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Carly for the Win
Here’s the thing about politicians who try to be funny: It’s generally better not to do it at all than to do it badly. The one thing that’s worse than a stiff is a guy awkwardly fumbling his way towards an underwhelming punchline. Now, there are occasional exceptions. Ted Cruz’s recent attempts at Simpsons impersonations for BuzzFeed were dad-after-four-beers bad, but they at least proved that Cruz, who’s burdened by the male equivalent of a syndrome that can’t be described under Ricochet’s Code of Conduct, is capable of lightening up. But Senator Cruz ought to be taking lessons from Carly Fiorina. Check out her effort at BuzzFeed:
Am I the only one who finds Carly harder to resist every day?
Published in Culture, Humor, Politics
Everything She said.
I’ve gotten ‘talked over’ just like in the commercial many many times, so that rang the funny bell for me, though it came with a sting of remembrance.
I like Carly, like her drive. I have problems with her voice, which I know sounds stupid but unfortunately for women it’s an issue in public speaking. She tends to have the gravelly undertone thing going on, especially at the end of sentences – I really noticed it when she was on the flagship podcast. I get that tone involuntarily in my own voice when I’m tired, and it makes her sound un-fired-up. She shouldn’t go for a higher register, but she ought to train to smooth out the gravel.
I found it funny. And I like her campaigning style. However, She is not libertarian enough for my taste. Granted, I have voted for worse.
Just like “Julia“… oh wait. Carly succeeded without help from the government.
“Sock it to me?”
Pencilvania, Interesting that you noted the effect of “voice” on our reactions to people, in this case Fiorina’s voice (btw, I am deliberately using her surname instead of her first name just to keep the little things on parity when speaking about candidates; when the Press uses first names for females, and surnames for males, it seems to me like a subtle form of dismissiveness, so I’m a little sensitive about it) — back to topic — interesting to me because I so wanted to like Palin even more than I did but her voice drove me crazy. I used to shout at the TV whenever I heard her speaking “Use your full voice; stop talking at the top of your throat; You are a full grown person now!” Crazy I know. Amazing the power of voice.
She’s in my top three. Can I count?
It is funny, but she should probably keep her day job, whatever that is. :)
They use “Jeb” for the Republican nominee with the last name Bush. We all use “W” to refer to his older brother who used to be President. Hillary chose to run as Hillary to avoid the obvious political baggage associated with her last name.
Oh, and Ms Fiorina’s website is titled carlyforpresident.com. (Jeb’s site is Jeb2016.com). Jeb’s site is Jeb2016.com
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
Mrs. Cheese and I love Carly. We would vote for her in a heartbeat.
I like Carly, but this was not funny. We are supposed to gain insight into what women have to deal with in the workplace, but most of these jokes don’t make sense. “How do you walk in those shoes?” directed at a guy wearing sneakers? Women wearing high heels can’t walk well and the question is valid, if perhaps a kind of attack.
Most of the scenes were unrealistic since the modern workplace forbids these kind of interactions against females.
Carly is not a comedian.
She is this, however:
For the win.
There are way to many guys commenting that this wasn’t funny. Methinks they doth protest too much. It was kind of funny. I’d give it a B.
The reason it was modestly funny (for those of you wanting an explanation) is that it wasn’t coming from a place of anger or bitterness. It rang true because those of us in office situations have heard (or possibly made) these comments. Not out of malice or stifling repression, but out of basic dopiness when speaking with fellow professionals.
As far as observing women who can’t walk in heels, it’s an amusing observational skill my wife has taught me, and it provides endless (internal) laughs. I would never say anything out loud.
OK, that was awesome. That was awesome.
No, F.
It was amusing. Cute maybe. Silly. But not funny.
There was this guy once who wrote a book called Set Up, Joke, Set up, Joke. His name escapes me at the moment but the title says it all. That’s how you make funny.
Here we have a black and white title screen with a scenario and then a random quote with no reaction.
If you are laughing it is because of something you thought of, not because of what was in the video. There is no set up, joke anywhere to be found.
I say ban it.
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Bingo!!
Regards,
Jim
Poor Katie didn’t get her extremist narrative for DNC ads. hehehe.
And poor Katie isn’t going to get to determine this election’s outcome. She’s out of her league dealing with The Carly.
If you have to explain why something is funny, it’s not.
Loved the book. But there is no rule that funny must include a formal punchline. To say otherwise is to rule out a lot of observational humor, half of Monty Python, and basic silliness. Unless of course, you think that the reason that the Ministry of Silly Walks wasn’t funny because there wasn’t a punchline. In which case, we’ll just have to disagree.
I think the first two or three quips in the spot were funny, and made the point very well.
After that, however, it was overkill. It reminded me of that situation where you tease your spouse about something that’s entirely tease-worthy, and, at first, they laugh and appreciate it, seeing the truth in the humor. But, then you don’t let up; you keep coming back with new and different teases . . . and then you wonder why you’re sleeping on the couch tonight.
I really like Ms Fiorina; but I can’t like her too much in public because my wife *used* to work for HP…
This is a marvelous interview! Thanks for posting it. (Go, Carly!)
Actually yes there is. It is essential.
The funny walks are set up. Initially, the set up is simply standard walking and the punch is silly walking. But then we introduce the ministry to up the ante. And then we have faux serious ministry discussion with the punch of a silly walk.
If we had 4 minutes of silly walking interspersed with black and white title screens of the names of the walks it would not have been funny.
Are you saying you didn’t laugh at all until the punchline? Look, I’m not saying Carly is funnier than Cleese. Or even officially funny. But the bit was a B in the world of politician humor. Chris Rock isn’t going to work into his next set but thats not the goal of a bit like this- it’s to connect with a voter who might not otherwise have known about you. And I say well done.
How about if I put it this way- I get a chuckle out of your avatar every time I see it- and there is no punchline.
Carly was running as a Republican; that was enough to terminate her possibilities everywhere but in OC. I was living there at that time and even within this GOP stronghold, there were certain communities (Laguna Beach for example) that voted D.
She knew she wasn’t going to win this one (as did Meg Whitman during her gubernatorial race) but made her arguments and carried on despite daunting health issues.
She is a warrior.
Well, the avatar is EJ’s so I can’t take credit for that. But the avatar is the punchline.
EJ’s stuff is just that. There is real life (set up) and his images mix it all up (joke).
Here’s the thing, funny people are funny and other people aren’t. Now there’s nothing wrong with not being funny (in fact, there’s probably something very right about it) but when people who aren’t funny try to be funny it clunks really bad. Funny isn’t fake-able.
Better that she never did this.
Now Rudy… that’s gold.
If we are driven towards the “need” for a first woman President, it ain’t Hillary.
CARLY is the one . . .
How about if I put it this way- I get a chuckle out of your avatar every time I see it- and there is no punchline.
OK, uncle. I’m going to the bar.
Wrong, Clark. I’ve been promoting Carly here for a month or more now. We are not alone here at Ricochet.