Tag Archive: humor

  1. Overheard on Break

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    After three days of Thanksgiving break spent watching TV with my family, cuddling with my dog, and enjoying afternoon naps in my own bed, I realized that I had committed one of the greatest 21st century sins: going three whole days without checking my Facebook. This past Wednesday evening as I sat on my living room couch with a hot mug of tea, I finally decided to rectify the situation and put myself back in touch with civilization.

    As I perused the BuzzFeed links and holiday-themed selfies (#thanksgivukkah) that ornamented/littered my NewsFeed, I was surprised to see a blue boxed “20+” next to the “Overheard at Yale” group on the left panel of my screen. A combination of curiosity and Internet instinct urged me to click on the page.

    I was greeted by a very “meta” (to quote a subsequent comment) screenshot of ‘Overseen on Overheard at Yale,’ written in what can only be described as concentric posts– if only Euclid knew Facebook. The picture had already amassed over 100 likes and 9 comments including a short debate on its relation to fractals and references to the Matrix and Inception.

    I then watched a video denoted by the unassuming caption “My Yale blue dog knows what’s up”. In it, one Yalie’s adorable dog, upon being asked whether or not he would prefer Harvard to death, plays dead, waving his right paw in the air for one last hurrah before he entirely collapses. As a dog-lover I suppose I can’t be entirely objective, but I think this is the kind of Yale-trumps-Harvard production just about every Yalie would enjoy.  The post right above the video contained a link to the Casablanca scene featuring Die Wacht am Rhein, AKA the German version of Bright College Years (and also the original version, according to its Wikipedia page posted in one of the comments).

    Online and on campus, Yalies are witty—one of the aspects of our community I love most. Though in recent months Overheard at Yale has taken a lot of heat, I think we can at least credit it with providing a forum for us to communicate with one another in the way we do best—with humor—even thousands of miles away from each other.  Overheard made me feel reconnected with my Yale family and the playful spirit that collectively describes us, even when we are miles away from New Haven.

  2. The Game(s)

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    Every November, students, parents, and alumni from two of the America’s most prestigious educational institutions gather to watch “The Game,” one of the nation’s most celebrated athletic traditions. Some experts even claim that the game of football traces its roots to this very event! Here at the Ivy League Gaming Commission (ILGC), we have invented some other games just for the students of Yale and Harvard to play this weekend. Let the Game(s) begin!

    –N. Ferguson,

    Chair, ILGC

    Two Truths and a Lie On Your Admissions Essay:

    Swap admissions essays with a Harvardian and see if you can pick out which “facts” about your “life-changing experience” in “Guatemala” the summer before junior year are more like fiction.

    The Amazing Race to Your Off-Shore Bank Account:

    A Yalie and Harvardian face off to see who can reach the Cayman Islands first. Winner will have a library wing named in his/her honor. A donation to NPR will be made in the Loser’s name.

    Taboo:

    While engaged in conversation with acquaintances on the street, students struggle to come up with the most creative euphemisms for their schools. When the stranger asks where you go to school, try answering “Connecticut,” “outside of Boston,” or “on the East Coast.”

    Liberal Guilt Obstacle Course:

    See if you can make your way to class without popping the precious little bubble that protects you from the outside world by avoiding conversations with homeless people, anti-war protestors, and sundry activists.

    Synchronized Summering:

    You and your partner go head to head to see who can put together the most luxurious vacation this summer. Judges will consider Facebook albums, tan lines, and sky miles in their analysis.

    Hide (Your Disdain for Students on Financial Aid) and Go Seek:

    We’re all good at doing this.

    Family Party Games:

    Pin the Tail on the Diploma

    Pin the Diploma on the Internship

    Pin the Internship on a long miserable life devoid of meaning

    Monopoly:

    Over the next 30 years of your life, you and a Harvardian will literally see who can make the most money in the real estate market.

    Bingo:

    You and a partner will take the featured “Ivy League Bingo Sheet” to class and see who can put together a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal combination first. “Problematic” is a free square! If you’re new to the game, learn how to play bingo now and join in on the fun.

    Trivial Pursuits:

    Compare your extracurricular commitments with your Harvard competitor!

    Three Legacied Race:

    You and two other Yalies will race three Harvardians to see who can run 100 yards on their own merits.

