# Spontaneous witticisms that weren't really spontaneous **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 13, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370 "2019-11-13T16:34:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/21 "2019-11-14T01:09:23Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Not quite the same, but close. > > A friend went to see Rick Springfield in EFX multiple times. The first time, a woman from the audience got called on stage, and while there her phone rang. Rick talked to the surprised caller! Wow! > > The second time she saw the show, a woman got called on stage, and her phone rang. And Rick talked to the surprised caller. woot. > > The THIRD time…well, the charm had worn off. > > It wasn’t that my friend didn’t suspect the first time was a setup, even while it was happening. But how many people who went to the show went home thinking a real random person took a phone call while on stage with Rick as EFX? Probably a lot. While watching Sting is concert he surprised a guy there on his birthday by inviting him up and singing with him. Saw a youtube clip years later. Same guy, same song, different venue. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/22 "2019-11-14T01:14:03Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > Some friends of mine went to see a taping of “Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me” and came away very disappointed. They said that the folks on stage would pause, come back, and re-do jokes to have better timing, lines, etc. I’ve been to a taping of _Wait, Wait_ as well, and at least at that time, they went back and re-recorded lines they had flubbed the first time around and that sort of thing, but they always said the same thing as the original take. At least back then (This was back in the Carl Kasell days) they didn’t do anything I would describe as “redoing jokes”. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/23 "2019-11-14T03:13:04Z")
David Niven - I’m sure I’ve heard him say at least once on a talk show that while the streaking was real, he had planned his comment beforehand since streaking was all the rage at the time. I don’t know if he every mentioned what his comment would be if it was a female, whom were far less likely to streak. Robin Williams - A .150 batting average is too low, but I completely agree that he has a good number of misses in his comebacks and would make a poor commentator. IMO, a commentator should first be fluid in presenting what’s going on, and if they throw an ad-lib in, it should be forgotten by the next commentary. Otherwise it’s disruptive to the flow. Like Jonathan Winters and Rodney Dangerfield before him, his rapidfire style masks the number of clunkers given. I found his comedy routines funny at first, but can only take him a few minutes at a time now until my head spins. Whenever he was paired with Jonathan Winters, it was clear that they were more interested in entertaining each other more than the audience. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/24 "2019-11-14T03:31:12Z")
I have heard that there’s a stage light that explodes, _as if on cue_, at the same point at every KISS concert. I’m gonna guess it’s at the end of “Rock and Roll All Nite.” There’s a brilliant bit in Inherit the Wind where Brady, the William Jennings Bryan character, keeps rehearsing the “spontaneous” comment “I’m more interested in the Rock of Ages than in the age of rocks.” When he finally gets the chance to use the line, it falls flat. ---
**Author:** ![KellyCriterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@KellyCriterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyCriterion)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/25 "2019-11-14T03:56:08Z")
It’s amazing how the exact same dialogue can lose 99% of it’s humour if the listener knows it isn’t spontaneous. I always wondered if the “spontaneous” one liners on _Whose Line Is It Anyway_ were truly spontaneous, or pre-planned. I remember thinking how disappointed I’d be if I were to find out it was mostly pre-planned… Humour is deeply mysterious. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/26 "2019-11-14T04:15:30Z")
I don’t know how common this is on Western variety shows since I don’t watch them, but on some Korean shows, the cast and guests will say something they realize they shouldn’t have, then purposely swear to try and what have what they said previously cut out. Of course, it’s shown with the profanity bleeped out. Is it really spontaneous, who knows, but it’s really funny! ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/27 "2019-11-14T07:17:04Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > While watching Sting is concert he surprised a guy there on his birthday by inviting him up and singing with him. Saw a youtube clip years later. Same guy, same song, different venue. Amazing eh? What are the chances? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/28 "2019-11-14T09:28:47Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > I don’t know how common this is on Western variety shows since I don’t watch them, but on some Korean shows, the cast and guests will say something they realize they shouldn’t have, then purposely swear to try and what have what they said previously cut out. Of course, it’s shown with the profanity bleeped out. Is it really spontaneous, who knows, but it’s really funny! I have an “uncensored” DVD of a show I had previously seen on broadcast TV. It’s not as good as the broadcast version. Bleeps are funnier than profanity. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/29 "2019-11-14T11:11:46Z")
