Unfunny comedy tropes

[Flizzick]

Comedies that try way too hard to be funny. I never got why my friends were obsessed over movies like Step Brothers and The Hangover that:

1. Draw out a joke until it's just painful to listen to
2. Have random lines that are obviously supposed to be funny but lack any form of context

ex: when a character decides to say "pudding" for absolutely no reason besides the fact that the complete randomness of the line is supposed to tickle the funny bone.

3. Rely on shock and gross out humor as a crutch

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Fart jokes, and general gross out humor. Also "Rape as comedy", THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS!

 

[Sexy Devil]

in the history of cinema only ferris bueller has broken the 4th wall properly

Jak & Daxter do it pretty well. Don't let it steal the moment, just a little passing joke.

 

[Signa]

To be fair, the first season [It's Always Sunny in Philidelphia] is borderline awful. I can enjoy it now, but when I started, I had little commitment to actually like the show. The longer it went on, the funnier it got. Do yourself a favor and find "the gang solves the gas crisis" from season 4. If you can't find that funny, then I guess you should give up. Just don't use the first season as the barometer for the whole show.

EDIT: Just remember, the main characters are awful people, and the show is about the shit they get themselves into because they don't know how to be good. The unplanned kid episode was exactly that: instead of having the characters learn something about the issues surrounding unplanned kids, they just saw it as an opportunity to get laid. The whole first season is plotted around big issues, like underage drinking or gun control, but every single time, the gang does the wrong thing and tries to twist the issue to be about themselves. It's surprisingly smart comedy surrounding some very stupid people.

OT: Random gags like Family Guy. They can be very funny if they are used sparingly, but I had to stop watching FG entirely, because entire episodes were becoming gag reels.

I'll skip the rest of Season 1, thanks!

Sweet! Let me know if you change your mind about it. It's one of the few comedies I can enjoy these days. Hell, just discussing the show made me go watch some of it.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

You know, there's that one scene from Big Bang Theory:

I don't quite remember the circumstance but Leonard told Penny that he met a guy who looked like Adam West.

That's a funny little reference i thought.

"I'm sure you know who Adam West is!"

Added Sheldon. It was still funny but i started to get a bit nervous.

"No, i don't know who that is."

Penny replied and i knew this joke wasn't gonna survive.

"Adam West was the actor who played Batman in the Sixties."

And that did it. They ruined a perfectly good reference by explaining it. Screw you, Chuck Lorre.

 

[maxben]

What comedy tropes do you not find funny?

Well, I've never been amused by the flamboyant gay male often employed in sitcoms, but they end up being more annoying than anything and they often make them even more feminine than the female characters, as if to shout in our face, "Look, this guy's gay! He likes men! He talks with a lady's voice! Laugh!"

And then there's the sassy/streetwise black character; there's always one. The only exceptions I can think of are Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (because it's Will Smith) and Chris Tucker in the Rush Hour series (partly because of how well his dynamic with Jackie Chan works), and even then, part of the reason they actually work is because the show surrounding them are genuinely good by themselves.

Buddy just insisted that I try the series, "Always Sunny in Philidelphia" that has a twist on both of these tropes in the very first f'n episode!

The twist is, rather than make fun of gays and blacks, it makes fun of the discomfort of straight whites around blacks and gays and black gays. Very, very, very annoying.

I gave the show another chance. Episode 2 about dealing with unplanned kids. A little better. But the homophobia, stereo types of all of the above...lame, lame, lame.

To be fair, the first season is borderline awful. I can enjoy it now, but when I started, I had little commitment to actually like the show. The longer it went on, the funnier it got. Do yourself a favor and find "the gang solves the gas crisis" from season 4. If you can't find that funny, then I guess you should give up. Just don't use the first season as the barometer for the whole show.

EDIT: Just remember, the main characters are awful people, and the show is about the shit they get themselves into because they don't know how to be good. The unplanned kid episode was exactly that: instead of having the characters learn something about the issues surrounding unplanned kids, they just saw it as an opportunity to get laid. The whole first season is plotted around big issues, like underage drinking or gun control, but every single time, the gang does the wrong thing and tries to twist the issue to be about themselves. It's surprisingly smart comedy surrounding some very stupid people.

OT: Random gags like Family Guy. They can be very funny if they are used sparingly, but I had to stop watching FG entirely, because entire episodes were becoming gag reels.

You just reminded me of my most hated trope. "Douchebags are funny"
My girlfriend tried to show me californication and god I wanted every one of those idiots thrown in a lake of fire. Same with Weeds.
But its also in stuff like the Big Bang Theory where Sheldon is literally just a jerk and spends much of the "funny moments" being mean to his roommates and downright condescending.
And "watching douchebags being douchebags" thing is also in dramas such as Breaking Bad and Nip/Tuck.

