Bieber on SNL — Page 5

Maybe, because so many people use who and whom precisely backwards these days, it's hard to tell when the error is deliberate and supposed to be funny.

The only way the error would work as a joke would be if Myers also donned funny, crooked teeth. His actual teeth may not be perfect, but there's nothing basically wrong with their color or shape, so the grammatical error doesn't have a parallel in his teeth.

(It may kill the humor to deconstruct a joke, SNAFU, but it can be done.)

Thanks for responses, guys. SNAFU, I did finally decide that SOMEBODY at SNL would have said something if the error was inadvertent.

I agree about the overkill, but the point remains that there are two parts to the punchline:

(a) the teeth (Myers teeth are fine/no joke); and

(b) the grammar (Myers employed the usage that most of his audience already and erroneously uses/still no joke).

At least no joke the general public will understand and no joke that doesn't confuse someone like me because of (a) and (b). And hence, you may have noticed, no laugh.

And I might add (c), he had just referred to his girlfriend in the sketch with Richard III's "childhood friends", so it wasn't at all obvious that he was mocking himself as a hapless dater.

I think he miscalculated badly, unless you are telling me his plan was simply to amuse himself.

But that isn't to say I'm not a fan. Unless I love the host, Weekend Update is the only part of the show I watch.

Updated On: 2/17/13 at 07:45 PM

You cannot tie one joke into a narrative thread for Update. They are all separate sketches written by different writers. Myers may say one thing is the first story and controdict himself in a later punchline.

---

You cannot tie one joke into a narrative thread for Update. They are all separate sketches written by different writers. Myers may say one thing is the first story and controdict himself in a later punchline.

SNAFU, I do understand that Weekend Update is not a three-act, well-made play. But when performed, it creates its own contexts. And, yes, I recognize it's a tad ridiculous to expect continuity from a segment that features characters from the 15th century! (Not to mention the same segment featured the "General Franco is still dead" item for years.)

But you are saying Myers expected us to recognize he was making a joke when his grammatical usage is in fact quite common nowadays, and you are saying Myers expected us to recognize self-deprecation when the joke in question suggested his personal life was diametrically opposed to what he had suggested 30 seconds earlier.

*I* am saying it was all too much to ask, if he wanted the joke to work. And in the end, my proof is the lack of response the joke received.

You and I are just discussing why.

(Again, none of this detracts from my admiration for Myers' writing and delivery of the fake news. I'm just talking about one joke that didn't work. I said I often don't watch the rest of the show, but come to think of it that has been less and less true over the past few years. I actually watch quite a bit of it nowadays and find it greatly improved.

So please don't think I am attacking your show.)

HGDMFS, JC

FindingNamo, your ability to carry on a one-sided grudge for what is it now--18 months? 2 years? Well, it never ceases to amaze me.

Yes, I am for real. And I don't find endless threads consisting of "That was funny!"/"No, it wasn't!"/"Yes, it was!"/etc. particularly interesting when nobody involved ever hazards a guess as to why something worked or did not work.

In this case I was interested because the comedian in question is someone I normally enjoy and I thought one joke was an odd misfire. I was interested in discussing why. SNAFU, interested or not, was gracious enough to discuss it with me.

And your problem is what? Scroll bar broken again?

And I forced you to join in, how, exactly?

There's no "fretting" here. There isn't even anyone questioning the talent or appeal of the comedian.

I waited until the thread had more or less run its course, then raised the issue because I was unsure of Myers' intention. SNAFU and Theatrediva responded, then I replied to their responses, etc.

It's called a conversation.

Why it triggered a hissy fit on your part, I won't hazard a guess.

Well, we agree on that much: SNAFU is smart and funny. I added "gracious" as well a few posts ago.

Namo, beginning with Plato and Aristotle and continuing through Bergson and Meredith and up to psychologists today, great thinkers have written entire volumes on comedy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theories_of_humor


I don't claim to be a great thinker, but half-a-dozen posts on the subject does not constitute an "obsession". I was merely thinking out loud about why a joke failed.

Your tantrum in response, on the other hand, is inexplicable to me. I would recommend therapy, but a Head Start class might be more emotional age-appropriate.

There! At last you have baited me into giving you a reason for this bizarre grudge you hold against me. Well done, sir!

"You're travelling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Twilight Zone!"

---