    Fabergé Egg Toss:

    This one also speaks for itself. Try not to break the eggs! But if you do, it will be fine I guess.

    Pong Perignon:

    Face off against Harvard in this swanky version of an old college favorite.

    Musical Chairman of the Board:

    It’s just like musical chairs, but the winner becomes the head of a major corporation!

    Charade:

    In a contest spanning the rest of your life, see how long you can keep up the façade of being important or meaningful!

    Bench Presstige:

    How many copies of books that your teacher wrote can you lift at one time? Probably not many!

    Yachtzee:

    Face off with a Harvardian in a game of Yahtzee. Winner gets a yacht! Loser also gets a yacht!

    Tug of War Mongering Alumni:

    Yale wins!

    Touch Football:

    Amuse yourself with a friendly game of amateur touch football at the Yale Bowl this Saturday at noon!

     

     

  3. Shortened Punchlines

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    In the beginning, there was email. With electronic mail, people could suddenly communicate almost instantly over vast distances. After the obligatory interuniversity and intragovernmental look-what-we’ve-accomplished messages, email began to be a thing that ordinary people used to stay in touch over long distances, to communicate with co-workers and eventually to forward chain emails to everyone in their address books.

    They say the hardest part of learning a new language is humor. But humor has been quick to worm its way into each “language” of the Internet. Email chains quickly became a way to send funny stories and jokes around the world. Tumblr, originally just another way to blog, is now dominated by streams of animated GIF jokes (if you don’t believe me, sit at the back of a packed lecture — it’s not like you were going to pay attention during shopping period anyway — and then count how many laptop screens are on whatshouldwecallme.tumblr.com). When someone shows you a YouTube video, there’s a good bet it’s filed under “comedy.”

    Over the summer, I received companywide emails at my internship about a local bear that was caught wandering near the office; the story had been picked up by the local news. Within minutes, someone had created a Twitter account for the bear (“C Line or D Line into town. Decisions, Decisions” and “Can’t a bear just catch some zzzzzs around here without all this paparazzi” were two tweets among many). After two days of sharing its thoughts, responding to questions, attracting 111 followers and itself following 24 others, @Brooklinebear stopped its activity forever.

    Whether or not our attention spans are actually decreasing, as posited by everyone over the age of 40, is a complex issue. I would argue, at least, that our patience for punch lines is diminishing. What constitutes “funny” is now often a quick image (see: Yale Memes) or line of text, rather than the re-re-forwarded chain emails of yesterday. Among YouTube’s most popular videos are the five-second-long “Dramatic Chipmunk” and the sub-one-minute “Charlie Bit Me!” Jokes strive to rise above the crowd only for a few moments before being forgotten by all but icanhascheezburger.com.

    This doesn’t mean humor is dead; perhaps, in fact, the opposite. We’re being hit by so many funny photons that humorists have to work harder, think more creatively than ever, to achieve even a tiny glimpse of noticeability. To be an audience of the Internet today is exhilarating.

    Consider the case of @StealthMountain. The Twitter bot is the product of a tireless computer’s efforts patrolling the Twitterverse for a particular grammatical error: Each time a tweet contains the phrase “sneak peak” (note misspelling), @StealthMountain politely tweets back, “I think you mean ‘sneak peek.’” (The Twitter account description calls itself “a sneaky peak.” Stealth mountain. Get it?) The point is, someone is actively paying money — in electricity bills, server time or what have you — to run the computer program that makes @StealthMountain possible. And it’s all so that someone can stumble onto the Twitter page, say, “Huh. That’s really clever,” and never look at it again (it loses a lot of its punch the second time around). Along the same vein, there’s @big_ben_clock, which tweets “BONG” to indicate the hour, on the hour — “BONG BONG BONG” is three o’clock London time — and a handful of other automated Twitter accounts that earn a chuckle but not much more. Heck, someone even made @OneTweetTony, whose account description is “I nail it on the first tweet every time,” and whose one and only tweet reads, “Nailed it! That’s a wrap!”

    The point is, humor is evolving. It’s changing along with the technologies we use, and that’s not a bad thing. Stand-up comedy and humor essays won’t be replaced, just as Twitter hasn’t replaced email. We’re just in a more technologically diverse age, and so are our punch lines.