 

[xplosive59]

Meta humor. Almost nobody knows how to use meta humor. The worst ones are when the joke almost works, and then they bring too much attention to how meta they're being and completely ruin the joke. See phelous for a good example of truly awful meta humor with no justification for its existence. Caution upon viewing his videos you may have an extreme urge to to stab yourself in the brain with a fork to remove all the bad memories. You have been warned.

Oh god Phelous, he wouldn't be so bad if he had good comedic timing and did not sound so whinny all the time but he over uses the meta jokes that it is painful to watch one of his videos.

 

[Evil Smurf]

Cursing repeatedly to make it funny. That's why South Park just never clicked with me. Fuck Shit Stack is funnier then that, and it's pretty much the same concept.

This, Also women joking about being a woman, and joking that women cannot be funny as a woman.

Danny Boy is a favourite comedian and anyone from Monty Python.

 

[someonehairy-ish]

Cursing repeatedly to make it funny. That's why South Park just never clicked with me. Fuck Shit Stack is funnier then that, and it's pretty much the same concept.

South Park doesn't seem particularly sweary to me, except for the movie. There's occasions when it forms a plot point, and otherwise characters just swear in situations where you might expect them to- "oh crap, they killed kenny." Other than that I really can't think of any instances of swearing at all, and I definitely can't remember any gag where the humour relied on it having swearing in...

Not really sure where you're coming from tbh.

Edit: Oh right, Cartman. Now I remember.

 

[Signa]

You know, there's that one scene from Big Bang Theory:

I don't quite remember the circumstance but Leonard told Penny that he met a guy who looked like Adam West.

That's a funny little reference i thought.

"I'm sure you know who Adam West is!"

Added Sheldon. It was still funny but i started to get a bit nervous.

"No, i don't know who that is."

Penny replied and i knew this joke wasn't gonna survive.

"Adam West was the actor who played Batman in the Sixties."

And that did it. They ruined a perfectly good reference by explaining it. Screw you, Chuck Lorre.

With the way your wrote that out, I thought it was funny, and then I realized I didn't read it right. I thought the joke was that Penny knew who Adam West was, and Sheldon didn't. Situation reversal can be amusing, but that... that wasn't even a joke. I gave up on BBT when I realized the show was devolving into a relationship comedy. Lenard and Penny were enough, but suddenly everyone needed girlfriends.

You just reminded me of my most hated trope. "Douchebags are funny"
My girlfriend tried to show me californication and god I wanted every one of those idiots thrown in a lake of fire. Same with Weeds.
But its also in stuff like the Big Bang Theory where Sheldon is literally just a jerk and spends much of the "funny moments" being mean to his roommates and downright condescending.
And "watching douchebags being douchebags" thing is also in dramas such as Breaking Bad and Nip/Tuck.

That's a shame. For me, "douche be funny" works quite well, because they are their own exaggerations. Exaggerating is a big part of comedy, and when your character doesn't even know how to be nice to someone, watching the fallout from their misdeeds can be quite entertaining. I suppose it can be sad too, because self-destruction is more of a staple of drama than comedy, but it just all comes down to presentation. I guess one is intentional and the other is just someone not knowing how to react to day-to-day life.

And Breaking Bad is the way it is exactly because it's meant to be that way. There certainly are some very dark comedic moments, but the show is about turning a protagonist into an antagonist, and it's done it very well. Being a douchebag isn't there for the comedy, but for the slippery slope to the dark side. If only George Lucas paid attention to those things for Anakin.

 

[TwiZtah]

* Flamboyant gay stereotypes (when for laughs).

* "Wacky" characters - the ones who have hawaiian shirts, and can't enter a room without saying their catchphrase to a chorus of canned laughter. They usually make "hilarious" comments about being mesmerized by breasts or pop tarts. See also, "kookie" characters, often played by Zooey Deschanel.

* Jokes in adverts. All jokes in adverts. Even the good ones get tedious after seeing them a thousand times, interrupting your favourite tv show. Only a select few of the greatest can get away with it - and they're 1 in a million. No examples spring to mind right now.

* Stuff that we're expected to find funny, to be funny. Big Bang Theory seems to run on this. There was one scene I watched in which the tall nerd wants to do his washing on Saturday, but is prevented by some woman. Most of the scene is just the tall nerd, looking torn at not being able to do his washing. Which I guess I'm expected to find hilarious. Isn't this essentially just laughing at autism/OCD too?

