Gawker: Humor

Romney Campaign Hunts Down Social Media Satirist

Maureen O'Connor — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:58:58 EST

Pinterest—the social network for prudes and women who knit—got its first political satire account yesterday. Within 24 hours, Mitt Romney's president campaign torpedoed it. More »

Report: Religious People Have Acquired a Sense of Humor

Hamilton Nolan — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:29:58 EDT

"Can God take a joke?" That is the rhetorical question posed by USA Today, the newspaper with the most direct link to angels of any major media outlet. The answer? "Absolutely!" (Also according to USA Today.) More »

Billy Crystal and Helen Mirren Are Vampires in When Sharon Bit Harry

Matt Cherette — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 03:19:07 EDT

Funny or Die videos often suck. Once in awhile they're great. This is one of those times. Here's a fake trailer—plus some behind-the-scenes footage—for Grampires: When Sharon Bit Harry, starring Billy Crystal and Helen Mirren. [Funny or Die] More »

Former Jay Leno Writer Starts Nebraska's Funniest Humor Column

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:39:38 EST

Where does one go after a career spent writing jokes for Jay Leno? One goes to Omaha. To write a humor column in the Omaha World-Herald. A column called "Breaking Brad." Ladies and gentlemen: meet Brad Dickson. More »

Paranoid Driving: Asking People If They've Seen Themselves

Whitney Jefferson — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 20:00:00 EST

These pranksters thought it funny to drive around a parking lot asking people if they've seen someone that fits their exact description. Yeah, you'd probably feel pretty paranoid after that, too. More »

Is This Where TLC's Programming Is Headed?

Matt Cherette — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 23:04:35 EST

In this parody-that-could-be-real promo for TLC—"The Learning Channel. For some reason."—the increasingly sensationalistic (and just plain weird) network's new lineup is unveiled. What's on tap? Well, there's Little People, Tricky Fridge; The Divorce Horse; and much more! More »

'Hooker Overcomes Illness, Slaps Beaver'

Richard Lawson — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:38:46 EST

Today in inadvertently funny headlines, there's this high school basketball piece from Kansas's Leader & Times. Sadly, the article does not tell the tale of a hard-luck working girl overcoming the odds to issue her traditional mating sound. (via) More »

David Letterman Gives Us 10 More Reasons to Laugh at John Boehner

Matt Cherette — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 01:19:26 EST

On tonight's Late Show, David Letterman delivered a rare treat—the episode's "Top 10 List" was actually funny! The topic was "Little-Known Facts About John Boehner," though, so it was bound to be a stone groove smash hit wonder. More »

Watch Obama and Biden's "Year in Review" Duet of Regret

Matt Cherette — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 13:24:09 EST

JibJab's become known for their funny/relevant "Year in Review" videos, so I'm pleased to announce that 2010's version—featuring puppets of President Obama and Vice President Biden singing a lamentation of the sh*tty year that was—doesn't disappoint. Watch inside. More »

Watch David Letterman's Hilarious Tribute to Larry King

Matt Cherette — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 00:48:09 EST

Tonight, Larry King hosted Larry King Live for the last time (video highlights here). And on the Late Show, David Letterman gave King a tribute of his own, with some biting jokes and a hilarious mistakes montage! Watch inside. More »

What a Generic News Report Looks Like

Christopher Han — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 11:30:00 EST

Look familiar? The good folks over at BBC Four made a spot-on parody of what pretty much every news report looks, feels, and sounds like. It's wonderfully meta.. cheeky, actually. More »

If Office Space Was a Musical

Matt Cherette — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 14:20:27 EST

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Remember Office Space, the stapler-centric disgruntled workers' cult favorite? Did you ever imagine the movie as a musical? Well, whether you did or didn't, here it is: a deliciously short—and sweet—Broadway-esque parody version of the film. Watch inside. More »

Mad Men Gets a Children's Book Makeover

Brian Moylan — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 15:17:24 EDT

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Those funny folks at British humor site The Poke have transformed the main characters of Mad Men in the style of the Mr. Men books. They even wrote a whole tale using the characters. It's a one-two punch of nostalgia. More »

No, Vince Vaughn, 'Gay' Is Not Comedy

Richard Lawson — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 16:28:11 EDT

So earlier today we noticed that Vince Vaughn issued a statement, not an apology, for this whole Dilemma gay joke thing. He basically said that it's all about comedy and teasing differences to bring us closer. Oh, bullshit. More »

