this post was submitted on 21 Feb 2024
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Greentext

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This is a place to share greentexts and witness the confounding life of Anon. If you're new to the Greentext community, think of it as a sort of zoo with Anon as the main attraction.

Be warned:

If you find yourself getting angry (or god forbid, agreeing) with something Anon has said, you might be doing it wrong.

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[–] Dabundis@lemmy.world 258 points 9 months ago (2 children)

This is genuinely very clever and I'm amazed that the teacher came to the conclusion that this person didn't prepare anything

[–] McFarius@lemmy.world 254 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

Delivery is everything. This is a great idea, but if the person was too socially awkward to nail the timing or tone, I could easily see how this idea could flop.

[–] III@lemmy.world 83 points 9 months ago (3 children)

I don't know, the mere fact that each action was followed by a slide detailing that previous action should be more than enough to show effort. Even if it wasn't received as funny, it is still provable as an attempt.

I feel if he is brought to explain himself, it explains itself. It is just down to whether anyone can identify actual creativity in his school. Odds aren't in his favor.

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[–] Dabundis@lemmy.world 37 points 9 months ago

Ohhh yes, makes sense

[–] psycho_driver@lemmy.world 19 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yeah fuck him. Tell the counselor the faculty should all get together and see if with their collective strength they can remove the stick shoved up his ass.

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[–] Etterra@lemmy.world 123 points 9 months ago (2 children)

This is comedy gold. I would have laughed. The teacher having no sense of humor I get, but the other students? WTF is wrong with them? Maybe the culture is too different now - at 45 now, I can confidently say that back in my day this would have gotten some solid laughter.

[–] Sami_Uso@lemmy.world 93 points 9 months ago (3 children)

This kind of awkward humor walks a really fine line between funny and just plain old awkward. Stand up comedy is a real deal skill, you couldn't just go up at an open mic and kill, you probably aren't doing it in a classroom of your peers barely paying attention.

[–] Landless2029@lemmy.world 34 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Script is solid. Failed the delivery.

Real comedians practice their skit until it's not even funny for them anymore. Many never laugh at their own jokes when they're killing it.

[–] SuckMyWang@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

It sounds like he did to the point people actually believed he was accidentally fucking it up to the point they couldn’t see past it to the joke. Either that or it’s 4chan so it’s fake

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

Yeah and I don’t suspect most people on 4chan have any stage work abilities. I’m talented at stage work, and by that I mean in my public speaking class in high school I fell flat on my face for most of a semester but was charming about it by the end and in college was able to relatively quickly pick up the skill and hold onto it for a long time. Without comedic timing it’s going to start bad, and if you can’t call it and say “I’m sorry it’s all gonna be more of this, it was funnier in my head” you just become the embodiment of cringe.

I hope anon does some open mics. They’re good not just for building skills but also for the soul. Sometimes the soul needs to bomb in a safe space.

[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 11 points 9 months ago

Yeah it sounds to me like anon was shooting for Joe Pera or Andy Kaufman but landed on Sweet Dee

[–] smackjack@lemmy.world 32 points 9 months ago (2 children)

My guess is that this person's class is at 7 AM and everyone is too hungover to appreciate humor.

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[–] FiskFisk33@startrek.website 107 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Humour is hard, the idea is great, but it's all about the delivery.

[–] wrath_of_grunge@kbin.social 50 points 9 months ago (1 children)

when the delivery fails, i like to default to a old Mitch Hedberg joke.

That joke was funnier than you people acted.

if dude wants to really fuck with his teacher, he should show up with a detailed report on the creation of his joke, how the execution of his joke failed, and why the audience was wrong to misunderstand it. possible bonus points would be to veeeeery subtly insinuate that the joke was just over their heads, as meta humor sometimes is.

you could conclude the study with thoughts on how subjective and varied humor is. maybe bring up how that joke slayed when you performed it for your test audience, but then fell flat with the actual audience.

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[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 67 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I'd have busted a gut when someone actually revealed step 1.

It's brilliant. If it were real, anon deserves a handjob

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[–] OneCardboardBox@lemmy.sdf.org 67 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If the execution was merely failing tasks and then revealing that the failure was planned, then I can understand why the teacher was pissed. The goal was obviously to get people talking, so if they didn't actually talk about the material on their slides then they didn't fulfill the project.

Eg: if slide 1 was revealed to be "Display a broken video" then OP should have then started talking about the importance of a broken video in a 5m presentation. Answer the question "Why is displaying a broken video important?". Talk how no presentation is complete without a technical glitch, talk about how people can test their videos before presenting, etc.

I'm not saying that the idea wasn't funny, but the goal was to present 5 minutes worth of material, not to shuffle awkwardly for 5 minutes and then reveal a joke.

[–] WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Honestly, it might have been saved if he’d ended with jazz hands and loudly exclaimed:

THE ARISTOCRATS!

[–] JustUseMint@lemmy.world 66 points 9 months ago (3 children)

This is fucking hilarious lmao

[–] WeirdGoesPro@lemmy.dbzer0.com 48 points 9 months ago

If you have a reputation of being a joker and deliver your lines with a twinkle in your eye, this will kill. If you appear to be an average 4Chan user, haven’t said a word all semester, and run with deadpan delivery, this will look deranged.

