Reading recently about the Zacarias Moussaoui trial, his "button-down mind" found an angle on the 9/11 pilots, and he has been toying with it as a possible stand-up bit.
"They didn't want to learn to take off and land," he said. "They just wanted to fly. Some have criticized the F.B.I. because that should have been a red flag. But I saw it as a case of —" he studied his coffee table it as if it were a weekly planner — " 'O.K., well, I don't have to come in Monday; I can come in late Tuesday; Wednesday and Thursday, O.K., that's flying; and then I don't have to come in Friday.'"
March 25, 2006
Bob Newhart tells a 9/11 joke.
You can joke about 9/11, can't you? You just have to find the right way to do it:
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It's labored. And maybe I don't get it, either, but I think he's trying to suggest that the FBI guys weren't interested in doing the hard parts of their job, either.
I don't get it either.
I don't have a problem conceptually about telling a 9/11 joke (I've heard some Pearl Harbor jokes on occasion) but I do have a problem with the joke-- it's a really stupid joke.
But this does bring up the question of whether a doddering old washed up former comedian needs to recognize that he'll never be Bob Hope and look for something else to do.
Wow! I didn't know Bob Newhart had antagonists! I thought it was funny. To be fair, he's described as working on this joke, sketching out the direction it would go. Maybe this is just the middle of the ultimate joke, and you folks want to hear more of a punchline -- you want the joke to land.
Monday is takeoffs. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are flying. Fryday is landings.
Funny. Not hilariously funny, but Newhart doesn't do that kind of funny. It would certainly be funnier with his intonation.
I guess I could "hear" his delivery.
I have always rather like Bob Newhart, and I can "hear" his delivery, too. I don't think this is up to his usual standards, though. But maybe by the time it is finished, it will be.
Verification word: hkhoadah, I believe that's Hawaiian for "joke needs work", isn't it?
I know we've won the War on Terror when I see a late night commercial where a car salesman says: "I declare jihad on high prices!"
We're not there yet!
Not that I am a big fan but delivery...yes.
Dead-pan looks, stumbling pauses, nervous stutterings.....
I'd like to add my voice to the chorus of "I don't get its".
But about the larger point of joking, I think as long as you're not racist (and not a shock-jock, who are expected to be racist, and everything else), you're fine.
Jokes from beloved, but has-been comics about 9/11 are okay. Kinda.
On-air jokes about Secretary of States who are "coons" are out.
Cheers,
Victoria
It's clever and does bring back to me the ins and outs of scheduling classes and deciding which and how many I could cut.
For instance, in my first semester at Villanova, my Tuesdays and Thursdays went like this.
830AM Business Math- cut and go eat breakfast. 10AM Philosophy class- cut and go play basketball in the field house. 330PM Economics- hell we ain't sticking around for that- let's go home before rush hour. You can probably guess- I flunked the economics class.
With Newhart its all about delivery. If you read a transcript of one of his funniest bits like the driver's ed instructor I doubt it'd be funny.
Reminds of a Conan O'Brien skit right before the New Year's 2000 celebration when there were threats of terrorist attacks. It was done in a Jeff Foxworthy style,
"if the guy next to you in Times Square yells Jihad instead of yee ha, he might be a terrorist"
Gosh, Eli, did Newhart pee in your Rice Crispies?
Victoria, as I understand it, the on-air "talent" stumbled over the word "coup" and immediately apologized. Not enough, I guess.
I don't see Bob Newhart's joke as a 9-11 joke per se, but more of a terrorist joke. Splitting hairs, maybe.
Victoria, as I understand it, the on-air "talent" stumbled over the word "coup" and immediately apologized. Not enough, I guess.
No he apologised profusely, if you heard the tape of the incident.
I did so last night, when I was in the car listening to NPR.
People aren't questioning his apology, but the sincerity of whether it was a "slip" or not.
I don't see Bob Newhart's joke as a 9-11 joke per se, but more of a terrorist joke. Splitting hairs, maybe.
The Aristocrats!!
Cheers,
Victoria
Right, but see, that's how I get when I hear some of Carrot Top's stuff.
LOL
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