Let's Pretty-Up the Absurd

emnmnme

One of the best forms of parody is drowning the mundane in gallons and gallons of 'fancy'. Hanging a portrait of a Campbell's soup can in an art gallery is one way to do it. Writing a thesis paper on the philosophies of Duke Nukem is another. Sure, the joke takes more effort to complete, what with all the decoration and professional writing to pull off the illusion, but this kind of parody has the rare quality of getting funnier the longer the joke plays out. But there's also a requirement: everyone involved must maintain a dead-serious composure or else the audience won't get the absurdity.

Commercials play around with this idea mostly, in short bursts. For example, this cat eats better than I do and the idea of a chef slaving over cat food is absurd ... but classy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef-R_eq28h4

Then a rare few hit the ball out of the park with introspectives or insights complete with scholarly sounding ten-cent words.

Got any more of this kind of stuff, talking about something goofy while keeping a straight face? And yes, even Poe's Law can fly here.

Astrocookie

Glenn Beck, and pretty much the entire Republican party.

Julius

Cat- and dog-food commercials are always doing that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE&feature=player_embedded

Hachface

ahaaha

"I'm on a horse."

emnmnme

Masterpiece Theatre = classy way to show off fine British productions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HU6t-eMqhU

Mousterpiece Theater = classy way to show Chip and Dale picking on Donald Duck

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA6JZ31vL4s

Asiina

Julius wrote: »

Cat- and dog-food commercials are always doing that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE&feature=player_embedded

I don't believe I will ever get tired of this commercial.

KalTorak

emnmnme wrote: »

Masterpiece Theatre = classy way to show off fine British productions

snip

Mousterpiece Theater = classy way to show Chip and Dale picking on Donald Duck

snip

Don't forget Monsterpiece Theater with Alastair Cookie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa2pdCgUzrE

Zombiemambo

Julius wrote: »

Cat- and dog-food commercials are always doing that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE&feature=player_embedded

Oh my. Old spice truly is my favorite commercial producer

KalTorak

The tickets are now diamonds.

mcdermott

Oh god, best commercial ever.

I love you, Old Spice. Even though your product smells like butt.

Talleyrand

I don't know about that OP. It should be common sense by now that most cat owners are crazy people who will go out of their way to get the best for their pets. Dog owners are no exception.

And while the essays on that website are pretty over the top I don't think it's ridiculous to do in-depth analysis of a lot of graphic novels or even Calvin & Hobbes for that matter.

As for the good stuff...no mention of The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Monty Python or Stella?

Also

THEBEST

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af1OxkFOK18

subedii

To get this one, first you need to know about, and listen to the Orson Welles Frozen Peas reel.

http://ubu.wfmu.org/sound/365/03/365-Days-Project-03-01-welles-orson-frozen-peas-spot.mp3

And then see it acted out by Pinky and the Brain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlXEC8kcbqc

I can't imagine any of the kids watching got that spiel, heck neither did I until I read about Frozen Peas later. And it's brilliant. It's amazing how well they made it all fit.

EDIT: Haha, someone dubbed the Orson Welles track directly over that scene.

Spoiler:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2nf-EQQXUs

SniperGuy

Hahahaha did Bruce Campbell just walk around a circular room full of boat paintings?

subedii

SniperGuy wrote: »

Hahahaha did Bruce Campbell just walk around a circular room full of boat paintings?

Yes.

Because he's got it.

Astrocookie

It's actually one long boat painting.

Raiden333

Anyone else familiar with Metaphilm? They're basically Poe's Law when it comes to in depth movie analysis, I don't think I'll ever figure out if they're serious or making fun of the whole thing.

Some of my favorites are:

A Copy of a Copy of a Copy: The Matrix, American Beauty, and Fight Club as Retellings of Pink Floyd’s The Wall

Reservoir Dogs: Redemption in a Postmodern World

Snakes on a Plane: The Post-9/11 American Mind

And of course, the best one of all: Fight Club: The Return of Hobbes, which I feel the need to post at least an excerpt of:

Actually, I'm going to spoiler tag this just in case someone hasn't seen Fight Club yet, but if you have seen it, be sure to read.

Spoiler:

Just as Calvin has an imaginary jungle-animal friend named Hobbes, whom everyone else believes to be nothing but a stuffed toy, "Jack" in Fight Club has an imaginary cool-guy friend named Tyler, whom no one but Jack can see.

