melnick@ucla-cs.UUCP (12/11/85)
Monty Python were cited earlier as champions of meta-humor, but a big influence on them and others were The Goons, a '50's British radio show featuring Harry Seacombe and Peter Sellers (then an unknown). An example: Wallace Greenslade (the announcer who normally did only the sign-on and sign-off) : "Ah, Messieurs les prisoniers anglais! Soyez le bienvenue!" Harry Seacombe (as a British prison governor (warden), vacationing with prisoners and prison in France) : "What an honor! It's none other than Wallace Greenslade, playing the part of the French prefect of police! And playing it very badly!" Greenslade : "Don't, don't give me away. It was either this or making tea for John Snagg!" (Uproarious laughter from audience and cast. I'm not sure who John Snagg is, though.) And among comic strip meta-humor, who remembers the time that the characters in Broom Hilda decided that the artist was doing a bad job, so they fired him and tried drawing themselves and each other? Other meta-humor nominees: the Marx Brothers, the Muppets (towards the end of The Muppet Movie, we're watching a movie within a movie within a movie). Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow. --Alex Melnick
dv@well.UUCP (David W. Vezie) (12/16/85)
Don't forget Woody Allen in Annie Hall ("Don't you wish real life
could be like this?").
---
David W. Vezie
{dual|hplabs}!well!dv - Whole Earth 'Lectronics Link, Sausalito, CA
(4 lines, 113 chars)mahoney@bach.DEC (12/18/85)
---------------------Reply to mail dated 16-DEC-1985 18:06--------------------- For Meta humor Moonlighting had a great example at the end of their "Christmas" show. Dave said to Cybil Sheppard (I forget her name on the show) This must be the christmas show and Cybil goes it can't be their is no snow. Then it starts snowing onside their office. It ends up the entire crew starts singing and you see the crew and family. Brian Mahoney Relay-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site sdcrdcf.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site decwrl.UUCP Path: sdcrdcf!sdcsvax!ucbvax!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-bach!mahoney From: mahoney@bach.DEC Newsgroups: net.games.trivia Subject: Re: Re: Meta-humor Message-ID: <69@decwrl.UUCP> Date: 18 Dec 85 16:01:56 GMT Date-Received: 19 Dec 85 12:04:14 GMT Sender: daemon@decwrl.UUCP Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation Lines: 10 ---------------------Reply to mail dated 16-DEC-1985 18:06--------------------- For Meta humor Moonlighting had a great example at the end of their "Christmas" show. Dave said to Cybil Sheppard (I forget her name on the show) This must be the christmas show and Cybil goes it can't be their is no snow. Then it starts snowing onside their office. It ends up the entire crew starts singing and you see the crew and family. Brian Mahoney
ccrrick@ucdavis.UUCP (Rick Heli) (12/20/85)
And then there was the point in the movie Volunteers where the star can't understand what another character is saying... His solution is to tilt his head and read off the translation in the subtitles...
