Just smart enough to be into Monty Python

[Cramulus]

Not surprisingly, Live Action RPGs are a hotbed of people who are just awful.

Excessive Monty Python quoting is a signal flare that you shouldn't invite that guy on the dungeon crawl.


The game's rulebook has a "miscellaneous rules" section. One of them reads "For the love of god, please keep the Monty Python to an absolute minimum."

[LMNO]

ahahah.
so, after i mentioned mitch hedberg, and freeky quoted him, i pulled up his wikiquote page, cause it's a decent way to blow a few minutes.  i clicked on his wikipedia article, cause i forgot how he died precisesly.  in the opening paragraph it says that he gained a cult following that would sometimes call out the punchline to his joke from the audience before he did!that thar is the worst manifestation of this particular malady, i think.

Maybe MP, despite what they've said, actually focused their marketing here in the states so as to avoid the possibility of that.  It would seem wise, if you are going to base a humor career on non sequitur to build your cult in a foreign country...

I can't remember precisely where it's from, but there's some bit where a comedian just calls out punchlines without the setup, because the jokes were so well known. 

Saying, ".....with a HERRING!" seems to be a similar sort of thing.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Not surprisingly, Live Action RPGs are a hotbed of people who are just awful.

Excessive Monty Python quoting is a signal flare that you shouldn't invite that guy on the dungeon crawl.


The game's rulebook has a "miscellaneous rules" section. One of them reads "For the love of god, please keep the Monty Python to an absolute minimum."

You know it's a phenomenon when it actually has to be spelled out in a rulebook for an activity  that is not even related to Monty Python.

I think it should go in every rulebook, ever. And employee handbooks.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Yes, it is elitist.

In this fucked up world, I think it's a great thing that anyone can find solace and joy in humor even if it doesn't measure up to someone else's standards. 

Besides, we already know that puns are the pinnacle of humor.  Those are just an acquired taste that not everyone can quite get. 

No, they aren't.

I now hate you for 24 hours.

[Luna]

Yes, it is elitist.

In this fucked up world, I think it's a great thing that anyone can find solace and joy in humor even if it doesn't measure up to someone else's standards. 

Besides, we already know that puns are the pinnacle of humor.  Those are just an acquired taste that not everyone can quite get. 

No, they aren't.

I now hate you for 24 hours.

Truth.  Seeing. Man take a shot to the groin is the pinnacle of humor.

:hide:

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Yes, it is elitist.

In this fucked up world, I think it's a great thing that anyone can find solace and joy in humor even if it doesn't measure up to someone else's standards. 

Besides, we already know that puns are the pinnacle of humor.  Those are just an acquired taste that not everyone can quite get. 

No, they aren't.

I now hate you for 24 hours.

Truth.  Seeing. Man take a shot to the groin is the pinnacle of humor.

:hide:

Idiocracy:  Actual Prophecy. 



The pinacle of humor is Walmart at 5-6AM on Black Friday.  It is the perfect, hilarious snapshot of the human condition.

[trippinprincezz13]

I dunno, I guess unless I knew the person I wouldn't read too much into it.  We all have things we really like and enjoy.  I'm not sure that this really speaks as a detriment to a person's character, not on its own anyway. 

I mean, my daughter for a time was really into Justin Bieber, and would sing Justin Bieber songs.  Now, this is a very smart little girl who also is really into and really good at art. 

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not sure that being into a kind of mindless entertainment is necessarily indicative of the quality of one's mind, again, without knowing more about the person. 

Yea, pretty much this. I have a hard time being snobby about things like music and humor, because if it makes someone else happy, who am I to judge. I'll laugh at things that are all witty and subtle, but I also have no problem laughing at slapstick and potty jokes. I may not laugh at every instance of "humor" between either end of the spectrum, but if something strikes a chord with my funny bone and can make me forget how shitty everything is, I'll sit there giggling like an idiot.  "Wow that movie was really stupid, but I laughed through half of it so, whatever."  And I've long since given up on trying to figure out what "good" music is outside of whether I enjoy it or not. Some of what I listen to *I* think is awful in some sense, but if it makes me laugh or happy momentarily, that's good enough for me.

So while I might be a bit skeptical of someone that likes Justin Beiber's music or finds Jeff Dunham funny, I'll reserve my judgment until I find out a bit more about that person or if it's someone I know, I might poke a bit of fun, but in all reality, I could care less, if it makes them happy.

That being said, someone who constantly just regurgitates the same thing over and over, especially in place of trying to develop their own sense of humor can get annoying and dull pretty quickly. Yea, quoting some Monty Python, or Mel Brooks, or Simpsons can help establish that we have a similar sense of humor but if that's ALL you can say, then, meh

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I dunno, I guess unless I knew the person I wouldn't read too much into it.  We all have things we really like and enjoy.  I'm not sure that this really speaks as a detriment to a person's character, not on its own anyway. 

I mean, my daughter for a time was really into Justin Bieber, and would sing Justin Bieber songs.  Now, this is a very smart little girl who also is really into and really good at art. 

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not sure that being into a kind of mindless entertainment is necessarily indicative of the quality of one's mind, again, without knowing more about the person. 

