Old Lady Tries to Get Priest Drunk
Politicians Pretend Spies Obey the Law
Park Rangers Did Not See Pompeii
Russia Tells U.S. to Chill the Fuck Out
Man Goes a Long Way for Free Pet
Old Lady Tries to Get Priest Drunk
Politicians Pretend Spies Obey the Law
Park Rangers Did Not See Pompeii
Russia Tells U.S. to Chill the Fuck Out
Man Goes a Long Way for Free Pet
Hey Bros!
Welcome to Twitter in Focus where media comes to die. Today’s contestant is comedian, Paul F. Tompkins. He’s funny on stage, let’s see what he’s tweeting.
March 20th: “I make my triumphant return to @NeverNotFunny today. You’re all WELCOME. http://ear.wf/1iFyEbX”
You are podcasting the shit out of the Internet.
March 21st: “You should already be subscribed to Getting On With @JamesUrbaniak, but Ep. 17 features @janiehaddad, a wife of mine! http://bit.ly/1ganX0K”
Oh, wow! I hope it’s the funny wife! So much of your harem is just, well, normal.
March 28th: “”Please. Tiny Lister was my father. You can call me Tiny Lister, Jr.” – Tiny Lister, Jr.”
That’s Mr. Tiny Lister to you!
March 30th: “Thanks to all who came out to @LargoLosAngeles for #Varietopia last night. It is good to be back at you, peoples!”
Grammatically incorrect, but he’s a comedian, not an English teacher.
March 30th: “(1/2) Last night’s #Varietopia last night, featured a theremin-rock version of the Doctor Who theme, @michaelsheen in a sketch…”
Wow, you really crushed the nerd demo.
March 30th: “2/2) …magic by @standupmagician, & me, @Mike_Eagle & @michaelsheen singing a Shirley Bassey/Jay-Z/Tenacious D mashup. And: JW Stillwater.”
Hey! It’s a 140 characters for a REASON. Probably not a good one, but still…
March 30th: “If you’ll be in Los Angeles on April 26th, you should probably come to #Varietopia. Here go some tickets! http://bit.ly/Varietopia”
Sounds vaguely improv-y, but I would be there if I was in L.A.
March 31st: “MANHATTAN! See The Doyles in their home borough! @ThrillingAdv at @TownHallNYC! Sat May 10! http://bit.ly/1faUQq3 pic.twitter.com/ZePDrbnUul”
Double plug. Although, he may not be in this group. Not sure.
11 hours ago: “Shooting #SpeakeasyWithPFT this Saturday. Got questions for my guest Brandon T. Jackson? Ask ’em & follow @MadeMan for answers! #AskBrandonT”
Yes, who is Brandon T. Jackson? (*google-google*) Oh, that Tropic Thunder dude. He’s cool. Ask him, will Tropic Thunder II be the Thunderest one, yet?
3 hours ago: “LOS ANGELES: Come see @DeadAuthorPod this Friday, w/me as HG Wells & @JohnRossBowie as Rod Serling! Tix: http://bit.ly/DAPSerling”
Generous with the plugs.
Okay, let’s rate Paul’s tweets. A bit heavy on the plugs, but generous too. Hey, he’s a busy comedian. I give him a 7 for Insanity, an 8 for Style and an 8 for Mustness. That’s an overall score of 7.6. Follow Paul!
And if you have a suggestion for Twitter in Focus, email us here!
Life Skills for Fanboys: Geek Stereotypes and the Big Bang Theory
written by Tony DiGerolamo, Copyright 2014
To further my goal of helping fellow fanboys, I have included an index of links of previous columns with their topics. Don’t take it personal, I’m just trying to help. Previous columns are indexed at the end.
The Conundrum
When I was a young geek, my favorite activities included in order: Dungeons and Dragons, watching television, reading comic books and reading books. (Had I access to the Internet, I have no doubt that would be at the top of the list.) The response of my folks upon seeing me engage in any of these activities was always the same: “What are you doing inside? Go outside and get some fresh air!” I cannot tell you how many times I was lectured for wasting my time with most of the listed activities and yet—
My folks love The Big Bang Theory. Not since Everybody Loves Raymond do my folks laugh so uproariously at the antics of those nerds. But why? Why aren’t they yelling at the TV? Why aren’t they demanding to know why the main characters don’t go outside more?
Sitcoms
Look, I get it. Sitcoms are supposed to be simple. I’ve even written a few. Simplification means glossing over the finer details. TBBT isn’t really all that different from any other half hour comedy on TV. You’ve got characters that are always put upon and one main guy with a big personality that is always causing trouble. The stories are broad to appeal to the largest audiences. You always have three locations and a tight three act structure.
