# Weird Al Yankovic isn't funny
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 1, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300 "2010-09-01T19:37:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/1 "2010-09-01T19:37:49Z")
By all accounts, he appears to be a great guy, and I’m sure he’s a good musician. But I’ve always been baffled by the amount of love for Weird Al’s material. Even at 13 I was unimpressed, because my friends and I did song parodies all the time - we couldn’t believe somebody was getting paid for such nonsense.
I mean, really - song parodies? Besides the fact that once the novelty wears off (after the first listen), it’s just a sub-par version of a song that’s better produced, played and sung in its original form, it’s probably the most facile, juvenile form of comedy this side of a pie in the face. The only explanation I have for people’s attachment is nostalgia for when they were 10 and found this kind of shit hilarious.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/2 "2010-09-01T19:47:25Z")
I’ve never been impressed by Yankovic. Allan Sherman and Larry Siegel did it much better and funnier in the 1960s.
Yankovic’s parodies are really not all that clever and he’d far inferior to parodists who actually wrote music, like the Bonzo Dog Band, Tom Lehrer, and even the Harvard Lampoon.
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### Author:  [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/3 "2010-09-01T19:47:28Z")
I actually kind of agree. I find his method of rewriting lyrics to be getting a little tedious lately.
But!
His original songs are brilliant. _Dare to Be Stupid_, _UHF_, _The Night Santa Went Crazy_, _Hardware Store_, _Virus Alert_, _CNR_, and _Skipper Dan_ to name just a few are all good songs in their own right. While I agree it doesn’t take a whole lot of skill and effort to change lyrics into something goofy while keeping the music, his original songs show that he’s not only capable of writing decent music, but that he’s also able to do it in the style of other bands, which as far as I’m aware is a good deal harder than just rewriting lyrics.
Even in his parody songs, the ability of the band to recreate (and in some cases outdo) the original music is noteworthy, if about as much as any decent cover band.
What I really love, though, is his music videos. It saddens me that his latest videos have been mostly animation, though the JibJab ones are pretty good. The videos for _Fat_, _Eat It_, _It’s All About The Pentiums_, and _White and Nerdy_ (again, just to name a few) are hilarious as videos, not just songs.
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### Author:  [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/4 "2010-09-01T19:50:03Z")
Dude, his song parodies are maybe the least funny part of Weird Al. Many of his original songs are true gems; the best of his videos are chock full of sight gags; and his movie UHF is a comedy classic.
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### Author:  [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/5 "2010-09-01T19:56:09Z")
Eh, I find his original songs basically novelty tunes, as well, and was unimpressed by UHF. His sense of humor is maybe a little too slapstick for my tastes.
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### Author:  [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/6 "2010-09-01T20:01:45Z")
Oh, UHF is totally juvenile and very 80s goofball, but I find it funny.
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### Author:  [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/7 "2010-09-01T20:06:34Z")
I like him
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/8 "2010-09-01T20:07:53Z")
White and Nerdy is recent and is hilarious.
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/9 "2010-09-01T20:08:10Z")
I love his song parodies - not all of them, but I think Amish Paradise is fall-down funny, as well as White and Nerdy.
Humor, other than sexuality, is probably the most subjective thing in the world.
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### Author:  [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/10 "2010-09-01T20:11:12Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> White and Nerdy is recent and is hilarious.
It was. . . until every nerd in the world thought they were being soooo witty and amazing by posting it everywhere, quoting it constantly, and listening to it all the time.
Then it got obnoxious. Fast.
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### Author:  [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/11 "2010-09-01T20:13:23Z")
I mainly like it just for Donny Osmond dancing like a total goof in the background.
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### Author:  [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/12 "2010-09-01T20:26:00Z")
No matter how low I am feeling, _One of Those Days_ can almost always make me laugh.
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### Author:  [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/13 "2010-09-01T20:34:06Z")
Some of his stuff is funny. He’s just a fun easy going nerd, and that’s what gives him the extra boost he needs to be popular.
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### Author:  [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/14 "2010-09-01T20:34:45Z")
> [@Anaamika](#):
>
> I love his song parodies - not all of them, but I think Amish Paradise is fall-down funny, as well as White and Nerdy.
>
> Humor, other than sexuality, is probably the most subjective thing in the world.
Amish Paradise cracks me up every time I see it.
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### Author:  [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/15 "2010-09-01T20:43:47Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#):
>
> By all accounts, he appears to be a great guy
I had a blind date with him when I was 14 years old. He was 19. I think, at that, he had only written and performed _Another One Rides The Bus_ and was performing it live on the Dr. Demento show on Sunday nights on KMET, 94.7 in Los Angeles circa 1978. It was one of the creepiest experiences in my life and probably explains why I am so scarred…
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### Author:  [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/16 "2010-09-01T20:54:42Z")
[Smells Like Nirvana](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FklUAoZ6KxY) is classic.
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### Author:  [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/17 "2010-09-01T21:02:03Z")
White and Nerdy was very good hip hop. Seriously. Lyrically superior to the original Ridin’ Dirty: as a matter of fact, I hated Ridin’ Dirty but admitted it was catchy, so I was grateful the Weird Al version.
I have always like Weird Al. He is the sort of guy that you don’t follow…you just sort of jump in when he does something great, and then forget about him for another couple years.
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### Author:  [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/18 "2010-09-01T21:11:07Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#):
>
> > [@woodstockbirdybird](#):
> >
> > By all accounts, he appears to be a great guy
>
> I had a blind date with him when I was 14 years old. He was 19. I think, at that, he had only written and performed _Another One Rides The Bus_ and was performing it live on the Dr. Demento show on Sunday nights on KMET, 94.7 in Los Angeles circa 1978. It was one of the creepiest experiences in my life and probably explains why I am so scarred…
You’ve mentioned this a few times but never expanded on it. Why the fuck was a 19 year old man on a date with a 14 year old child?
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### Author:  [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/19 "2010-09-01T21:22:14Z")
Anyone who doubts the genius of Weird Al needs to listen to [Genius In France](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQTNBWIdLeI). You’ll never doubt again.
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### Author:  [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/20 "2010-09-01T21:29:37Z")
I like this [alternative video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yegUWbv6oyo) of White & Nerdy, starring Data.
Also, any Weird Al fan should check out the new movie about him: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcNuiri2dV0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcNuiri2dV0)
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