# 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:** 15
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)
#### Post date: [September 18, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/81 "2010-09-18T03:40:36Z")
Al’s MUSIC might not be the FUNNIEST thing, but he’s a damn talented musician, as is his band. I’m not a huge Weird Al fan because he makes me laugh, but because I really enjoy listening to his music. Infact, I haven’t been too fond of most of his parodies on the last couple of albums, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE his original songs, which more than make up for them. Genius in France, Hardware Store, Virus Alert, etc…why does he really need to keep giving away half of his album’s profits to royalties, when he can just keep doing originally penned releases?
However, he does some incredibly funny video work, which I think is where his real comedic genius is. [His fake interview with K-Fed](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yle5-eGBdkE) has me laughing in tears every time I watch it.
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [September 18, 2010, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/82 "2010-09-18T06:17:50Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#):
>
> Does Ray Stevens do parodies? I don’t recall any. As far as I know (as a former Ray Stevens fan) he just does originals. You may be conflating ‘parody’ and ‘novelty’.
Ray Stevens did do a style parody called [“I Need Your Help Barry Manilow,”](http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=43011673) which can stand alongside any of Weird Al’s. It had the same lush, piano-driven orchestrated arrangement as many a Manilow hit. The lyrics made references to Manilow’s beagle and to such songs as “Mandy,” “Can’t Smile Without You,” and “Weekend In New England.” The album it came from is called “The Feeling’s Not Right Again” and the cover was a knockoff of Manilow’s “Tryin’ To Get the Feeling.”
[Front cover](http://www.amiright.com/album-covers/images/album_Ray-Stevens-The-Feelings-Not-Right-Again.jpg)
[Rear cover](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NclP7k1bsSA/Sf9647Q7_sI/AAAAAAAAAi8/qHLVSmdETMY/S269/Mini-Museum-Misc-79.jpg)
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### Author:  [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)
#### Post date: [September 18, 2010, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/83 "2010-09-18T06:56:44Z")
I thought some of his parodies were quite funny, and most of them were very well done. Now, I may be wrong and might be thinking of any parody, at all, as being Weird Al, given a certain time frame.
Allan Sherman’s were the ones that left me cold. The only one I remember is his parody of Rag Mop, which consisted of spelling Ragg Mopp. His parody was Rat Fink, which consisted of spelling Rat Fink. Ha ha. Maybe he had one that was funny; obviously it tickled somebody’s funnybone.
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### Author:  [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)
#### Post date: [September 18, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/84 "2010-09-18T15:01:43Z")
I think I’d appreciate Allen Sherman’s music much better if it didn’t have all of that canned laughter in it. It’s as if he (or his producer) needed to TELL you when you’re supposed to laugh, like a cheesy sitcom.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [September 18, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/85 "2010-09-18T16:26:08Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#):
>
> I think he is loved for the following reasons:
>
> 1. As pointed out above, he’s a nice guy who is free of sex scandals and embarrassing gaffes. He lives to make people happy with his ridiculous songs. Therefore, he is protected and loved, or at least thought of fondly, by most people.
>
> 2. He produces good, clean, PG comedy in a world of shitty R-rated garbage.
>
> 3. He’s from the 80’s and, thus, has a nostalgia factor about him.
>
> 4. Some of his video are really well-made.
>
> Honestly, he really isn’t that funny or interesting, but people (including myself) still love him for the above reasons.
More or less true, but when I get a new Weird Al CD, I usually laugh at least once, and smile or grin numerous times. Funny- yes, but not _hilarious._
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### Author:  [@clarkstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clarkstar)
#### Post date: [September 18, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/86 "2010-09-18T22:06:23Z")
> [@Khadaji](#):
>
> In small doses a parody song sometimes makes me laugh. Now I’m so out of touch that I don’t know the song that he is parodying, so it is much less amusing.
i had never heard r kelly’s trapped in the closet before i watched the video for [trapped in the drive thru](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmGVYki-oyQ) but i still thought it was epic awesomeness 😃
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### Author:  [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/87 "2010-09-19T04:19:47Z")
> [@clarkstar](#):
>
> > [@Khadaji](#):
> >
> > In small doses a parody song sometimes makes me laugh. Now I’m so out of touch that I don’t know the song that he is parodying, so it is much less amusing.
