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Regarding Barry and Barry jokes, what do you regard as funny?
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marvin
Mar 5, 2015, 7:43:44 AM3/5/15
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Since many posters hated the Will & Grace episode for the depiction of the term fanilow as a desperate woman who is starving for the attention of Barry Manilow and obsesses about him 24/7, it made me wonder if the problem was the word fanilow or that the problem was that as a Barry Manilow fan, you felt mocked much like Barry has for many years by late night comedians.
Now, does that mean we all don't have a sense of humor, because many comedians often tell me that humor is all about taking the truthful traits of someone we know or someone famous and exaggerating the person's attributes to make the situation funny.
For example, the late comedian Jack Benny had the persona (although it was never true) that he was cheap, vain and always age 39. So when a joke was made when Jack was approached by a robber and the robber said to Jack "Give me your money or I will take your life". Jack hesitated to answer and the robber continued to probe "Look, give me your money or I take your life". Jack responded "I'm thinking it over" and had the biggest laughs of his career for the joke.
So, should we laugh when we see Barry in the toilet singing Even Now on the Ally McBeal show, when Conan O'Brien says Barry performing in Vegas means you can now play craps and watch it too, when actor Leslie Nielsen in a Saturday Night Live sketch mocks Barry by hanging up the phone on him, when Murphy Brown says "Barry Manilow Live. Now, that's a nightmare", when a comedian says that a hunger organization turned down Barry performing at a benefit, stating that nobody is quite that hungry.
Pleas post your favorite jokes and least favorite jokes about Barry and whether you think the jokes are funny or if they are insulating to Barry.
My take is that most of the jokes I heard I took them to be funny, so the jokes about Barry never bothered me. Marvin
Now, does that mean we all don't have a sense of humor, because many comedians often tell me that humor is all about taking the truthful traits of someone we know or someone famous and exaggerating the person's attributes to make the situation funny.
For example, the late comedian Jack Benny had the persona (although it was never true) that he was cheap, vain and always age 39. So when a joke was made when Jack was approached by a robber and the robber said to Jack "Give me your money or I will take your life". Jack hesitated to answer and the robber continued to probe "Look, give me your money or I take your life". Jack responded "I'm thinking it over" and had the biggest laughs of his career for the joke.
So, should we laugh when we see Barry in the toilet singing Even Now on the Ally McBeal show, when Conan O'Brien says Barry performing in Vegas means you can now play craps and watch it too, when actor Leslie Nielsen in a Saturday Night Live sketch mocks Barry by hanging up the phone on him, when Murphy Brown says "Barry Manilow Live. Now, that's a nightmare", when a comedian says that a hunger organization turned down Barry performing at a benefit, stating that nobody is quite that hungry.
Pleas post your favorite jokes and least favorite jokes about Barry and whether you think the jokes are funny or if they are insulating to Barry.
My take is that most of the jokes I heard I took them to be funny, so the jokes about Barry never bothered me. Marvin
Maria Mikol
Mar 5, 2015, 9:32:27 AM3/5/15
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I actually don't find any jokes ABOUT Barry funny.
I think it is entirely different when he pokes fun at himself though. Some of the things he has said crack me up.
Maria
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I think it is entirely different when he pokes fun at himself though. Some of the things he has said crack me up.
Maria
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Karen M
Mar 5, 2015, 11:06:15 AM3/5/15
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Now this, and sorry for posting again, but this makes me roar with laughter, taking the rise out of himself. What a card.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR1JnJY0A10
C. Miles
Mar 5, 2015, 12:09:52 PM3/5/15
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Karen M
Mar 5, 2015, 12:24:34 PM3/5/15
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZtugOgTNAE
Jackilope
Mar 5, 2015, 12:43:21 PM3/5/15
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Barry on Stephen Colbert was always a hoot. I still giggle at his being in Stephen's thought bubble hanging out because his appearance on The View was cancelled and he had nothing better to do. Then he lingers on, obviously bored and pulls out a hoagie sandwich to munch on. Then he and Jon Stewart in another thought bubble banter about their Emmy Awards, much to Colbert's jealous irritation. Good stuff.
Jackie
Jackie
dcsharon
Mar 5, 2015, 1:59:32 PM3/5/15
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The joke of Ally mcBeal wasn't Barry -- it was her seeing him every where she went.
I don't consider that to be Manilow humor, or derogatory to fans. I did find the episode very funny.
I do agree that various folks led us to believe that Barry's appearance on Will and Grace would be much more significant than it was, so that was a disappointment.
(DC) Sharon
C. Miles
Mar 5, 2015, 2:03:08 PM3/5/15
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Carmen
Mar 5, 2015, 5:50:11 PM3/5/15
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Marvin--
The titular "Fanilow" in the Will & Grace episode was WILL, as much as it was Sara Gilbert's OTT, but very stereotypical (in my opinion), fan character.
I don't know why, every time you've written about this Barry appearance lately, you only recognize/focus on the characterization by *Sara Gilbert* rather than both Sara's character & Eric McCormack's Will. They were both portraying "Fanilows" in the ep. Although I might say Will was a little less "extreme" in exhibiting his fandom publicly than Sara's character was. I was almost gonna say Will, as a fan, was the opposite of Sara's character, in behavior, etc., but in thinking about it some more, he really wasn't as opposite as maybe he could've been.
As for the jokes, either by Barry himself or by others *about* Barry, they don't bother me a bit.
