by Ice Cream Jonsey » Tue Apr 07, 2020 4:13 pm
I am on the Patreon for my favorite sports writer, Joe Posnanski. Joe, I hope you don't mind me quoting something from your post to your subscribers today. If you do mind I think this BBS will let you tell me to shut up without having to register. Joe wrote:
I want to know how weird it is for Seth Meyers to do his show in complete silence. I realize that all of the hosts are doing that — all of everybody is doing that — but Seth is my favorite and there’s a specific reason I think about it with him.
See, Seth is a writer. And I have long had this fascination with the difference between trying to write something funny and trying to perform something funny.
When you perform, you get a “funny/not funny” answer right then and there.
But when you write it, for a story or a book or a blog post or a weekly newsletter, you never really know if it made anybody laugh. You send it it out and pretty much the only reaction you might get is an email or a tweet saying:
NOT FUNNY!
LOL!
The first reaction is fairly straightforward. But the second one is unfulfilling; did they really laugh out loud? Probably not. Let’s be honest. No, best case scenario, they read it and thought, “that was mildly humorous,” which isn’t an especially kind thing to send to someone via email or Tweet — especially when they’re trying to offer a moderate compliment — so they send the more polite LOL! instead.
Anyway, Seth is one of the great comedy writers anywhere and he has this brilliant staff and they’re used to getting real and immediate and indisputable feedback on the jokes. And now, he performs into silence. I’m just curious how weird that is for him.
I have no idea why I’m sharing this with you.
I think, due to this time being so different for all of us (maybe there's some 100 year old that remembers the Spanish flu and is going "nope... nope.... nothing new you idiots" to the rest of us) that it's this total subversion of expectations and worth commenting on. Because, God, what else is there to do. I've written jokes that nobody saw for ten years- I had the first few rooms of Enceladus done before I picked it back up and did it for this last text game comp. I don't get much feedback on my Twitter either when I try to tell a joke. My brother has informed me this is because I am not remotely funny. So in his mind this is a solved issue. But I see lots of stuff that I think is funny but I don't hit the "Like" button on Twitter for, because I am a corpulent all-consuming blob that is using my finger to scroll, not give feedback. So for me this is all interesting the other way. I am used to telling a joke and not getting jack shit in response, in real-life and on Twitter and when writing something. Seth and the rest of the people doing this are in an even more (?) different spot - they are saying things that most likely ARE funny, but there's just dead silence.
(All of you also used to hang me out to dry when I would say things on The Don Rogers Show and I've never forgiven any of you for it. Well, not Joe.)
I am on the Patreon for my favorite sports writer, Joe Posnanski. Joe, I hope you don't mind me quoting something from your post to your subscribers today. If you do mind I think this BBS will let you tell me to shut up without having to register. Joe wrote:
[quote]I want to know how weird it is for Seth Meyers to do his show in complete silence. I realize that all of the hosts are doing that — all of everybody is doing that — but Seth is my favorite and there’s a specific reason I think about it with him.
See, Seth is a writer. And I have long had this fascination with the difference between trying to write something funny and trying to perform something funny.
When you perform, you get a “funny/not funny” answer right then and there.
But when you write it, for a story or a book or a blog post or a weekly newsletter, you never really know if it made anybody laugh. You send it it out and pretty much the only reaction you might get is an email or a tweet saying:
NOT FUNNY!
LOL!
The first reaction is fairly straightforward. But the second one is unfulfilling; did they really laugh out loud? Probably not. Let’s be honest. No, best case scenario, they read it and thought, “that was mildly humorous,” which isn’t an especially kind thing to send to someone via email or Tweet — especially when they’re trying to offer a moderate compliment — so they send the more polite LOL! instead.
Anyway, Seth is one of the great comedy writers anywhere and he has this brilliant staff and they’re used to getting real and immediate and indisputable feedback on the jokes. And now, he performs into silence. I’m just curious how weird that is for him.
I have no idea why I’m sharing this with you.[/quote]
I think, due to this time being so different for all of us (maybe there's some 100 year old that remembers the Spanish flu and is going "nope... nope.... nothing new you idiots" to the rest of us) that it's this total subversion of expectations and worth commenting on. Because, God, what else is there to do. I've written jokes that nobody saw for ten years- I had the first few rooms of Enceladus done before I picked it back up and did it for this last text game comp. I don't get much feedback on my Twitter either when I try to tell a joke. My brother has informed me this is because I am not remotely funny. So in his mind this is a solved issue. But I see lots of stuff that I think is funny but I don't hit the "Like" button on Twitter for, because I am a corpulent all-consuming blob that is using my finger to scroll, not give feedback. So for me this is all interesting the other way. I am used to telling a joke and not getting jack shit in response, in real-life and on Twitter and when writing something. Seth and the rest of the people doing this are in an even more (?) different spot - they are saying things that most likely ARE funny, but there's just dead silence.
(All of you also used to hang me out to dry when I would say things on The Don Rogers Show and I've never forgiven any of you for it. Well, not Joe.)