[–] nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca 30 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It's a funny concept for sure. OPs execution was probably shit though.

[–] meep_launcher@lemm.ee 10 points 9 months ago

Most amount of trouble? Jail.

Least amount of trouble? Also jail.

[–] reverendsteveii@lemm.ee 12 points 9 months ago

the bit is funny, anon isn't funny, but anon fucking up is really fucking funny

[–] M500@lemmy.ml 53 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I did this once, well twice.

Although one time, the assignment was how to improve the university with a couple thousand dollars.

So I made a slide about amenities that would be cool to have. Like soda machines in the same building as the classrooms (the refillable kinds)

The professor said my slides were insulting.

Well fuck me for not having the idea you wanted me to have.

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[–] Ghyste@sh.itjust.works 46 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I would have found this hilarious.

[–] stebo02@lemmy.dbzer0.com 35 points 9 months ago

it probably was if anon wasn't a terrible comedian

[–] reverendsteveii@lemm.ee 46 points 9 months ago (1 children)

skill issue. being funny is 1% the bit and 99% how you deliver it.

[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 21 points 9 months ago

as someone who went to clown school here's the biggest tip i can give you to sell a visual joke.

Look at the joke. Look at the audience. Look back at the joke. Slowly look back at the audience.

[–] klemptor@startrek.website 40 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The "teacher" called the "counselor"? I know these are never real but anon clearly thinks college is just like high school.

[–] Wolf_359@lemmy.world 23 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Colleges definitely have counseling staff and I don't think it's far-fetched that you could be referred to one.

I mean, this post is definitely fake but that's not why.

[–] klemptor@startrek.website 10 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I hear ya but I don't know, when I was in college it was always "the professor", never "the teacher", and I think it's far-fetched that a prof reached out to the counseling staff over some dumb kid in a 101 class goofing off.

[–] Lojcs@lemm.ee 7 points 9 months ago

Since not everyone who teaches in a university is a professor, instructor (formal) and teacher (informal) feel more common where I live

[–] Thcdenton@lemmy.world 37 points 9 months ago

Don't try to be funny. Try to have fun.

[–] macisr@sh.itjust.works 36 points 9 months ago

It's funny. It's clever, but it's college. Not many people appreciate humor there. It's not a big deal, he knows now to Just do things like its boring dumb professor likes it next time.

[–] CosmicApe@kbin.social 27 points 9 months ago

Nah that shit is both funny and clever

[–] Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 26 points 9 months ago

If he has experience given pointless and bad presentations he’s got executive written all over him.

[–] gon@lemm.ee 25 points 9 months ago (1 children)

this is one of those things that seem funny but would be incredibly awkward irl

[–] Saledovil@sh.itjust.works 7 points 9 months ago

Which is what makes it funny for us.

[–] activ8r@sh.itjust.works 23 points 9 months ago (1 children)

This could have worked really well if done properly.

Including a broken video link, briefly asking for help from the teacher before turning back and saying "Actually, let's make this a learning experience".
Slide 1: Linking Broken Videos.
"It's important when you use videos to make sure the video file exists on your thumb drive! If you're using YouTube links, then just double check the video still exists before your presentation and make sure to have backups. If you're linking to a file host it's always worth making sure you don't meet the free quota and have it blocked as a really unfortunate time".
Gesture strongly and drop remote.
"Whoops! Let me get that".
Slide 2: Dropping the Remote.
"So make sure you don't gesture too wildly when you're presenting. It can look pretty odd if you're flailing around"
Slide 3: Inflatable arm flailing tube man video (properly linked).
"Talking with your hands is good for emphasis, but make sure to be reasonable and use your non-dominant hand so you don't throw things at Suzie. Sorry Suzie"
Smile at person near where the remote fell.

If your presentation is about pitfalls to avoid in presentations then it could go down really well and could be seen as clever and funny. You have to have confidence to pull it off. Make mistakes, but be sure of yourself and make them a part of the presentation.

Sounds like OP was just trying to be funny and not clever, which can come across as awkward if the confidence is lacking. You might get a laugh during your presentation, you might not. Doesn't matter because every mistake made by anyone else will get a smile now. It simultaneously takes the weight off others for making mistakes and legitimises your presentation by making it appear relevant.

I say all of this as someone who had zero confidence in school and would absolutely not have been able to pull this off. Confidence is just a fake it til you make it thing. You will be awkward at first, but learn to laugh at yourself and it gets a lot easier.

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[–] dudinax@programming.dev 18 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

The whole plan is backwards. Anon got the punchline before the setup.
Putting the punchline first can be funnier, but it require even better timing and a complete hold on the audience's attention. Also it's too on the nose.

[–] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 17 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I don't know that I could make a 5 minute presentation about anything. It's either 30 seconds or 2 hours, nowhere in between

[–] Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 7 points 9 months ago

2008, had to do a5 minutes presentation about anything, did it on the new cold war that was brewing with China and Russia forming a block against Europe and North America. I hope some of my class mates remember when I talked about that and looked a bit crazy and they tell themselves "Well, turns out he was right!"

[–] Asudox@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

The teacher seems to be the real retarded person here. Who would think that anon was unprepared in this context?

[–] iAvicenna@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

intrusive thoughts have won

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