HN Theater @HNTheaterMonth

⬐ metadat

He's being overly generous. Seems extremely likely SNL did rip off his idea, it's too much of a coincidence. I like this guy's version better, as it's much less annoying.

Signs of the times, SNL can't keep good cast members and has resorted to stealing ideas from small-time ytubers.

⬐ naikrovek

well, i’d like to see anyone, or any 100 people, fill 90 minutes of tv every week, with jokes good enough to bring viewers back the following week.

i’m not saying it’s right to steal ideas, because of course it isn’t, i’m saying the pressure to deliver each and every week must be enormous.

⬐ euroderf

A lot of those 90 minutes are ads. "Thank goodness!" ?

⬐ Larrikin

Eh, it seems like whenever some big name cast members leave for other opportunities, the generation of people that enjoyed them do nothing but lament about how bad the show is compared to the time period when they were watching it.

I started watching relatively recently, within the past ten years, and enjoyed it. Older skits I've found enjoyable, but I'm equally likely to find them cringe, like most Will Ferrell skits, large chunks of Norm MacDonald on weekend update and especially anything where Adam Sandler sings. I still am pretty sure I've never laughed at a single joke primarily featuring Maya Rudolph, on the show or otherwise. But there are armies of people on the internet who will claim those were peak SNL.

They're all comedians doing tons of joke. If you can appreciate the art at all you'll find something enjoyable in the mountains of content. There's no reckoning or "things being better back in the day". Your taste might have simply shifted to a different place

⬐ duxup

I agree SNL was always hit or miss. That’s the nature of comedy.

I remember when Comedy Central used to show just standup after standup. Sometimes the joke worked, sometimes not… it was always fun to see someone’s work flop that you recognize would work later after it evolved more.

Most of the great SNL skits I remember were surrounded by really bad stuff, by the same cast. Really you watched hoping to see one or two good ones a night.

⬐ fossuser

Yeah, there’s a history of bombs that they watch internally.

Will Ferrell talked about this in some interview he was in some skit playing an obscure character and it completely bombed, but he still drew it out for the total time.

⬐ crazygringo

Interesting, but having watched both (and been involved a little bit in sketch comedy), it really does just feel like coincidence.

You think, let's do a sketch with the Charmin bears. Their main defining comedic characteristic is... their whole life is toilet paper. Conflict is introduced when... one member wants to change/escape. Therefore one needs to reject the limiting toilet paper life for a contrasting, expressive life of... art/theater/dance. A choice usually made when... choosing where to attend college. And the Dad can't accept his son like that... but in the end he does.

It's just the kind of paint-by-numbers logic of sketch comedy. If you asked 10 improv teams or sketch writers to start with the premise of a family of Charmin bears, I wouldn't be surprised if half of them came up with the exact same thing.

And having watched both sketches, they're otherwise entirely different in execution, tone, and everything else.

So yeah it's funny to joke that SNL stole your idea, but basic premises are a dime a dozen, and then the logic of comedy usually leads them to very similar places. Which is actually kind of why good improv teams work so well -- the logic of comedy keeps things running smoothly, as (trained) improvisers can easily see where things are going and contribute accordingly.

⬐ ShamelessC

This is all covered in the linked video, fyi.

⬐ junon

Weird to see Joel on HN of all places. If you didn't watch the video, he says himself it's probably a fluke and that he's not upset by it. The title itself is in quotes for this reason.

⬐ Fricken

Did anybody else get a Charmin ad to watch at the start of the video?

⬐ brutal_chaos_

No, I use am adblocker.

⬐ metadat

Frick yeah I did! Now that.. is targeting.

⬐ robswc

There’s just no way his video wasn’t a factor in the creation of the skit. It’s way too similar, way too soon.

It really sucks. Would it be too hard to ask him to feature or just give a blessing? Makes them look sleazy…

⬐ stoicjumbotron

Another SNL example I found

SNL Skit: https://twitter.com/Kantrowitz/status/1576583132526313473?s=...

YouTube Vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFnVxeKGIzY

⬐ blagie

He is generous.

That said, when I've seen this happen, 9 times out of 10, it's not intentional. It's happened to me too:

* You see something.

* You forget about it.

* You re-invent it yourself a few weeks later.

I'm fortunate that's only happened in low-stakes contexts (e.g. talking with friends, I think I invent a joke, but it turns out it came from somewhere I forgot), but I'd be absolutely horrified if it ever happened in a high-stakes one. I'm glad I'm not a professional in anything like this.

Also: generous is almost always the right strategy to take here.

⬐ tomcam

Try doing standup. Fucking nightmare when you’re an insignificant opening act, and the headliner just plain steals your jokes the same night.

Conversely it’s embarrassing when you end up reinventing one of those bits that’s just in the air.

⬐ willis936

If you're opening don't you have the chance to steal jokes and not the other way around?

⬐ tomcam

Yes but I wouldn’t

⬐ Larrikin

Presumably to become the opening act, the headliner has watched a good bit of footage from your act so that they are willing to let you be the opening act.

⬐ tomcam

Headliner normally doesn’t know or care who the openers are

⬐ tomcam

Try doing standup. Fucking nightmare when you’re an insignificant unpaid opening act, and the headliner just plain steals your jokes the same night.

Conversely it’s embarrassing when you end up reinventing one of those bits that’s just in the air.

EDIT /u/crazygringo says it better https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33076382