Speaking of “spontaneous” song participation in concerts, at the only time I’ve been able to catch My Chemical Romance, they had a young teenage girl come up and sing “Sing” and the story was that she was bullied in school and MCR really helped her make it through (I think, the memory is hazy). At the time I wondered if that really was her story (I was going to say “had been scripted” but it obviously was.). I decided it was most likely real because she was not a very good singer. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/30 "2019-11-14T13:05:41Z")
There was a lot of debate over whether _The Honeymooners_ episode where Ralph and Norton make a TV commercial had a spontaneous ending. In it, Ralph crashes over a false wall of pots and pans. Norton yells at the camera, “And now, back to Charlie Chan!” My opinion is that it was spontaneous. Art Carney reacted in a genuinely startled way when Gleason plowed into the wall and then rushed over as if to see if Jackie was hurt. The Chan line was professional genius in saving the scene. A lot of folks don’t think Carney was enough of an actor to deserve an Oscar for _Harry and Tonto_ but the man was one of the best. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/31 "2019-11-14T16:09:48Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > There was a lot of debate over whether _The Honeymooners_ episode where Ralph and Norton make a TV commercial had a spontaneous ending. In it, Ralph crashes over a false wall of pots and pans. Norton yells at the camera, “And now, back to Charlie Chan!” There was also an obvious ad lib by Jackie Gleason in that same episode. He’s holding the multi-purpose kitchen gadget that they’re advertising, and makes a gesture, and a part of gadget goes flying off. He retrieves it and then says to Norton “maybe we should say something about spear fishing”. Ok, it’s not a great line. Another example of Art Carney’s comedic brilliance – there was an episode (which I haven’t been able to locate on YouTube) where he walks into the Cramden’s apartment. Due to some miscue or something, the other actor who was supposed to be on stage wasn’t there, so Carney was on stage for a good 60 seconds, with no lines and nothing to do. He sauntered over to the refrigerator, found an old orange in it, took it over to the kitchen table and very entertainingly PEELED AN ORANGE for a minute. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/32 "2019-11-14T21:21:58Z")
One prime (time) example of this was Hollywood Squares. It was meant to feel like quick responses, but the guests were given the questions in advance to think up “spontaneous” jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/33 "2019-11-14T22:16:53Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Certainly at any Billy Joel concert I’ve been too, including earlier this year. Always his roadie “Chainsaw”. At least one time recently he had comedian Jim Breuer sing the song. > [@lingyi](#): > > David Niven - I’m sure I’ve heard him say at least once on a talk show that while the streaking was real, he had planned his comment beforehand since streaking was all the rage at the time. I don’t know if he every mentioned what his comment would be if it was a female, whom were far less likely to streak. > > Robin Williams - A .150 batting average is too low, but I completely agree that he has a good number of misses in his comebacks and would make a poor commentator. IMO, a commentator should first be fluid in presenting what’s going on, and if they throw an ad-lib in, it should be forgotten by the next commentary. Otherwise it’s disruptive to the flow. > > Like Jonathan Winters and Rodney Dangerfield before him, his rapidfire style masks the number of clunkers given. I found his comedy routines funny at first, but can only take him a few minutes at a time now until my head spins. Whenever he was paired with Jonathan Winters, it was clear that they were more interested in entertaining each other more than the audience. I was the same way with Williams early on. I loved his first stand up special. That might not be a good endorsement since I was young enough to really enjoy that there were naughty words. Later I realized I didn’t like much of what he did. He said things in a funny way much more often than he said funny things. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/34 "2019-11-14T23:29:35Z")
