So much left to EXPLOOOORE!
March 16, 2014 9:55 PM   Subscribe

 
I don't know, the delivery seems a little off when it comes in GIF form.
posted by Jacob Knitig at 10:26 PM on March 16, 2014


They're not doing body humor

The Maria Bamford one wouldn't make sense without the facial expressions. There are some others like that on the first page of the tumblr.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 11:17 PM on March 16, 2014 [2 favorites]


Cute, but it doesn't seem to add much.


Also, should I be concerned I don't know any of these people?
posted by MartinWisse at 12:18 AM on March 17, 2014


I know I sound like an old fart, but not everything can be reduced to .gif format and still retain the subtle complexity of the original. I suppose next all the young hipper-than-thou trendsetters will also be claiming that CDs actually do sound as warm and rich as LP vinyl records did.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:20 AM on March 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


MartinWisse, I think I am going to use the gif tumblr as a guide for exploration. Liked the gif, watched the Youtube clip, bought the live special. There's a whole bunch of comics I knew only as actors (Chelsea Peretti) or Daily Show correspondents (Wyatt Cenac).
posted by spamandkimchi at 12:20 AM on March 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


I keep up with comedy fairly well and know most of them, but no, none are household names. Demetri Martin, he had a show on Comedy Central and starred in an Ang Lee movie. He's also famous for palindromes, has had "Talk of the Town" pieces about him in the New Yorker, etc. He sells out 800-1,500 set houses at $50-100 a ticket.

Maria Bamford you should look up, she's most famous for a series of Target commercials but she's a brilliant and dark yet unpretentious (IMHO) edgy comedian (also does a lot of voice work in Hollywood). Tig Notaro, also brilliant and very funny original stylist -- very slow, laconic comic. Lets more silence sit on stage than anyone every (who wasn't bombing). Both cool in person too.

Ron Funches is an Oregon boy who hit it big in the last year, very funny, nice guy, stoner image. On a new sitcom. Eugene Mirman, alternative comedy fixture for many years, NYC scene. Aziz Ansari made a name as a Middle Eastern background comic playing off of 9/11. Don't know the others.
posted by msalt at 12:31 AM on March 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


Okay, this one works.
posted by MartinWisse at 12:38 AM on March 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


Aziz Ansari made a name as a Middle Eastern background comic playing off of 9/11

He was also on Parks & Recreation.

There are lots of well-known names on the tumblr... Dave Chappelle, Richard Pryor, Sarah Silverman, Louis CK, Steve Martin, Zack Galafinakis.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 12:50 AM on March 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


Of course, gif is an outdated, horribly inefficient format. Luckily gfycat will automatically convert those crusty old gifs to HTML5 compatible video for you.

Maybe someday someone will make a service that can apply text to speech on the captions, so that we could also hear the jokes. What a time to be alive!
posted by heathkit at 12:53 AM on March 17, 2014 [4 favorites]


Yeah, I hadn't heard of Sheng Wang--this is good for exploration.

Also, since it's come up twice now: Aziz Ansari isn't of Middle Eastern origin. His family is from Tamil Nadu in South India, and he himself is from South Carolina.
posted by col_pogo at 1:17 AM on March 17, 2014 [3 favorites]


Since he was left out of the rundown, Wyatt Cenac was a Daily Show correspondent...
posted by nevercalm at 2:25 AM on March 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


The animation really isn't even necessary as their gesticulations are barely a substrate of the material. They're not doing body humor so a simple panel strip would do the job better and load faster.

Why not just make a tumblr of jokes from comedians in plain text? What do images even add, if not gestures and some vague sense of timing.

For me, the ones that work are the series that have a static line of text per image, and the silent beat as an extra image, as they are 1) easier to read, and 2) give a sense of timing. Best yet would be to include a link to a YouTube video where you could see these actually performed, but I realize that's not always possible.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:40 AM on March 17, 2014


I just discovered that I had no idea what Tig Nataro looked like. I thought I knew, but I was totally, totally wrong.
posted by BrashTech at 4:23 AM on March 17, 2014


No, you should probably be pleased you haven't heard of Aziz Ansari in particular.
posted by WhitenoisE at 5:15 AM on March 17, 2014


i hate to be that person but could someone explain to me Aziz Ansari's joke? Grapefruits are pink.. (perhaps that is the joke....?)
posted by royalsong at 5:19 AM on March 17, 2014


I also feel the need to explain how .gif sets on tumblr work. In general people reblog/repost these things to their own blog to show support of some kind. Maybe they seen that comedian on youtube/tv, really liked one particular joke, found it on this blog, and reposted it to say: "Hey!! I really liked this!!"

Yes, some of the funniness is lost in .gif from but these things are suppose to be taken as supplementary. Although, I like it because it introduces me to new comedians, and lets me know some comedians I should avoid.
posted by royalsong at 5:27 AM on March 17, 2014


50 cent was confusing grape soda and grapefruit soda
posted by fungible at 5:34 AM on March 17, 2014 [3 favorites]


The Mirman one made me laugh; perhaps because it doesn't even need a picture
posted by fungible at 5:35 AM on March 17, 2014


This is like listening to music by fast forwarding to the chorus.
posted by davebush at 7:13 AM on March 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


Eugene Mirman is on Star Talk all the time. Are you not listening to Star Talk?!
posted by Brocktoon at 7:36 AM on March 17, 2014


Aziz Ansari isn't of Middle Eastern origin. His family is from Tamil Nadu in South India, and he himself is from South Carolina.

Did I say Middle Eastern? I meant Southern Eastern, of course.
posted by msalt at 9:17 AM on March 17, 2014


Not a fan of the format, but I'm sending this one to a dozen people today.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 10:18 AM on March 17, 2014


Not a fan of the format, but I'm sending this one to a dozen people today.

Yeah, I clearly need to learn how to embed a gif set like that in wordpress.
posted by MartinWisse at 11:09 AM on March 17, 2014


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