In both cases, the entity that began as the ideal companion soon took on a more realistic, three-dimensional quality. In other words, they became real. This is evident in that both Hobbes and Tyler also began to function as scapegoats for their creators. For instance, consider that Calvin often blames broken lamps and other assorted household mischief on Hobbes, and that Jack is inclined to believe that Fight Club and other various anti-society mischief is brought about by Tyler, not himself. Calvin claims Hobbes pounces on him every day after school; Jack believes Tyler beats him up next to 40 kilotons of nitroglycerin in a parking garage—the list goes on and on. The relationships between the two sets of friends are the exact same. Is this mere coincidence?

Filling in the time-gap between Calvin and Jack, we can imagine the story as something like this: Once Calvin reaches the hostile environment known as the seventh grade, the constant teasing from the other students and the frustrated concern of his parents finally becomes too much, and a reluctant, disillusioned Calvin is finally forced to grow up, or at least begin to. This decision is sealed by one of the hardest things young Calvin will ever have to do in his life: un-imagine Hobbes, an act which to Calvin is essentially no different from murder. After being Calvin’s best friend for over a decade, Hobbes is packed away in a box, or tossed carelessly into a garbage bag, perhaps even stuffed under the same bed that once contained so many monsters. This is all, of course, very painful for Calvin, so much so that he represses it all in shame. Little does Calvin suspect that while he is busy growing up, deciding what "dinette set defines him as a person," Hobbes is also maturing in the recesses of his mind, waiting to be unleashed at an appropriate time.

It’s worth noting that during these twenty or so years, Hobbes never bears a grudge against Calvin nor wishes any ill upon him. Hobbes, remembering the depth of their past friendship, does not hate Calvin but rather hates the society that made Calvin put him away. Hobbes, residing in Calvin’s mind, sees and experiences all that Calvin does—and truly despises all of it. He witnesses a bright, superbly imaginative kid (with a genius-level vocabulary) reduced to nothing more than another nameless cog. Fighting off the tears wept for his conventionalized pal, Hobbes resolves to set Calvin free, paying special attention when Calvin idly looks up homemade-napalm recipes on the Internet.

MadnessBA

Well if you want to go old school you could read Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal."

http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/swift/modest.html

People actually took his suggestions seriously.

subedii

MadnessBA wrote: »

Well if you want to go old school you could read Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal."

http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/swift/modest.html

People actually took his suggestions seriously.

Aw but he makes such a convincing argument, what were we supposed to think?

SniperGuy

Two birds, one stone.

emnmnme

The entire comedy force of the Onion is telling sarcastic half-truths and misrepresentations with a straight face. They even go so far as to dress up as news anchors and have fake researchers in the backgrounds of some of their bits.

How else can you get across the idea that Americans are food-crazed maniacs?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw_1CIwwEIA

KalTorak

The Onion's video of the clickwheel-Macbook was so spot-on. Amazing and hilarious.

PantsB

While we're talking Old Spice Commercials
I used to be a Doctor for Pretend

Eat it You Nasty Pig.

The problem is that so many legitimately crazy people are being given their 15 minutes now that it's hard to differentiate between times when you're meant to laugh and times when someone will get offended.

Witch_Hunter_84

My personal favorite

And of course, the classic.

Dead Parrots

And here's another:

Mighty shame if someone broke your tank.

Okay, last one I promise:

Military fairies

emnmnme

Also ... Naked News. Getting naked while keeping a straight face and a monotone must be terribly difficult and, while more absurd than funny, I appreciate the effort. I, myself, can't help but giggle like a school girl when I undress to take a shower. Tee hee!

Yar

mcdermott wrote: »

Oh god, best commercial ever.

I love you, Old Spice. Even though your product smells like butt.

No lie, I had a decently attractive woman practically pounce on me in Calc in one time in college because of my Old Spice. She was like freaking out about how good I smelled. Didn't even know her.

Bag of Adjectives

As long as we're doing absurdist advertising I may as well introduce the rest of the forums to Carlton Draught. Crap Aussie beer. AMAZING advertising representing what is perhaps the pinnacle of the beer-ad-makers craft.

I give you;

Canoes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-zIeJ01oJU

Made from Beer (MORE HORSES!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj-z-BbvlHs

Big Ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv5U0W8FDDk

Flashbeer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ5vaUVXRto

Robman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-8PBx7isoM

This doesn't really fit the theme of the thread, it's just an absolutely stellar PSA.