JetBlue Does Not Find Jokes About Its Cranky Flight Attendant Funny

Max Read — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 03:03:00 EDT

On Monday, abused JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater stole two beers and left his grounded plane via the emergency slide. JetBlue has mostly kept mum—except to scold comedian Andy Borowitz for making bad jokes on Twitter. More »

Screaming Profanity Will Save the Gulf

Hamilton Nolan — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:03:47 EDT

Unfuck The Gulf: the charity that lets you buy a t-shirt, contribute to charity, and watch small children screaming "fuck" on video, all for a good cause. Well. It probably wasn't necessary to use children, technically. Fucking BP! More »

Did Martha Stewart Just Make a Dick Joke on Her Facebook Page?

Brian Moylan — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:38:48 EDT

We go to Martha Stewart for many things—recipes, decorating tips, officious WASP-y superiority—but for blue humor? Never! But now she's posting suggestive pictures on her Facebook page and our universe is turned upside down.
More »

Calling Ladies Dudes Still the Height of Fratty Media Personality Humor

Pareene — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:30:01 EST

Tucker Carlson's Internet Tendency keeps calling Rachel Maddow a "man" because they think that is terribly witty. Keith Olbermann apparently agrees! Except Ann Coulter jokes are totally different, because she is bad. (Someone qualifies for Countdown's Hypocrisy Hall of Fame!) More »

Even More Dana Milbank Quips to Inundate Weary Readers

Hamilton Nolan — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 09:24:45 EST

Washington Post-approved white humorist Dana Milbank, last seen being handed his own Sunday op-ed column, is now writing a book about Glenn Beck entitled Tears of a Clown. It will feature japes, jibes, jests, jokes, and possibly zingers. [Michael Calderone] More »

College Kids Refuse to Censor Joke About Racism, Outraging Dumb People

Hamilton Nolan — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:14:25 EST

A college humor magazine has written a satirical story on the subject of race, and they are refusing calls to take that story off their website, thereby bucking the important American college traditions of censorship and terrified racial silence. Outrageous! More »

Christian Conservatives Praying for God to Kill Obama

John Cook — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:27:30 EST

There's a hilarious new meme in the wingnut sectors of the internet: someone's coined a bumper sticker slogan encouraging people to pray for Barack Obama. But here's the funny part: it's really a secret Christian code for "Kill the President!' More »

Who's Turned on Family Guy?

Hamilton Nolan — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:30:45 EDT

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After much deliberation, Microsoft has decided against sponsoring the upcoming Family Guy special, 'Seth MacFarlane's Holocaust Incest Tampon Hour.' They join an illustrious list of Family Guy haters. More »

Jonah Goldberg's Funny Joke About Affordable Housing

Pareene — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:16:01 EDT

The UN Human Rights Council has a special rapporteur investigating affordable housing conditions in New York, which is depressing, frankly, unless you are Jonah Goldberg, in which case it is hilarious. More »

Regretsy: Hysterically Bad Trips into Arts and Crafts

Foster Kamer — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EDT

Maybe you've heard of Etsy, the uber-twee site allowing "creative" types to sell their "arts and crafts" "wares." Imagine shopping at Michael's on crack. Regretsy, which finds the most insane things on Etsy, is like shopping Michael's on acid. More »

Late Night Hosts Feast on Sweat of Poor Comedy Drones

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 04 May 2009 11:13:30 EDT

Oh, to write jokes for one of those late night TV shows! Seriously, please, let me do that. Those staff writers get paid. But the freelancers get totally screwed! More »

Using Dubya's Death to Sell Doritos

Hamilton Nolan — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:05:12 EST

Doritos had the public submit proposed Super Bowl ads. Here's a concept that didn't win, for some reason: Pretzels have killed idiot President George W. Bush, eat Doritos instead! Ha. That's "not funny." More »

Virgin Sues Blogger Over Fake Ad, Gives Fake Ad Massive Exposure

Hamilton Nolan — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:12:16 EST

Virgin is always making those cheeky ads for itself, right? But when a blogger does it in obvious parody style, Virgin sues them. Scrubs. More »

Wall Street People: Not Funny

Hamilton Nolan — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:51:33 EST

Wall Street big shots have their own exclusive fratty Friar-like club called "Kappa Beta Phi" that met last week for its annual—and allegedly humorous—to-do. Let us list some of the unfunny jokes that occurred: More »