The titular "Fanilow" in the Will & Grace episode was WILL, as much as it was Sara Gilbert's OTT, but very stereotypical (in my opinion), fan character.
I don't know why, every time you've written about this Barry appearance lately, you only recognize/focus on the characterization by *Sara Gilbert* rather than both Sara's character & Eric McCormack's Will. They were both portraying "Fanilows" in the ep. Although I might say Will was a little less "extreme" in exhibiting his fandom publicly than Sara's character was. I was almost gonna say Will, as a fan, was the opposite of Sara's character, in behavior, etc., but in thinking about it some more, he really wasn't as opposite as maybe he could've been.
As for the jokes, either by Barry himself or by others *about* Barry, they don't bother me a bit.
marvin
Mar 5, 2015, 6:01:06 PM3/5/15
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good points Carmen. Eric as "Will" certainly brought a lot to the episode and was a bit of a contrast to the Sara Gilbert character. It has been awhile since I saw the episode again, but Sara's acting was so good and the character so extreme that it was easy to forget about anyone else in the episode. Regards, Marvin
Kittenmommy
Mar 6, 2015, 9:33:05 PM3/6/15
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On Thursday, March 5, 2015 at 11:06:15 AM UTC-5, Karen M wrote:
> Now this, and sorry for posting again, but this makes me roar with laughter, taking the rise out of himself. What a card.
>
>
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR1JnJY0A10
Um. To me, this looks like a blooper reel/outtake reel. Is this actually the finished thing?
> Now this, and sorry for posting again, but this makes me roar with laughter, taking the rise out of himself. What a card.
>
>
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR1JnJY0A10
And:
"The only way you can have this kind of support is if you're the Spice Girls and turn on thousands of horny little children [Kittenmommy says: Um... *WHAT*?], or if you're an old fart and have been around for a long time. So you put the two together and you get me: Old Spice." [Kittenmommy says: Wow, I hope you're not saying that you have been around for a long time and you "turn on thousands of horny children". Because... yeah. Creepy. So, *SO* creepy!].
Don't get me wrong, this is a worthy cause. And yeah, the bloopers in the vid are funny. And I also don't think he realized how...um... *super creepy* that bit came out sounding. I'm hoping this didn't air anywhere, or at least aired in an edited form. Because... *yeah*. If Kittendaddy had been the producer/editor, he'd have nipped that shit right in the bud, let me tell you. Because... *wow*.
I'm sort of boggled, honestly.
Kittenmommy
Mar 6, 2015, 9:34:40 PM3/6/15
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On Thursday, March 5, 2015 at 12:24:34 PM UTC-5, Karen M wrote:
> Have you seen this one Caroline?, another fave of mine, posted before, but still gets me sniggering.
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZtugOgTNAE
Ah hahaha! I saw that one before! :D
> Have you seen this one Caroline?, another fave of mine, posted before, but still gets me sniggering.
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZtugOgTNAE
Kittenmommy
Mar 6, 2015, 9:40:17 PM3/6/15
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On Thursday, March 5, 2015 at 7:43:44 AM UTC-5, marvin wrote:
> Now, does that mean we all don't have a sense of humor, because many comedians often tell me that humor is all about taking the truthful traits of someone we know or someone famous and exaggerating the person's attributes to make the situation funny.
Here's William Shatner basically mocking Trekkies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaB_G1WNT70&spfreload=10
> Now, does that mean we all don't have a sense of humor, because many comedians often tell me that humor is all about taking the truthful traits of someone we know or someone famous and exaggerating the person's attributes to make the situation funny.
And the people interviewed admit that there's truth in it. So... yeah.
Re: Barry mocking himself. I think lots of famous people do that. There was a whole series of Virgin/Atlantic commercials back in the '80s where Genesis mocked themselves/each other. This is the only one I could find, sadly, because they were hilarious:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAwhUnu6SkA&spfreload=10
Suzan
Mar 7, 2015, 7:00:00 AM3/7/15
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> Re: Barry mocking himself.
Here's one of Barry mocking himself by portraying a radio station program director. I think it's a really funny video.
"Barry Manilow? Is he still alive?" Ha!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnkqUcvlwXQ
Here's one of Barry mocking himself by portraying a radio station program director. I think it's a really funny video.
"Barry Manilow? Is he still alive?" Ha!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnkqUcvlwXQ
Kittenmommy
Mar 7, 2015, 12:46:28 PM3/7/15
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I see the cops from the black and white segements attended the Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy! ;) (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy)
Chews Crayons
Mar 25, 2015, 7:48:35 PM3/25/15
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When I went to work I'd bring "Because It's Christmas" to work on my CD player. (I love Christmas music).
Someone said to me (as if it was going to be one of those sarcastic jokes) "Oh.. It's a Barry Manilow CD". and I asked them if they wanted to borrow it later... (they quietly said "Yes"..)
I left the CD player at work one night and.. someone swiped it... including the CD that I had in it's case sitting under the CD player.
Generally.. I figure that there is something to be said to be so popular your name is still out there ...
Someone said to me (as if it was going to be one of those sarcastic jokes) "Oh.. It's a Barry Manilow CD". and I asked them if they wanted to borrow it later... (they quietly said "Yes"..)
I left the CD player at work one night and.. someone swiped it... including the CD that I had in it's case sitting under the CD player.
Generally.. I figure that there is something to be said to be so popular your name is still out there ...
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