Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Irony Deficient

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  • Sacha, in reply to Simon Bennett,

    I firmly believe that this issue of gatekeepers (whether producers or network execs), who have no actual expertise in the area, yet become arbiters as to what is or isn't funny, is one of the blights that has afflicted NZ TV comedy across the decades.

    Certainly heard that from comedians.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Jackson James Wood,

    We pretty much have a pitch ready to go.

    Fantastic.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Simon Bennett, in reply to Sacha,

    'Certainly heard that from comedians.'

    So have I, and experienced it first hand.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 174 posts Report

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Samuel Scott,

    For instance, this is a horrible piece of disgusting, offensive humour;
    http://www.theonion.com/articles/no-one-murdered-because-of-this-image,29553/

    it is pretty funny too. But could so easily just be offensive.

    It's funny because it crosses the line - not once, but twice.

    And my Swiftian take on child poverty had just the intended effect - smirking in those who got it, and disgust in those who didn't. Again, all it needs now is a wider audience.

    And there's more to come.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report

  • dcnbwz,

    Eating media lunch - anal mana

    From the listener a while back.....http://www.listener.co.nz/entertainment/pique-viewing/

    Best Hoax: the leggy beauty on the awful Something About Miriam turned out to be a bloke and everyone involved deserved every thing they got. Incredibly, some people actually believed that Eating Media Lunch killed Shrek and that an indigenous good time called Anal Mana would be coming to an adult section near you. Time for another of those shows where they test the IQ of the nation. Quick.

    uk • Since Sep 2009 • 24 posts Report

  • andrew r,

    Eating Media Lunch - was funny,so funny. And so tightly written. Best by far in many many blue moons.

    auckland • Since May 2007 • 100 posts Report

  • Lilith __,

    On the subject of crossing the line, Liam Neeson with Ricky Gervais:

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report

  • Islander,

    I am totally unable to recognise sarcasm/satire when it is here – let alone anywhere else, like tv…
    I have a tin ear for it/them: a blind eye. They just dont interest/entertain me in the least.
    And as for irony - unless it's clearly spelt out - pftui!

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Lilith __, in reply to andrew r,

    Eating Media Lunch – was funny,so funny

    At times it was very funny, but the constant trolling for audience reaction I found tiresome and distasteful. "What do you think of NZ pussy?", for crying out loud. Not that funny the first time, but over and over again?

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report

  • Russell Clarke,

    I can't believe you didn't mention Garth George in a post about satire. He always had me rolling in the aisles. And on the pews.

    -36.76, 174.61 or thereab… • Since Nov 2006 • 164 posts Report

  • Islander, in reply to Russell Clarke,

    You see, I take the hideous GG at his hideous written word-and respond to his words thusly-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Islander,

    I am totally unable to recognise sarcasm/satire when it is here – let alone anywhere else, like tv…
    I have a tin ear for it/them: a blind eye. They just dont interest/entertain me in the least.
    And as for irony – unless it’s clearly spelt out – pftui!

    That's interesting. Does it make things a bit difficult on parts of the internet that are quite culturally rooted in irony?

    My two ASD boys, who are supposed to have trouble with non-literal text and speech, recognise and respond to various flavours of irony -- partly because they're internet natives and partly, I suspect, because they've grown up with their father talking absolute bollocks at them.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Sacha,

    public service TV

    Maori TV here, then.

    Maori TV's dubbed & subtitled Mister Ed had more laughs than the original. When the talking horse phoned an unsuspecting woman pretending to be her secret admirer, she excitedly told a friend "He sounds like a Tainui man!"

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Islander, in reply to Russell Brown,

    That’s interesting. Does it make things a bit difficult on parts of the internet that are quite culturally rooted in irony?

    You bet!
    I just cant understand it…probably because no wonderful person talked/wrote/asked me to read absolute bollocks and explain there was a penumbra of – something else- but alsomaybe – because NONE of my family does satire/irony…we know sarcasm but that is recognised as a weapon and we respond accordingly.

    ***O,in my first post that was supposed to be irony & satire



    I wonder…because my whanau plays with words but gives them due weight & respect? And takes mis-spoken words (anciently) as cause for war…

    I mean, we can wordplay- punning/bawdry/familystuff to an extreme degree – but ironic? Satiric?
    Not yet. And, probably not in the elder generations lifetimes-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Islander, in reply to Islander,

    Not yet. And, probably not in the elder generations lifetimes

    And, do we even want to?

    There are senses of humour that do not travel – they’re not universal, they are not welcomed everywhere – why should they be supported except by those who understand and welcome them?

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    she excitedly told a friend "He sounds like a Tainui man!"

    heehaw

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to Russell Brown,

    because they've grown up with their father talking absolute bollocks at them

    greater dedication hath no man, etc

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Islander, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    Cool! But followed up by Sacha's 'Heehaw" (=donkey) is a comment that
    is
    not-
    anyway, fuck it all- the comment may have been ironic. May have been satiric. It just lessened Sacha's mana in my mind by about 500%-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Islander, in reply to Islander,

    What may be an ironic saying (or sketch) in one culture is one matter.
    (Very probably will not be understood in another.)
    What may be - satiric -for some-( for me- I dont understand )(I just think they are misunderstanding matters/mis-saying words/whatever-)is what it matters to those who understand it- enjoy!
    What is SARCASM always has it's base in viciousness - whether understood, misunderstood, or deliberately misunderstood.
    That's what you go kick in the head - of the word.

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Danielle, in reply to Islander,

    What is SARCASM always has its base in viciousness

    Nope.

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • DexterX,

    Sarcasm, being sarky is not necessarily vicious, it can be quite endearing as portrayed in the relationship between Rodney and Del Boy on "Only Fools and Horses".

    The lack of irony stems from the incredulous political environment leaving the nation satirically exhausted such that the appetite for the “ironque” is diminished.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1224 posts Report

  • Peter Corbish,

    Don't forget the "Down the List" new slot on National Radio on Sunday mornings..a..an acorn of a new show maybe???.....

    Wellington • Since Nov 2010 • 2 posts Report

  • WH,

    I recently finished Arrested Development. It's beautiful, original and completely brilliant, and because it is such a big part of the best-comedy-ever? conversation they are releasing new episodes in 2013. You should watch it.

    Now I am watching season one of Breaking Bad and something called Winnebago Man.

    Since Nov 2006 • 797 posts Report

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Shallow Minister out of her depth...
    I think sarcasm was what Hekia Pariah, er Parata, was attempting in her cringe-inducing appearance at the PPTA conference yesterday - she is about as good at that as she is at empathy and consultation.
    It would be hard to satirise her performance as an MP as she is already a joke in the role...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Rich of Observationz,

    Come to that, a lot of people don’t find funny funny. They see a programme like ‘The Office’ with those nasty, nasty characters and assume it’s advocacy for that worldview.

    I think you’re right, up to a point. OTOH, I don’t find Anger Management at all funny because another Charlie Sheen joint where every woman in the room is a disposable slut, a barking psycho or a castrating shrew just isn’t.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

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