheOrator: 04 June 2008 - 03:44 PM