# Am I the last person on earth to get this joke? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2002, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861 "2002-08-14T15:59:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/1 "2002-08-14T15:59:09Z")
Possible _Fight Club_ and/or _Primal Fear_ spoilers ahead. Am I the last person to have the joke of casting Edward Norton as the narrator in _Fight Club_ dawn upon him? Edward Norton who played Aaron in _Primal Fear_? I was flipping through the channels last night between the end of the Braves game and the beginning of _Dennis Miller Live_ and I caught a little bit of the latter movie. I had seen it long ago when it first came to pay cable, but it was one of those movies I watched just to learn the twist ending. Seeing Edward Norton on screen … it just hit me like a thunderbolt … “Well, of course, that’s who they’d cast to play ‘Jack’!” D’oh! ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/2 "2002-08-14T16:58:15Z")
Well, considering I’ve never seen either movie, I’m probably behind you in line. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/3 "2002-08-14T17:33:48Z")
I’ve seen Fight Club but not Primal Fear. What gives? Spoilers, please (it’s already been warned). ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/4 "2002-08-14T18:14:59Z")
In _Fight Club_, as you already know, **Elwood** ,Norton plays a character whose multiple-personality disorder results in violence. Well, in _Primal Fear_, he plays a character who fakes multiple-personality disorder in order to (quite literally) get away with murder. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/5 "2002-08-14T18:16:11Z")
What’s the punchline there, coach? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/6 "2002-08-14T18:39:41Z")
I guess I’m just amused by the irony of it. It’s sort of like casting Clint Eastwood as the victim of vigilante justice. I dunno. I guess maybe I’m out in left field on this. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/7 "2002-08-14T20:07:00Z")
I guess you could say that Ed Norton specializes in characters like that. Look at his character in _The Score_ with DeNiro. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Green\_Fool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mr.Green\_Fool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Green_Fool)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/8 "2002-08-14T20:08:35Z")
…Very. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/9 "2002-08-14T20:23:48Z")
Personally, I thought it was a much funnier reference when he went “Heeellllllooooooo Ball!” in _Fight Club_ ---
**Author:** ![MarkF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MarkF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarkF)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/10 "2002-08-14T23:25:45Z")
See, now I am disappointed. I came into this thread (fnarr! 😃 ) expecting a joke that was hard to get. You know, like the one where two vultures sit on a branch and one says to the other _“Patience my ass! I’m gonna kill something!”_ Now what am I gonna do? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2002, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/11 "2002-08-14T23:33:16Z")
I know, I was looking for something like that myself. (my own ‘duh’ joke story is when I was a little girl and found my dad’s _playboy_ mags, I’d look at them for the jokes, cartoons and stuff. Saw one with two people at a water cooler, one woman, curvacious, wearing a tight sweater type dress w/ her name “Betty” embroidered on it, top, left side, and the man says “That’s cute, what do you call the other one”. I kept that cartoon in my brain for _years_, and one day it popped back up to the forefront and I finally got it.) ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/12 "2002-08-15T04:25:21Z")
I didn’t think it was a joke. Edward Norton is just a really good actor. Remember that the two movies are separated by several years and many other roles for Norton, most of which did not include any suggestion of multiple personality and many of which did not feature violence. Incidentally, it’s always been a pet peeve of mine that with the advent of the movie version, the narrator character began being known as “Jack.” Ugh. I’ve always liked _Primal Fear_ for a few reasons. Not only does it feature Norton’s stellar performance, it’s the least irritating role I’ve ever seen Richard Gere in. And that Laura Linney is _hot_. **Frankd6** : Now this is a joke I’m not getting. Where is that line in _Fight Club_? ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Gretchen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Miss\_Gretchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Gretchen)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/13 "2002-08-15T04:56:39Z")
My delayed reaction joke, first overheard at about 5 or 6: Where does virgin wool come from? Ugly sheep! Just popped in my head for no apparent reason about 15 years later. I’m also curious about Frank6’s reference. And just to completely take this post off the rails and far from the actual OP, am I the only one who finds Edward Norton insanely hot? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/14 "2002-08-15T12:53:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KneadToKnow \* > \*\*I guess I’m just amused by the irony of it. It’s sort of like casting Clint Eastwood as the victim of vigilante justice. > \*\* Ever seen [Hang 'Em high](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0061747)? ---
**Author:** ![bafaa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@bafaa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bafaa)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/15 "2002-08-15T16:09:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by White Lightning \* > **And that Laura Linney is _hot_.** Oh yeah! Don’t what it is about her but I am totally smitten. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by White Lightning \* > \*\* > **Frankd6** : Now this is a joke I’m not getting. Where is that line in _Fight Club_? \*\* Wasn’t there a scene in _Fight Club_ where they are hitting golf balls? Ed Norton then does the classic Honeymooners bit where he addresses the ball. Hellloooo Ball! This is particularly funny because the Honeymooners character is also called Ed Norton. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/16 "2002-08-15T16:15:08Z")
My delayed reaction joke was from High School. (I’m embarassed to admit it, but it’s true.) Why was Custer’s grave white? Because the indians kept coming. Let’s just say I was a late bloomer. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/17 "2002-08-15T19:58:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \*\*bafaa \*\*\* > Wasn’t there a scene in _Fight Club_ where they are hitting golf balls? Ed Norton then does the classic Honeymooners bit where he addresses the ball. Hellloooo Ball! This is particularly funny because the Honeymooners character is also called Ed Norton. I thought of this, but there’s no dialogue in that scene – just the voiced-over narration: “At night Tyler and I were alone for a half mile in every direction.” Tyler giggles, but other than that they don’t speak. Maybe the joke still works and I just don’t really get it because I never watched the Honeymooners. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/18 "2002-08-16T03:42:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miss Gretchen \* > \*\*[snip] > And just to completely take this post off the rails and far from the actual OP, am I the only one who finds Edward Norton insanely hot? \*\* I’ll help hijack this thread by assuring you that you are not the only one. I honestly think he is an excellent actor but I have to really focus on the plot of any movie he is in because I get distracted by thinking “Dang! He is too sexy!”. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/19 "2002-08-16T07:39:32Z")
[continued hijacking] In the _Myth_ series of books, it took me about 6 months to suddenly get the pun behind the character that played Dragon Poker. The one who put mints in his starting pot… hence known as the Sen-Sen Ante Kid. Get it? I told my girlfriend just the other day about the pun in Harry Potter. Diagon Alley. Diagon-ally. Diagonally. Ahem. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-last-person-on-earth-to-get-this-joke/123861/20 "2002-08-16T07:59:59Z")
I trust you also told her about Knockturn Alley?