thanks
to our collective swearing and cussing, we had enough money for some prizes last night. i got a bendy loopy straw! woohoo! pictured behind the fundable offences jar is rockin’ randy, a student from ACP who, in all probability, swore more than everyone else in the group combined. thank you randy!
so, about this title .. shut up you [censored] baby is the name of david cross’s new album. who is david cross you ask? i do not know, but the title of his album caught my eye in one of the onion’s top ten of 2002 album charts.
it’s really interesting that someone could sum up a year or so’s worth of creative work and theme it or sum it up with a phrase like “shut up you [censored] baby.” maybe he whines a lot. maybe he whines about other people whining. maybe he just kicks ass and thinks everyone should. we can all kick eachothers asses then. it would balance out, right?
in any case, i did a little reading up on it, and its supposed to be some sort of comedy about how most comedy is not funny. i was close! as trashy as it sounds, well, i want to hear it now. it is interesting that someone would pick this way to represent themselves. i think it’s one of those things that is good from far, but possibly far from good. if he thinks that making faggot jokes is funny, or that the formula for true hilarity lies within treading along the usual taboo subjects, then he’s a moron. but i guess i’ll have to hear it now to decide for myself. one thing is funny for certain – listen to the samples on the shut up you [censored] baby album page. haha!
from the subpop website:
To see such an outcast (you try growing up [as] a wiseass Yankee Jew in the deep south with nothing but sisters to get your back) talk so much negative [bleep] about people with so much venom, and to have it come out as a heart-warming example that we’re not alone and we all feel ostracized by virgin secretaries, is something only a huge [censored] faggot like David Cross could pull off. (Just kidding.) (About the fag part, I mean.)
Most comedy isn’t funny. Take just about any piece of humour, remove the sarcasm or punchline formula, and usually, it’ll be tragic. For example, take the so-called funniest joke in the world:
“A couple of New Jersey hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn’t seem to be breathing, his eyes are rolled back in his head. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps to the operator: “My friend is dead! What can I do?†The operator, in a calm soothing voice says: “Just take it easy. I can help. First, let’s make sure he’s dead.†There is a silence, then a shot is heard. The guy’s voice comes back on the line. He says: “OK, now what?””
It’s a sadistic story about a simple misinterpretation (during an already tragic moment, a panicked 911 call) resulting in murder. The primary humourous part of this joke is merely the fact that some statements in the english language can be taken multiple ways. If this actually happened (and given someone dumb enough, it could have), instead of being hailed as the “worlds funniest joke”, it would have probably resulted in mass 911 operator retraining to avoid future lawsuits. The formula worked in reverse with the McDonald’s coffee that american woman spilt on her lap. For being so fucking stupid (“I wasn’t expecting fresh brewed coffee to be that hot!”), instead of being sent back to grade school, she gets millions of dollars in settlement from one multinational corporate monstrosity, and prompts several others to re-print all their coffee mugs with a warning. Meanwhile, the world is laughing because the situation is rediculous (and rediculous means something different than funny – worthy of ridicule, as opposed to merely having comical value), and Seinfeld sees this and makes an episode about it.
Almost all humour is based out of something being fundamentally wrong. I don’t think this is neccessarily a bad thing… But I’ve been hard pressed to come up with something comical that doesn’t somehow involve a savage twisting of a tragic situation.
ha, those samples sounded hilarious. i wanna hear it now, too.