I am not sure it is completely fair to compare a four-year-old with grown adults, but OK.

On the other hand, maybe it is completely fair to compare a four-year-old with people who constantly quote Monty Python. Hmmmm.

All I know is that frequent Monty Python quotes, in and of themselves,  are enough to let me know that I don't want to know more about the person. Unless they are four years old, in which case, I'ma cut them some slack.

Okay, change it to a 23 year old who really likes The Office.  So what?  Your question was about using this as a method for judging a person's intelligence.  What I'm saying is that I don't think it is an accurate, nor fair, test.  I mean, this board has gone through phases where internet memes were repeated ad nauseum.  Does that make us a bunch of dullards?  Of course not.

All I'm saying is that I don't think it is a fair assessment in and of itself without knowing more about a person.  They could be stuck.  They could just really, really like Monty Python.  Who knows? 

It's interesting that you mention internet memes because I hate them so much.

Partially because they're retarded most of the time, but the other part is just the sheer repetition. If I see a place with too many memes in one spot (like the comments on any of the failblog associated sites), I just move on. It's annoying and I know I'm not going to get any content, and I fail to understand how people can just spend their lives repeating other people's one-off jokes.

Sure everyone uses a MP quote here and there. But it's how you do it.

Back in the day, when I referred to my place as Kevingrad for shits and giggles, I once got into a long winded ramble about how I don't have time to have fun anymore and how I don't have any Kevin time.

So, of course, after I was done, one of my friends pipes says in a cheesy German accent, "No... no fun in Kevingrad."

Which was funny.

As were the captions on any pictures people took on me that said, "Stop. Kevin time." in the following week. But they petered out and now only get referenced occasionally. To do more would be to kill the joke.

That's actually a pretty good definition for a meme. A joke that ought to have been let to die.

[AFK]

Yes, it is elitist.

In this fucked up world, I think it's a great thing that anyone can find solace and joy in humor even if it doesn't measure up to someone else's standards. 

Besides, we already know that puns are the pinnacle of humor.  Those are just an acquired taste that not everyone can quite get. 

No, they aren't.

I now hate you for 24 hours.

There's no accounting for taste!  

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Yes, it is elitist.

In this fucked up world, I think it's a great thing that anyone can find solace and joy in humor even if it doesn't measure up to someone else's standards. 

Besides, we already know that puns are the pinnacle of humor.  Those are just an acquired taste that not everyone can quite get. 

No, they aren't.

I now hate you for 24 hours.

There's no accounting for taste!  

You're right. But I'm pretty sure it's generally agreed that puns are closer to the nadir of humor.

[EK WAFFLR]

The pinacle of humor is Walmart at 5-6AM on Black Friday.  It is the perfect, hilarious snapshot of the human condition.

Somehow this has been the most compelling reason for visiting AMERICA I've seen so far.

[Luna]

The pinacle of humor is Walmart at 5-6AM on Black Friday.  It is the perfect, hilarious snapshot of the human condition.

Somehow this has been the most compelling reason for visiting AMERICA I've seen so far.

We have experience hosting Eurospags.  Come play!

[Eater of Clowns]

I don't think it has anything to do with intelligence.  I think it has everything to do with a sense of humor.

People who are funny - actually funny, can just say pretty ordinary things and make them funny.  It's about the outlook, the delivery, timing, etc.  People who aren't funny will take someone else's humor and try to make it work for them.  There's an episode of The Office (American) where the boss quotes Chris Rock's Niggas vs. Black People bit and it's absolutely terrible (hah, I just spoke out against reference humor by referencing humor), that's what it's like all the time, whethere it's Simpsons or 30 Rock or Monty Python.

Now, humor can still be had from those things, in a group of people fondly remembering them.  I think a good Simpsons quote can be great in some situations, but you can't just walk around hoping to quote Simpsons and having quotes set aside for any occassion - and you have to know your audience (which is part of being funny).

Judging a person's intelligence on their sense of humor, though, makes about as much sense as judging it on their creativity, or their athletic ability.  There are smart jocks and dumb artists, just like there are brilliant people with no damn sense of humor.

Me, I don't find Monty Python to be exceptionally funny.  It's great, yeah, but I never really had a Monty Python phase.

[Luna]

People who are funny - actually funny, can just say pretty ordinary things and make them funny.  It's about the outlook, the delivery, timing, etc.

I vividly remember a scene early on in the movie Hook, where Robin Williams's character is telling a joke...  Badly.  It's... PAINFUL to watch.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

It seems to me that repeating the same recycled jokes over and over is related to a relative lack of intelligence, and not merely a lack of being funny. Because most of the jokes in Monty Python ARE funny. Likewise the jokes in The Simpsons. Making a Monty Python or Simpsons reference now and then can be funny rather than annoying.

It's the repetitive part that seems most telling to me. Perhaps it's not lack of intelligence, but some form of OCD or a mask for social anxiety; who knows. I do know that people who do this are usually excruciatingly boring to hang out with. It's not that they're stupid, either; Monty Python seems to appeal to more intelligent people rather than less intelligent people. It's more like it just happens to hit a sweet spot with certain people who for some reason think it's the pinnacle of cleverness to recite lines from it over and over and over and over again whenever something reminds them.