Unfunny comedy tropes

[Casual Shinji]

Fag shenanigans.

Two male characters are discussing something regarding the plot in a plubic bathroom or in a way that the third party walking in on it mistakes for a lovers quarrel; Fag shenanigans insue.

Also, intoxication jokes. "Look, they're drunk/high; Hilarious!!!"

 

[Serving UpSmiles]

The laid back one and the controlling high maintenance one living together.

Two and Half men did this okay, Whitney just feels like forced trash...

 

[DugMachine]

fat cop/nagging wife or fat husband/nagging wife. Whatever the trope is exactly called, it annoys the shit out of me and I can't watch shows like that because I get bored so easily.

I bet Everybody Loves Raymond drives you crazy. Seriously, his wife is such a ***** I have no idea how he even found her attractive in the first place, let alone marry her.

You'd be right. Ray romano or whatever the fuck annoys me with his voice and dopey attitude and the wife... yeah, just not for me.

 

[Chased]

I dont know if its classified as a trope exactly, but one "comedic" thing I absolutely loathe is anti-humor and random awkwardness. Basically prime examples of this type of humor would be say The Larry David Show, or Arrested Development.

I get the jokes, they just are not humorous. Perhaps its because I simply cannot relate to it because I have never really struggled with trying to convey what I wish to convey which seemingly seems to be a major theme in anti humor and random awkwardness. (at least not verbally, but my lord how have I been misquoted and misunderstood in text format)

I really enjoy Arrested Development. A lot of the humor is calculated and layered (for example the whole bit with Buster's hand). I'm not sure how much of the show you watched, a lot of the jokes are referential of previous episodes.

As for a comedy troupe I don't like, I would say the Lonely Island group though I do believe their kind of humor isn't targeted to me.

 

[OutcastBOS]

Those kinds of comedies where the main character gets put through absolute hell before anything good happens to them. A prime example would be the movie Meet the Parents, NOTHING went well for that guy until the dad saw how his daughter loved him, but even then, in the other movies he had such shit dumped in him...it made me depressed for the most part rather than HAHA THIS GUY'S LIFE SUCKS AHAHA.

Another one is random death. Lookin' at you, pretty much everything on Adult Swim. Just going about their buisness and then BAM random civilian death HAHA SO FUNNY THAT GUY WHO HAD A LIFE IS DEAD NOW LAUGH AT THEIR DEATH AHA... -_-

 

[JeffBergGold]

Awkward comedy & Look at us we're so weird and nerdy comedy.

Adult Swim commercials, Steve Carrel, The Office, It's always Sunny. All of that stuff is horrible.


30 rock & Workaholics are funny shows though.

 

[Easton Dark]

Hey audience, men and women think differently about stuff, don't they?

That sums up every single female comedian's act that I've ever seen except Lisa Lamponelli's and Sarah Silverman's.

 

[Cowabungaa]

The sort of comedy that fucks things up for well-willing people who finally seem to catch their break in life. But you can see it slowly falling apart without them knowing and you can see them realize that goddamit shit is getting fucked up again. I guess you can call it awkward comedy, it it's like emotional slapstick.

And then we're supposed to laugh at this...emotional torture. Why do I not find it funny? It's way too recognizable.

 

[sunsetspawn]

The Awkward Teen is getting stale, comedy people. Please come up with something new. Maybe a witty, really popular kid who's not a giant D-bag? That could be something to explore...

Check out Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I agree about the awkward teen, but I haven't liked that shit from day one. Come to think of it, I really don't like most comedy. I'm mostly into standup, and even that is full of hacks that couldn't make me laugh with a bottle of mescaline and a barrel of retards.

I like
Patrice Oneal (RIP)
George Carlin (RIP)
Richard Pryor (RIP)
Joe Rogan
Bob Kelly
Louis CK
Louis Black
Jim Jefferies

Uh oh, I'm running out of living comics that I like.

 

[Chemical Alia]

"Meta" or overly self-aware humor often seems really forced and instantly gets to me. Like whatever that new Star Wars thing is or Scott Pilgrim-type crap, makes my skin crawl. Also, any attempt at humor in any anime ever.

Overall there's a lot of stuff that I find really annoying, but it's hard to think of examples because I tend to avoid it when I see it.

 

[IamQ]

Having an entire series revolve around someones attempts at doing something that will always ultimately fail.

Examples: Ed, Edd and Eddy, anything involving either Donald Duck or Daffy duck, Road Runner etc.

It's never funny. I'm always mad, because most of these characters you really enjoy, but for some reason, the show doesn't, so they never give them a happy ending.

 

[peruvianskys]

Meta humor. Almost nobody knows how to use meta humor. The worst ones are when the joke almost works, and then they bring too much attention to how meta they're being and completely ruin the joke. See phelous for a good example of truly awful meta humor with no justification for its existence. Caution upon viewing his videos you may have an extreme urge to to stab yourself in the brain with a fork to remove all the bad memories. You have been warned.

Meta humor, if done right, is hilarious. But if you overemphasize it with a big ol' wink, then it immediately becomes incredibly annoying.

I've never found excessively dry British comedy that entertaining. It always seemed to be more predicated on "look how sophisticated this is, congratulate yourself for being so witty!" than actually making me laugh.

 

[natster43]

over doing it

take Nostalga critic.....I think he's good and all, but latley his videos have been kind of dull....

its hard to explain but its like he makes a joke but drags it on too long or brings too much attention to it which kills it

This. It is pretty much the main reason I stopped watching his stuff, he would overdo every joke.
Other than that, re-using a joke over and over until it isn't funny and has out stayed it's welcome.

 

[geK0]

The Oafish husband who can't survive without his wife seems a little overdone, the only show I ever really liked it in was the Simpsons.

The gluttonous character who eats stacks of ramen/rice bowls is WAY too common in anime and has never been funny.

The annoying best friend (Barney Gumble for example) has always been....annoying

The geeky kid/ school bully bit has never been funny

 

[Jolly Co-operator]

Pain comedy. Like in the campaign the guy being shot with the crossbow. I just don't find somebody in pain to be funny. It makes me more uncomfortable than anything else. It bugs me in a way to know that so many people find it funny as well. I've just never found enjoyed it.

You brought up pain comedy from The Campaign, but didn't refer to the baby punching scene?

OT: I hate the "lol, this guy sleeps with a lot of women, somehow that's funny, lol" type of character that shows always try to pass off as funny. The only character in that vein that I've actually liked is Barney Stinson, and that was mainly because they developed him more as a character as the series went on.

 

[BytByte]

Whenever a guy/gal suddenly can't form coherent sentences because there is an attractive person within a mile of them has always seemed like a cop out to me. Just nah.

 

[Royal King]

Personally, I find Dead Baby jokes unfunny. Or extremely in bad taste. Pretty much any violence-towards-infants is bad. This also includes baby-shaking jokes.

Such as: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comics/critical-miss/9859-Metal-Gear-Solid

 

[Fenra]

Straight guy (that is to say ordinary guy not straight as in sexuality) in a "wacky" situation. Mostly because people dont seem to be able to decide what they want to do with it. So either it just becomes awkward and unfunny, pointing at the guy standing there and saying "look he's uncomfortable in this situation, thats funny right?" or they over do the "wacky"ness to the point where its absurd and loses all impact and believability

Also I can just point at Ross from Friends as an example for everything I hate about whiney characters in sitcoms.