The Joke Is The Price

Hamilton Nolan — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 15:10:02 EST

Far be it from us to tell somebody not to sell a useless item on eBay for an absurdly high price, but how much is a single joke from an Onion staff writer really worth? More »

If You Don't Buy This Stock, We'll Kill This Dog

Hamilton Nolan — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:55:21 EST

Execs at the National Lampoon are charged with illegally inflating the company's stock price, which leads to a blogger making a predictable joke. Comedy sucks these days. [TheStreet.com] More »

England Is Now Safe For Irony

Hamilton Nolan — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 11:47:23 EST

A "landmark" court ruling in the UK means that it is now legal to make jokes there (without having to pay millions in defamation damages). Jokes about Elton John, especially. More »

Historic Footage Of Blago Missing The Joke

Hamilton Nolan — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 10:18:20 EST

Did you know that newsworthy corrupt politician ROD BLAGOJEVICH once appeared on the humorous Daily Show, in 2006, and was not sure if they were joking, or what? Clip below, because it's Saturday: More »

International Respect Watch

Pareene — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:45:18 EST

America, as we've learned, has a big PR problem. The rest of the world doesn't like us so much! Our current president is something of a laughingstock, you see, and we have this problem with expecting others to live up to the ideals we espouse as we fail to live up to them ourselves. You can see how that might bug people, right? Thankfully we're done with the Bush administration. Listen to how little Bush is respected by the Russians and French: More »

The Daily Show Is Not Having A Crisis Of Comedy

Hamilton Nolan — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:15:45 EST

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While we're over here getting our little heads upset about the pending Obama-inspired CRISIS OF COMEDY, fretting that there's only one extant Black President joke and desperately enlisting comedians to offer advice on humorous lines of attack on our hopey new leader, The Daily Show is going about its business as usual, being funny! Now I just feel dumb. More »

Every 'First Black President' Joke Basically the Same

Pareene — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:28:14 EST

This is a clip from Eddie Murphy's standup special Delirious, recorded in Washington, DC in 1983, back when Eddie Murphy was funny. He is joking about the first black president, who, back then, was going to be Jesse Jackson, but the joke still works. It works so well, in fact, that it is basically the only joke about The First Black President. More »

Jordan Carlos Tackles The Obama Comedy Crisis!

Hamilton Nolan — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:53:20 EST

Now that our nation has gone and elected a popular black man with no clear signs of dementia as president, it's obvious that our Crisis Of Comedy is a most vital public issue. Nerdy white comedians have no idea how to make fun of Obama! Never fear. We reached out to Jordan Carlos—professional comedian, Stephen Colbert's black friend, and a guy we once tried to assert (unsuccessfully) would be a better Saturday Night Live Obama impersonator than Fred Armisen—for his take on the future of Obama comedy. Exclusive Jordan Carlos Analytical Comedic Essay Below! More »

Spam alert

Nicholas Carlson — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:20:00 EDT

If you receive an email from the Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America, with the subject line "Your Urgent Help Needed," please be informed that it is not actually from Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. [Angry Bear] (Photo by AP/J. Scott Applewhite) More »

Disaster Ahead For Heavy.com?

Hamilton Nolan — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:54:20 EDT

Funny video site Heavy.com managed to make it through the tech boom and bust intact. But the site—and its venture capital investors—may have overestimated how popular it could actually get. We hear that Heavy's VP of marketing has left the company, taking two of his top salesmen with him on the way out. His departing words: "Rome is burning." More »

Thomas Friedman Has Joke, Not Afraid to Use It

Pareene — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:14:51 EDT

New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, the premier public intellectual of blindly cheerleading globalization, has been wrong about nearly everything, ever. He is hailed as a foreign policy genius, and of course he was dead wrong on Iraq. He is hailed as a brilliant economist, and maybe he is, but his magical flat global future looks increasingly like the wet dream of a guilty rich liberal who doesn't want to hear about inequality that can't be solved by internet access. His most stunning insights are banal cliches, often attributed to cab drivers in exotic (developing) foreign locales. But we have to hand it to him: his joke about Sarah Palin and oil drilling is pretty funny! It is so funny, in fact, that he delivered it 500 times last week, from Letterman on through the Sunday shows. Let's all congratulate Thomas Friedman on his very first joke! Chant with him: CARBON PAPER CARBON PAPER CARBON PAPER! More »