This 70s sitcom is a parody of soap operas and has no laugh track. I am fascinated.
I can’t help thinking of Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life when I watch this video. Apparently the directors of this video worked on the film, so it may not be my imagination. The close, slow moving and beautiful shots of iconic American family life are set in sharp relief to the underling violence of existence (the flash bulb igniting) and the violent, animalistic nature of living beings (the young bully swinging) - the same themes Malick explores, albeit writ large with exploding planets and battling dinosaurs.
H/T Ears of Spears
An update on my joke-writing project
I’m almost one month into a year-long project to post one joke a day on Facebook. Current status: I don’t know if I’ll make it another week. I don’t feel like any of the jokes I’m writing is worth broadcasting to everyone I’ve ever met. But I have to power through.
I’ve been constantly tweeting ideas for jokes and looking through them once a day to craft a one-liner. This system’s only flaw is that a determined Facebook friend would be able to find my Twitter account, which might lead him/her to this Tumblr. Worlds would collide, and I’d have to abandon this username and start over.
But the real problem lies in getting my brain to work in joke-writing mode. Generally, when I make a joke in a social situation, it somehow comes spontaneously and with the right timing. However, when I sit down and try to think of a joke, I have to trick my mind into thinking in terms of sudden shifts in perspective. This has been the biggest challenge so far.
But I knew I’d hit this wall. The whole point of this project is for me to learn to work through it. Maybe I need to come up with artificial, sleazy methods to help me write jokes. God, I hope it doesn’t come to that. But maybe creativity isn’t just about waiting for a mysterious lightning strike. Maybe it’s about putting in the hours and practicing in spite of your uncooperative mind.
I had to do that a lot in college to figure out solutions to seemingly-impossible programming assignments. I just need to channel that energy into my awful tweets, a majority of which embarrasses me.
Note to self: I’ve noticed that I have a tendency to lean heavily on references. I want to move away from referential humor. It’s a hacky crutch.
In this video, Louis C.K. talks about practicing writing jokes.
Also: dealing with the business aspect of Louie. Specifically, dealing with Standards & Practices and with FX.
This whole Paley Center interview and Q&A is really enlightening.
Every once in a while, I become horribly obsessed with one of St. Vincent’s albums. It passes in a week, but what a week.
(Source: Spotify)