mark@mrstve.UUCP (Mark Smith) (12/23/85)
In article <69@decwrl.UUCP>, mahoney@bach.DEC writes: > > ---------------------Reply to mail dated 16-DEC-1985 18:06--------------------- > > For Meta humor Moonlighting had a great example at the end of their > "Christmas" show. Dave said to Cybil Sheppard (I forget her name on the show) > This must be the christmas show and Cybil goes it can't be their is no snow. > Then it starts snowing onside their office. It ends up the entire crew > starts singing and you see the crew and family. > > Brian Mahoney > Relay-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site sdcrdcf.UUCP > Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site decwrl.UUCP > Path: sdcrdcf!sdcsvax!ucbvax!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-bach!mahoney > From: mahoney@bach.DEC > Newsgroups: net.games.trivia > Subject: Re: Re: Meta-humor > Message-ID: <69@decwrl.UUCP> > Date: 18 Dec 85 16:01:56 GMT > Date-Received: 19 Dec 85 12:04:14 GMT > Sender: daemon@decwrl.UUCP > Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation > Lines: 10 > > > For Meta humor Moonlighting had a great example at the end of their > "Christmas" show. Dave said to Cybil Sheppard (I forget her name on the show) > This must be the christmas show and Cybil goes it can't be their is no snow. > Then it starts snowing onside their office. It ends up the entire crew > starts singing and you see the crew and family. > You might not have caught it, but approximately 43 minutes into the show Cybil Sheppard (I know her show name but can't spell it) asked, "Do you know what we have to do now?" to which Dave replies, "Wrap this up in about 12 minutes. Another show comes on the air". Actually the entire show was filled with Meta humor. Just look at the character names: Mary, Joseph, the 3 Kings. Another remark made by Dave which was rather humorous was when Mary revealed that the baby was named Andrew. Dave looks puzzled and when he and Cybil get outside the door says something to the effect, "Andrew? It just doesn't work..." (Wording may differ in some states (:-)) Oh well; that's my contribution to the Moonlighting humor. -- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- May the Quest for the ElfSword be your ultimate goal in life... Mark Smith GM "The Software Wizard" ihnp4!pur-ee!pur-phy!mrstve!mark =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
barmar@mit-eddie.UUCP (Barry Margolin) (12/26/85)
In article <495@ucdavis.UUCP> ccrrick@ucdavis.UUCP (Rick Heli) writes: >And then there was the point in the movie Volunteers where the >star can't understand what another character is saying... >His solution is to tilt his head and read off the translation in the >subtitles... That reminds me of the opening to one of the Muppet movies, in which Kermit and Fozzy discuss the people being named in the credits. -- Barry Margolin ARPA: barmar@MIT-Multics UUCP: ..!genrad!mit-eddie!barmar
john@moncol.UUCP (John Ruschmeyer) (12/27/85)
>From: barmar@mit-eddie.UUCP (Barry Margolin) >Message-ID: <832@mit-eddie.UUCP> >Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA > >In article <495@ucdavis.UUCP> ccrrick@ucdavis.UUCP (Rick Heli) writes: >>And then there was the point in the movie Volunteers where the >>star can't understand what another character is saying... >>His solution is to tilt his head and read off the translation in the >>subtitles... > >That reminds me of the opening to one of the Muppet movies, in which >Kermit and Fozzy discuss the people being named in the credits. That reminds me of the standard opening to a GREEN ACRES episode where Eva Gabor's character would comment on the names appearing in front of her. -- Name: John Ruschmeyer US Mail: Monmouth College, W. Long Branch, NJ 07764 Phone: (201) 571-3451 *** NEW NUMBER *** UUCP: ...!vax135!petsd!moncol!john ...!princeton!moncol!john ...!pesnta!moncol!john "I hate this beer. It has no taste." "And it's so filling." "No taste." "So filling."
wayne@ada-uts.UUCP (12/30/85)
>***** ada-uts:net.games.triv / moncol!john / 1:43 pm Dec 27, 1985 >>From: barmar@mit-eddie.UUCP (Barry Margolin) >>Message-ID: <832@mit-eddie.UUCP> >>Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA >> >>In article <495@ucdavis.UUCP> ccrrick@ucdavis.UUCP (Rick Heli) writes: >>>And then there was the point in the movie Volunteers where the >>>star can't understand what another character is saying... >>>His solution is to tilt his head and read off the translation in the >>>subtitles... >> >>That reminds me of the opening to one of the Muppet movies, in which >>Kermit and Fozzy discuss the people being named in the credits. > >That reminds me of the standard opening to a GREEN ACRES episode where Eva >Gabor's character would comment on the names appearing in front of her. That reminds me of the movie THREE STOOGES IN ORBIT when then hear the Martians discussing the destruction of the Earth. Moe looks down at the subtitles (someday they'll be promoted to titles) and reads what they say. Also, at the end of the film, the Martians speak in English, "If you can't beat them, join them." The subtitles are in written in Martian. Wayne Wylupski ...!{ihnp4,ima}!inmet!ada-uts!wayne
wiener@idacrd.UUCP (Matthew P Wiener) (01/06/86)
Garfield once slept through Monday, all three panels. The next day, he wakes up and says "You know it's Monday when you wake up and it's Tuesday." For really great meta-humor, though, you want more than one-liners. The best I can think of off the top of my head are the plays of Tom Stoppard and some of John Barth's fiction, especially his short story "The Menechniad" (??) in his collection _Lost in the Funhouse_. That story stands out after ten+ years easily: with quotations nesting *eight* deep or so, and characters speaking across the nestings, and sentences ending ...?'!'?'!'?'! (all quite logically), and, oh I can't remember anymore, but it was great, the mind boggles. As a serious Beckett-head, I'm convinced a deep meta-humor exists across his complete works, but it's hard to pin down. berkeley!brahms!weemba Matthew P Wiener Math Dept UCB Berkeley CA 94720
ronc@fai.UUCP (Ronald O. Christian) (01/08/86)
You want Meta-humor? Try 'By The Skin of our Teeth', a play
recently aired on PBS. (And again and again... if I know PBS.)