Years ago, I saw a comedian’s stand-up routine on some late night show and then later saw the same comedian elsewhere. The routine was almost the same. I learned that stand-up comedians develop a routine over time, practicing in smaller venues until it’s polished enough for television or another major venue. (Sometimes the routine ends with a reference to an joke from the beginning of the routine.) ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/35 "2019-11-14T23:59:08Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > There was also an obvious ad lib by Jackie Gleason in that same episode. He’s holding the multi-purpose kitchen gadget that they’re advertising, and makes a gesture, and a part of gadget goes flying off. He retrieves it and then says to Norton “maybe we should say something about spear fishing”. Ok, it’s not a great line. It wasn’t the greatest line, but Carney bounced yet another ad lib off it as Gleason struggled to put the gadget back together. “Get rid of the skate key there.” A slightly sharper line than ‘spearfishing’, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/36 "2019-11-15T00:52:10Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Years ago, I saw a comedian’s stand-up routine on some late night show and then later saw the same comedian elsewhere. The routine was almost the same. I learned that stand-up comedians develop a routine over time, practicing in smaller venues until it’s polished enough for television or another major venue. (Sometimes the routine ends with a reference to an joke from the beginning of the routine.) Pretty recently (I’m pretty sure within the last year) there was some comedian on some late night show that I had on in the background sitting with the host telling jokes, then they showed a clip from his new stand-up special–a clip where he was doing the exact same bit that he just did on the show. I’m sure that he was never claiming that the jokes he told on the talk show were spontaneous and new, but it was still awkward to have the recycling so blatantly displayed. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/37 "2019-11-15T01:13:32Z")
It’s not just comedians. It’s highly unlikely that an actor appearing on a talk show just happens to have an amusing story to tell in response to a random question asked by the host. I’m sure that in most cases, the actor and the host discussed it before the show and the host agreed to ask a question that would set up the story. And I’m sure in many cases, the story itself was invented by some writer rather than by the actor who delivered it. [Here’s some](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fbcpnmA9M0) [examples of](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYJrBDwta2U) [conversations](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Epez-jCTic) that I doubt very much were spontaneous. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/38 "2019-11-15T03:36:11Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > When Dennis Miller was on Monday Night Football, it was supposed to be that he would comment on the game naturally - he would make funny asides during the game because he was a naturally funny person. there’s always something you can spot, if you are a comedian. > > It became painfully obvious even on the first day that every “spontaneous witticism” was scripted, and was structured into the broadcast. Bad enough, but he did such a bad job of it, most fell flat. And there were only a set number every broadcast. It sucked, and he was soon gone. > > The idea was good - Robin Williams would have killed! But Mille was so bad at it -0 you could tell he was reading and not spontanousing. I remember back in 2009 when the WWE was doing the celebrity guest hosts for Monday Night Raw they had Dennis Miller on. He seemed so out of place and outdated; he also seemed condescending to the audience. It was just horrible all around. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/39 "2019-11-15T03:38:02Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It’s not just comedians. It’s highly unlikely that an actor appearing on a talk show just happens to have an amusing story to tell in response to a random question asked by the host. I’m sure that in most cases, the actor and the host discussed it before the show and the host agreed to ask a question that would set up the story. And I’m sure in many cases, the story itself was invented by some writer rather than by the actor who delivered it. > > [Here’s some](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fbcpnmA9M0) [examples of](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYJrBDwta2U) [conversations](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Epez-jCTic) that I doubt very much were spontaneous. Do the morning shows (_Today_,\* Good Morning America\*) “rehearse” their interviews with celebrities as well? I mean, they are supposedly “news” shows so you think they wouldn’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2019, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370/40 "2019-11-15T04:57:26Z")
Remember when Sacha Baron Cohen was doing his “Borat” bit? Every talk show he was on, he delivered exactly the same lines, just in different orders. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spontaneous-witticisms-that-werent-really-spontaneous/843370.md?page=3)