Laughing with you
January 2, 2012 6:49 PM   Subscribe

Though best-of-the-year lists seem soooo two days ago, the end of holidays may require a comedy break, and the increasingly excellent Splitsider has produced a really nice review of the year in humor. The Year's Best Humor Writing features, in addition to the best of The Onion, pieces like Sometimes State Flags, The Most Emailed New York Times Story Ever, and Roger Ebert's one star reviews (you may want to check out last year's list as well). There is also a list of the 17 best comedy web series, best comedy podcasts, funniest video games, and moments in 2011 where comedy made you think (featuring lots of video).
posted by blahblahblah (26 comments total) 70 users marked this as a favorite
 
From Ebert's review of the Footloose remake:

Was there then, or is there now, a town in Tennessee or any other state in which the city council has passed a law against "dancing in public"?

Elmore City, Oklahoma. Which Footloose was based on. Which Ebert could have found out just by consulting the Wikipedia article about the film.

If you find yourself asking a question in a review, it's sometimes nice to take a moment to see if maybe there actually is an answer to it. By the way, the Footloose remake was pretty good. It read like a better second draft of the first film.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 7:08 PM on January 2, 2012 [1 favorite]


Also, David Rees (of Get Your War On, Artisanal Pencil Sharpening, and Friday Face Offs fame, whose Fighting Technique and Filing Technique are Unstoppable) has been "killing it" (in the words of Johnathan Coulton) with his year-end Top Ten lists.
posted by straight at 7:13 PM on January 2, 2012 [3 favorites]


Great post. Quite a few things I'm going to follow up on.


Elmore City, Oklahoma.

Also, this
posted by robcorr at 8:00 PM on January 2, 2012


Well, in spite of myself, I learned a lot about state flags today.
posted by Gordafarin at 8:06 PM on January 2, 2012


This post has answered the AskMe I was going to post soon. Thanks!
posted by vidur at 8:13 PM on January 2, 2012


Damn, there are so many good comedy podcasts now it's impossible to keep up with them all. It's a great time to be a stand-up comedy fan.
posted by Lorin at 8:17 PM on January 2, 2012


That list reads a bit like "The Best Random Stuff From Those Three Humor Sites I Read, Plus Some Other Stuff I Found On Popurls That One Day." But, yeah, the state flags thing is funny.
posted by jscalzi at 8:33 PM on January 2, 2012


Hang on... those state flags were real? I thought they were made up, could not possibly that bad in real life... off to check on Google... OMFG!
posted by greenhornet at 8:41 PM on January 2, 2012


Hmmm... Alabama's flag is the same as that of St. Patrick, a key component of the Union Flag (the UK's).

those state flags were real?
Yeah. Seriously... some of them look like they were designed by schoolchildren. They make the hitherto hilarious Falkland Islands' flag look positively professional.
posted by NailsTheCat at 8:46 PM on January 2, 2012


I have to find ways to throw more money at Louis C.K.
posted by Smedleyman at 8:46 PM on January 2, 2012 [1 favorite]


off to check on Google... OMFG!

Yeah, the Maryland state flag looks like a taxicab ran over a king.
posted by compartment at 8:47 PM on January 2, 2012 [5 favorites]




Someone log in to your splitsider account and berate them for leaving Maximum Fun off their podcast lists again.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:01 PM on January 2, 2012 [2 favorites]


No not Jesse, someone else.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:02 PM on January 2, 2012 [1 favorite]


I just want to say that if you're from Maryland, the state flag is awesome and a point of pride.
posted by escabeche at 9:09 PM on January 2, 2012 [1 favorite]


I'm from MD, and the only good thing about our flag is that it's not as nuts as Virginia's.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:18 PM on January 2, 2012


I'm from Iowa; our flag is like a tattoo you can wave. Eagle with a banner, how sweet is that? Caw! Caw!

(That's the sound of an eagle and oh shit I just realized how can an eagle scream with a banner in his mouth)
posted by compartment at 9:39 PM on January 2, 2012 [2 favorites]


Why do American state flags suck so badly? I am in shock.
posted by Meatbomb at 1:27 AM on January 3, 2012


Michigan's flag reminds me of "the bowser tattoo". Like you thought it was finished when they describes the crest of the fisherman on the bank, waving, at sunset, but then it just keeps going.
posted by Meatbomb at 1:29 AM on January 3, 2012


I'm from Iowa; our flag is like a tattoo you can wave. Eagle with a banner, how sweet is that?

I've lived all over the country and the first and last Bald Eagles I've ever seen were in Iowa. Iowa actually has the right to have them on the flag.

But not carrying the defiant banner. The things are utter cowards and bottom feeders. Ben Franklin got that right.
posted by clarknova at 1:51 AM on January 3, 2012


Looking at the state flag one, the quality of state flags pretty much clues you in on what would happen if Ron Paul got his wish and the states got more control and the federal government less.

Though it does inspire me to get into politics just so I can sponsor a bill to replace "The Show Me State" with "Gently Caressed...by a Bear!"
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 9:28 AM on January 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


Finally, Ghost Trick is on someone's top ten list.
posted by zixyer at 2:24 PM on January 3, 2012


I don't understand why that story is the most e-mailed NYT article. Seriously, can someone explain?
posted by kamikazegopher at 2:38 PM on January 3, 2012


>I don't understand why that story is the most e-mailed NYT article. Seriously, can someone explain?<

How do we verify this? I refuse to believe it. Mostly because I tried to read it and couldn’t because it didn’t appear to be about anything. It seemed like one of those fake articles sites put up to catch your google searches, full of random words.
posted by bongo_x at 6:48 PM on January 3, 2012


It's a parody of NYT "lifestyle" articles. The "Most E-Mailed" thing is part of the joke (as in, "this has so many NYT lifestlye cliches all in one article, it would totally be the most popular one evar!")
posted by straight at 9:39 PM on January 3, 2012


This, as per, misses out everything that happens outwith the US...but I agree with 'Stan Gets Old'. I didn't watch South Park since the 90s, believing it to be a dated, catchphrase comedy trading on edginess, then I got right back into it this year and realised it's as subtle and satirical as any live action sitcom. Plus the music is really, really well done. (They better send The Book of Mormon over here soon.)

'You're Getting Old', and the montage at the end of the concluding episode to that story (can't remember what it's called now) are two of the saddest programmes I saw in 2011, and I've never for a second thought I'd ever say that about South Park.
posted by mippy at 9:55 AM on January 4, 2012


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