It’s fun to play around with it. Even if it is formulaic. But I can’t get over the fact that my folks (not geeks) laugh at the stereotype of geek, but were constantly annoyed at my antics.
My Big Bang Theory
Maybe for my folks, the comedy hits home because they raised a geek. Now that they’re not, they can enjoy those antics that formerly confounded them because they don’t have so much invested in Sheldon and his crew. From afar, it looks funny, but close up, too annoying.
But for me, as geek, I cannot stand to watch the show. For me it’s too simplistic and formulaic. Geeks are not uniformly social misfits with girl problems. Not all scientists conform to one of the characters from Revenge of the Nerds, nor is a visit to your local comic book shop one long geekfest of pencil protectors, asthma inhalers and glasses. I guess TBBT is no more appealing for me than 2 Broke Girls is for real waitresses or Parks and Rec is for real government bureaucrats.
Does TBBT Do Harm?
No. Anyone stupid enough to take a cue from a sitcom with regard to other groups of people deserves to be embarrassed, mocked and ridiculed. That being said, there are a lot of stupid people in the world. And while playing to the broadest possible audience often means dumbing things down, there has to be enough geeks out there to make a much more impressive and nuanced version of TBBT.
I think that television would be a much better place with fewer TBBT’s and much more Rick and Morty’s. Anyway, that’s one geek’s opinion.
Previous Columns
Grooming The Line Between Fans and Pros
If your birthday is this week: A three hundred pound Saint Bernard will eat your birthday cake. You won’t stop him.
Aries: You will get so high, you will give the other driver a back massage during your next road rage.
Taurus: You will finally realize that Facebook is a ginormous fucking waste of time.
Gemini: You will refuse to put the snow shovel away because you are suffering from PTSD, Post Traumatic Snow Disorder.
Lemini: The stars say, stop being a whiney little bitch.
Cancer: You will finally realize that you’re the only person that still wants to talk about Seinfeld episodes around the water cooler.
Leo: Your beer pong game gets out of hand and you will throw bowling balls into garbage cans full of beer.
Virgo: This week, you will be pulled over by a cop. He’ll ask you if you think his eyes are too close together.
Libra: You’ll visit a flea market and notice that they are selling the same crap that’s already in your place.
Scorpio: Your favorite live Internet porn channel sends you an email asking you to unsubscribe because you’re kind of creeping them out.
Sagittarius: Your girlfriend has a bun in the oven. Seriously, warm hot buns and they’re so delicious, you end up having sex and knocking her up.
Capricorn: Beware of anyone named “Mitzy” this week.
Aquarius: You will have the soup and the salad.
Pisces: You will create a new desert for breakfast after combining pancakes and ice cream.
Addanac City
A Dog’s Life
Adriana Game Over
Ahoy Earth
Art of Webcomics
Bad Oranges
Bad Pudding
Beta Male
Between the Realms
Black Tail and Marz
Bunny Wiggins
Capes and Babes
Cat and Cat Comics
Center Lane
Champion City Comics
City Folk, The Webcomic
Company Man
Convenience Store Diet
Corpse Run Comics
Crooked Frame Comics
Crunchy Bunches
Dairy Boy Comics
Damn Heroes
Destroyed by Robots
Dodgy Comics
Doug Lefler
Druid City
Fart Related Comics
Fatherhood. Badly Doodled
The Flavor Razor
Frownland
The Funnicks
Game Cupid
Games Finder
Game Period
Gerbil with a Jetpack
Giving the Devil Her Due
H.I.T.
The Hero Business
Hit Girlz
I, Mummy
Java Jaguar
Ker-Bop
Kick Man
Krrobar.com
LaSalle’s Legacy
Legacy Control
Modest Medusa
Murdercake
Mythdirection
Ninja and Pirate
The Other End
OutwitTrade
Plan C
QWERTYvsDvorak
Robot Friday
Romantically Apocalyptic
SCAPULA
Skitter
Skroode
Sluggy Freelance
Sparkshooter
Spirits of Suburbia
StocktonCon
SuperBud
Tangent Artists
Teaspoon Comics
The Devil’s Panties
The Dreamcatcher
The System
The Tales of Lev
Validation
Vinnie the Vampire
Waystone
Wayward Raven
Winter of Discontent
Woo Hooligan!
Yesterday’s Popcorn
Zombie Boy Comics