It was, in a word, wierd. I don't think some of the stuff would
have worked, had one of the center characters (the maid) constantly
pointed out logical errors during the course of the play.
Some things that happen:
During the maid's entrance speech, she stops the play, walks off
the stage and sits with the audience, there to discuss how hard
it is for an actress to get a job these days, and how she got stuck
in such a wierd play.
When she gets to the next character's entrance, the door sticks. So
she goes through the entire monolog again at breakneck speed.
The same character stops the play again during a love scene when
she objects to some of the lines.
At the begining of the last scene, the director comes out and
confesses that 7 of the cast members took sick from take-out
at the Deli across the street, and he makes substitutions from
various crew members. He also goes on to explain what several
special effects would have looked like.
At the end, we get what I'd describe as meta-drama. During one
very powerful scene, an argument between father and son (who had
been on opposite sides during world war III) a fight breaks out
between the two characters on stage. The play is stopped. The
actor playing the son sits on the edge of the stage muttering
"I can't play this part. I can't play this part. It hits too
close to home." The actor playing the father takes responsibility
for the fight, saying he got too much into the character. The
'son' is led off the stage by one of the cast. Really moving.
I highly recommend this play. I caught the very beginning late
at night when I really wanted to go to bed, and ended up staying
awake for the whole thing. See it.
--
--
Ronald O. Christian (Fujitsu America Inc., San Jose, Calf.)
ihnp4!{pesnta,qubix}!wjvax!fai!ronc
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility:
"If you are seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it."gds@mit-eddie.UUCP (Greg Skinner) (01/09/86)
I just remembered one of the funniest Bugs Bunny cartoons with
meta-humor.
It's in the one called "Tortoise Beats Hare". Bugs is standing in front
of the credit screen reading all the producers, etc. When he finally
gets up to the title, he gets incredibly upset and goes off to find a
tortoise.
"What kept ya?"
--
It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under.
Greg Skinner (gregbo)
{decvax!genrad, allegra, ihnp4}!mit-eddie!gds
gds@mit-eddie.mit.edugkloker@utai.UUCP (Geoff Loker) (01/13/86)
In article <50@fai.UUCP> ronc@fai.UUCP (Ronald O. Christian) writes: >You want Meta-humor? Try 'By The Skin of our Teeth', a play >recently aired on PBS. (And again and again... if I know PBS.) > >I highly recommend this play. I caught the very beginning late >at night when I really wanted to go to bed, and ended up staying >awake for the whole thing. See it. If you want to read the play, it was written by Thornton Wilder (author of "Our Town", as well) around the 1920's or '30s, I believe. Possibly a bit dated by now, but still quite good. -- Geoff Loker Department of Computer Science University of Toronto Toronto, ON M5S 1A4 USENET: {ihnp4 decwrl utzoo uw-beaver}!utcsri!utai!gkloker CSNET: gkloker@toronto ARPANET: gkloker.toronto@csnet-relay
dobro@ulowell.UUCP (Chet Dobro) (01/21/86)
In response to Ronald Christian's comments about "By the Skin of Our Teeth" by Thorton Wilder, which was recently aired (yes, again) on PBS: > It was, in a word, wierd. I don't think some of the stuff would > have worked, had one of the center characters (the maid) constantly > pointed out logical errors during the course of the play. You think that play was weird to watch!? Try doing it (high school drama club). Gryphon