Jokes you don't understand pt. 734

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

This is possibly a reference to the DeNiro quote from Meet the Parents . His character uses the following line when intimidating another character:

Which itself is a rhythm-and-rhyme elaboration of the phrase "to go to town on", meaning to enthusiastically and unrestrainedly attack (or sexually engage with).

It may be that adding Chinatown suggests martial arts, or is intended to allude to the kind of sustained violence featured in Big Trouble in Little China (1986).

Separately, Lipps Inc's 1979 song Funkytown includes the line

The accidental combination of the previous cultural memes creates the initial threat, and the follow up ("central") is the continuation of a feeble effort at threatening behaviour.

Just came here to post that! Yes, exactly, it's Fleming trying to sound threatening while accidentally conflating two entirely unrelated pop culture references.

Haig is outstanding in that role, his delivery is perfect.

[Theoretical Dentist]

The conflation of Chinatown and Funky Town could also be influenced by the reference to 'funky Chinatown' in Carl Douglas's Kung Fu Fighting.

[Mobius]

I'm sure I asked this before, but since we're doing my favourite show Thick Of It

Why does Malcolm call Ollie

"The proverbial bright spark. Horace"

(hope i remembered the line properly)

[Fambo Number Mive]

I slightly misrembered it, it is Funky Town Centre not Funky Town Central:

I love the delivery, in particular the Town of Funky Town.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

The conflation of Chinatown and Funky Town could also be influenced by the reference to 'funky Chinatown' in Carl Douglas's Kung Fu Fighting.

Oh yes! That too. It's basically just a weird, uptight middle-aged Westminster psychopath conflating some half-remembered, cool-sounding phrases in an attempt to sound like a 'badass motherfucker' from a Scorsese/Tarantino-type film.

[Average Comedy Enjoyer]

I also like the inclusion of "Town Centre" as it's uniquely British and removes any American glamour.

I'm fairly confident Americans say "Downtown" when they mean "Town Centre" which brings it full circle.

[neveragain]

I'm sure I asked this before, but since we're doing my favourite show Thick Of It

Why does Malcolm call Ollie

"The proverbial bright spark. Horace"

(hope i remembered the line properly)

There was a Roman poet called Horace, so I assumed it was something to do with that. Reddit tells me it could be to do with Horace Walpole, another poet called Horace, who coined the phrase 'bright spark' in terms of it relating to a clever person.

[MrMealDeal]

There was a joke at a recent WIP that went 'I want to be so rich that I do my weekly shop at WH Smiths'. Whence does the humour arise?

(a) Surreal innit
(b) WH Smiths in train stations and airports are really expensive so you'd have to be rich to shop there
(c) They'd have to live on big Fruit & Nut bars and Pringles and those plastic bottles of Coke that never taste nice for some reason

[Theoretical Dentist]

I slightly misrembered it, it is Funky Town Centre not Funky Town Central:

It mangles the threat further that he follows it with 'choo fucking choo' – 'Funky Town Central' sounds like a railway station and maybe that's what he was trying to say, but 'Funky Town Centre' doesn't.

[phantom_power]

I think Chinatown is probably more a reference to the Polanski film "Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown", and then Funky Town is an elaboration/mis-speaking of that

[lazyhour]

There was a joke at a recent WIP that went 'I want to be so rich that I do my weekly shop at WH Smiths'. Whence does the humour arise?

(a) Surreal innit
(b) WH Smiths in train stations and airports are really expensive so you'd have to be rich to shop there
(c) They'd have to live on big Fruit & Nut bars and Pringles and those plastic bottles of Coke that never taste nice for some reason

Assuming it wasn't a surreal comic, I'm pretty confident that it's a reference to how incredibly expensive WHSmith is, especially if you're the kind of ponce who is more likely to use them at an airport on your way to a lovely holiday than on Crawley High Street.

[Average Comedy Enjoyer]

Slightly off-topic but I only now realized that in A Close Shave the love interest is called "Wendoline" which sounds like "Windolene™️" because Wallace and Gromit are windowcleaners in that film.

I wasn't even rewatching it for the fiftieth time or anything, just observing how filthy my reading glasses are...

Edit: it's also an anagram

[wrec]

I can't hear 'innocent' as an adjective without thinking of these boys:

Speaking of which, "You're only a bagel - a FRENCH bagel!" has always confused me, and I never heard it in any of the many traveller call-out videos I watched when I fell down that particular rabbit hole one night.

That's "beagle", similar to how "beat" is commonly pronounced as "bayte". Beagle / baygle is an insult but I'm not entirely sure of the connotations.

The French beagle bit isn't a great punchline, so I wonder if it's a case of the insult being ubiquitous to the point that the canine aspect has been lost to the kid (or whoever originally came up with it), so he thinks he's making a pun.

Thus endeth my humourless response to a year-and-a-half-old post.

[thenoise]

A French bulldog is a small toy version of a bulldog, so not only a beagle but a puny version of one too?

[wrec]

A French bulldog is a small toy version of a bulldog, so not only a beagle but a puny version of one too?

That'd work. Solid comedy craft from those kids (now adults).

[Average Comedy Enjoyer]

Jimmy Cricket joke at 8:30

The angel kissed George best on the feet, great footballer
Bjorn Borg on the hands, great tennis player.

Punchline:
"I was wondering what happened to Lester Pigott"

I've look at LP's Wikipedia page and don't get it?

Did he get kissed on the horse? Was "Longfellow" and allusion to magnum dong? Did he get kissed on the horse semen?

[Andy147]

Kissed on his backside to make him great at riding horses.

[Average Comedy Enjoyer]

Hmm, that's weak.

I would draw James Cricket's attention to the fact that other than dressage, most horse sports folks aren't even sitting on the horse during the important parts.

[Kelvin]

At around 0.54 in this clip there's a shot from behind the shirtless lad which shows a picture on the wall.

What the hell is the joke there? What is the picture meant to be depicting?

[Famous Mortimer]

Jimmy Cricket joke at 8:30

The angel kissed George best on the feet, great footballer
Bjorn Borg on the hands, great tennis player.

Punchline:
"I was wondering what happened to Lester Pigott"

I've look at LP's Wikipedia page and don't get it?

Did he get kissed on the horse? Was "Longfellow" and allusion to magnum dong? Did he get kissed on the horse semen?

Piggott was known as a bit of a shagger, I believe?

[Stinky Lomax]

At around 0.54 in this clip there's a shot from behind the shirtless lad which shows a picture on the wall.

What the hell is the joke there? What is the picture meant to be depicting?

My guess is that that's a photo of this lad when he was a bit (but not much) younger, showing that he has a really weird creepy family life. I guess the joke is that Summer is creeping over some guy but she doesn't actually know anything about him or how fucked up he is. She just saw six-pack and thought 'chad'. So she's actually as mindlessly horny as Morty.

But this is season 4, so maybe it's just 'lol incest'?

[Kelvin]

My guess is that that's a photo of this lad when he was a bit (but not much) younger, showing that he has a really weird creepy family life.

But it doesn't look anything like him.

Lol incest occurred to me too, but even that doesn't really track with the picture. I suspect it's just meant to be a deliberely odd image which isn't intended to make sense.   

[Stinky Lomax]

I figure it's him at age 13ish, before his nose grew in and he bulked up. But yeah, lol random could also be the answer...

[madhair60]

this isn't meant to be dismissive but I think it's just a funny picture to have hanging on the wall, unusual vibes. Like "something's up here", just provokes a laugh from me. Odd set dressing sort of thing