Andy, Are You Goofing on Apple?
Fake Steve Jobs, a wildly popular blog written by Daniel Lyons, an editor at Forbes, has been goofing on the real Steve Jobs all year. And now things have taken an odd turn. During the same week that Apple apparently shut down ThinkSecret.com (an Apple rumor site) in exchange for cash, Apple may be applying similar pressure to Fake Steve Jobs. Or maybe not.
If today’s blog post can be taken at face value, Apple lawyers have followed up hard-assed threats with a cash offer (of $500,000) to make FSJ go away. The recent posts all sound convincing. But then you note the references to Andy Kaufman, the master of walking the line between complete sincerity and absurdity. First, there’s the picture of Kaufman getting strong armed during one of his famous wrestling matches with women. Next, there’s the reference to a “Tony Clifton,” which is the name given to a strange bit character Kaufman played during the 1970s (see below).
FSJ is a satire site, and you shouldn’t get fooled. But you do. Just like the inevitable dupe does every April 1. Good stuff.
On Hanukkah
For the first night of Hanukkah, we bring you a classic bit from Saturday Night Live (1989) starring Jon Lovitz called “Hanukkah Harry Saves Christmas.” You can watch the video directly on NBC’s site along with other vintage SNL videos. (Sorry, I couldn’t find an embed for this one.)
150 Monty Python Sketches (and a Related Prank)
Someone did a lot of legwork and pulled together a heap of Monty Python videos on YouTube. The list includes one famous segment called “Dead Parrot,” which is notable partly because it’s funny, and partly because it forms the basis of a secondary joke.
To make a long story short, there are some folks out there called “scambaiters” who take revenge against 419 scammers — you know, the people who generate those emails that begin something like this: “I have picked-up the trust and courage to write you this letter with divine confidence that you are a reliable and honest person who will be capable for this important business transaction believing also that you will let me down either now or in the future.” When one scambaiter named Mike Berry received one such email, he somehow managed to turn the tables on the scammers and duped them into recreating the Python Dead Parrot skit. The prank all gets explained at the start of the video below, and you can read more about it here.
Deadhead Hunter and Dirty Hairy
Catch the full collection of animated New Yorker cartoons here on YouTube and our personal favorite here.
Jon Stewart’s “Daily Show” Now Online: 1999 — Present
Listen closely. What’s that you hear? It’s the sound of American office productivity taking it on the chin.
Yesterday, “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” put its entire video archive online (see www.thedailyshow.com). The archive goes back eight years. It’s completely free. And it’s all highly searchable. To get a feel for what this video trove offers, you can spend some time watching these classic Daily Show moments.
As you’d expect, the video archive includes no shortage of funny bits, including when Stephen Colbert announced his presidential bid earlier this week (see below), and when the show riffed on Al Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize last week. But, mixed in, you’ll also find some of the show’s more serious moments. Take, for example, when Jon Stewart asked John McCain the hard-nosed questions about the Iraq war (here and here) that most journalists won’t, and also when the show first returned to broadcasting after 9–11. It’s all here. And apparently a similar site for The Colbert Report will be launched somewhere down the line.
Note to Readers: If you want to share good cultural content (podcasts, videos, etc.) with your fellow readers, feel free to drop us a line. We’re always happy to get your suggestions, and, of course, we’ll gladly give you all the credit for them.
Animated Woody Allen Stand-Up
Last week, we offered you Woody Allen’s stand-up routine in black & white; this week we’re doing it in animated color. (You can get more animated bits here and here, and note that we created a Comedy category here.)
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