I think Zooey pulls off those characters really good, especially in her New Girl sitcom which I love, second favourite behind Scrubs. Also, there is no goddamn laughtracks in both those series, might be why I like them.

Also, Zooey is perfect in every way and I would drag my penis through a thousand miles of broken glass just to hear her fart through a walkie-talkie.

 

[Winthrop]

Pain comedy. Like in the campaign the guy being shot with the crossbow. I just don't find somebody in pain to be funny. It makes me more uncomfortable than anything else. It bugs me in a way to know that so many people find it funny as well. I've just never found enjoyed it.

 

[Promethax]

Non-sequitor "humor".

90% of it is ignoring the comedic irony non-sequitor jokes are supposed to create and exist only for writers/random people on the internet to circle jerk to how "lol so randum" they think they are.

 

[bandman232]

fat cop/nagging wife or fat husband/nagging wife. Whatever the trope is exactly called, it annoys the shit out of me and I can't watch shows like that because I get bored so easily.

I bet Everybody Loves Raymond drives you crazy. Seriously, his wife is such a ***** I have no idea how he even found her attractive in the first place, let alone marry her.

OT: The comedy that really pisses me off is bathroom humor. It's not funny, it absolutely revolting. Whoever thinks is funny has to be 4 years old.

 

[Sebass]

I hate when people do the Benny Hill/Scooby Doo chasing around the set with the characters going in and out of random doors. It even shows up in things that aren't cartoons and have humor that relies more on sharp dialogue. Even as a kid I never laughed at such a 'joke' and have never known any simple minded (even a child) to find that funny. It is especially annoying when they use the Benny Hill music. Some net comedians who do reviews on movies think speeding up a movie and playing that Benny Hill music think that is funny, it's not.

I see your online comedians and raise you an online game


(If you've never played LoL you won't get it)

I also agree with almost everything in this thread and want to add every joke about Cheryl in according to Jim. It's a average show with a few okay jokes here and I actually like to watch it sometimes. But everytime I do watch it I feel the writers/producers don't think very highly of women .. Jim is a dick but he's the glorified dick every 'real man' wants to be, an anti-hero who's fuck-ups are all swept under the rug when he apologises because, hey it's Jim guys ! He's fun ! Cheryl on the other hand is jealous, insecure, whiny, controlling, .. And when she fucks up she always has to learn a lesson from her husband about being more laid-back.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Fag shenanigans.

Two male characters are discussing something regarding the plot in a plubic bathroom or in a way that the third party walking in on it mistakes for a lovers quarrel; Fag shenanigans insue.

Also, intoxication jokes. "Look, they're drunk/high; Hilarious!!!"

 

[Serving UpSmiles]

The laid back one and the controlling high maintenance one living together.

Two and Half men did this okay, Whitney just feels like forced trash...

 

[DugMachine]

fat cop/nagging wife or fat husband/nagging wife. Whatever the trope is exactly called, it annoys the shit out of me and I can't watch shows like that because I get bored so easily.

I bet Everybody Loves Raymond drives you crazy. Seriously, his wife is such a ***** I have no idea how he even found her attractive in the first place, let alone marry her.

You'd be right. Ray romano or whatever the fuck annoys me with his voice and dopey attitude and the wife... yeah, just not for me.

 

[Chased]

I dont know if its classified as a trope exactly, but one "comedic" thing I absolutely loathe is anti-humor and random awkwardness. Basically prime examples of this type of humor would be say The Larry David Show, or Arrested Development.

I get the jokes, they just are not humorous. Perhaps its because I simply cannot relate to it because I have never really struggled with trying to convey what I wish to convey which seemingly seems to be a major theme in anti humor and random awkwardness. (at least not verbally, but my lord how have I been misquoted and misunderstood in text format)

I really enjoy Arrested Development. A lot of the humor is calculated and layered (for example the whole bit with Buster's hand). I'm not sure how much of the show you watched, a lot of the jokes are referential of previous episodes.

As for a comedy troupe I don't like, I would say the Lonely Island group though I do believe their kind of humor isn't targeted to me.

 

[OutcastBOS]

Those kinds of comedies where the main character gets put through absolute hell before anything good happens to them. A prime example would be the movie Meet the Parents, NOTHING went well for that guy until the dad saw how his daughter loved him, but even then, in the other movies he had such shit dumped in him...it made me depressed for the most part rather than HAHA THIS GUY'S LIFE SUCKS AHAHA.

Another one is random death. Lookin' at you, pretty much everything on Adult Swim. Just going about their buisness and then BAM random civilian death HAHA SO FUNNY THAT GUY WHO HAD A LIFE IS DEAD NOW LAUGH AT THEIR DEATH AHA... -_-