>
> i had never heard r kelly’s trapped in the closet before i watched the video for [trapped in the drive thru](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmGVYki-oyQ) but i still thought it was epic awesomeness 😃
And believe it or not, that’s actually Al’s band sounding exactly like Led Zeppelin in the middle of that song. He asked Jimmy Page for permission to insert a sample of “Black Dog” into the song, and Page said, “No, but you’re welcome to play it yourself.”
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### Author:  [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/88 "2010-09-19T15:09:09Z")
Woah. Page ALLOWED Al to do that? He never allows anything.
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### Author:  [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)
#### Post date: [September 19, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/89 "2010-09-19T15:22:02Z")
Hear that OP? Yea verily, the **GODS OF ROCK THEMSELVES** HAVE SMILED UPON WEIRD AL. (cue “Black Dog”)
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### Author:  [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/90 "2010-09-20T14:23:22Z")
> [@cochrane](#):
>
> > [@CandidGamera](#):
> >
> > Does Ray Stevens do parodies? I don’t recall any. As far as I know (as a former Ray Stevens fan) he just does originals. You may be conflating ‘parody’ and ‘novelty’.
>
> Ray Stevens did do a style parody called [“I Need Your Help Barry Manilow,”](http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=43011673) which can stand alongside any of Weird Al’s. It had the same lush, piano-driven orchestrated arrangement as many a Manilow hit. The lyrics made references to Manilow’s beagle and to such songs as “Mandy,” “Can’t Smile Without You,” and “Weekend In New England.” The album it came from is called “The Feeling’s Not Right Again” and the cover was a knockoff of Manilow’s “Tryin’ To Get the Feeling.”
>
> [Front cover](http://www.amiright.com/album-covers/images/album_Ray-Stevens-The-Feelings-Not-Right-Again.jpg)
>
> [Rear cover](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_NclP7k1bsSA/Sf9647Q7_sI/AAAAAAAAAi8/qHLVSmdETMY/S269/Mini-Museum-Misc-79.jpg)
So that’s “No” then, on the parody thing, but a ‘yes, once’ on style parodies.
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### Author:  [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/91 "2010-09-20T18:20:34Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#):
>
> 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 did song parodies, he does song parodies… so it’s the same thing.
That’s like saying “I don’t know why LeBron James gets paid to play basketball, when I was 13 my friends and I would play basketball off the garage”. Umm, yeah… but none of the stuff you were making up was anywhere near as clever as _White and Nerdy._
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2010, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/92 "2010-09-20T19:06:44Z")
> [@clarkstar](#):
>
> i had never heard r kelly’s trapped in the closet before i watched the video for [trapped in the drive thru](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmGVYki-oyQ) but i still thought it was epic awesomeness 😃
So did my wife and I; we saw the video together, and it summed up our usual decision-making process about what to eat, and where.
We’d never heard of r kelly and didn’t know what was being parodied. But the song spoke for itself.
---
### Author:  [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)
#### Post date: [September 20, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/93 "2010-09-20T19:19:20Z")
> [@johnspartan](#):
>
> > [@woodstockbirdybird](#):
> >
> > 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 did song parodies, he does song parodies… so it’s the same thing.
>
> That’s like saying “I don’t know why LeBron James gets paid to play basketball, when I was 13 my friends and I would play basketball off the garage”. Umm, yeah… but none of the stuff you were making up was anywhere near as clever as _White and Nerdy._
Possibly not - it was almost 30 years ago, and I was a kid. But I’m fairly sure it was at least as clever as “Fat” or “Like A Surgeon”.
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### Author:  [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2010, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/94 "2010-09-21T13:44:43Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#):
>
> > [@johnspartan](#):
> >
> > I did song parodies, he does song parodies… so it’s the same thing.
> >
> > That’s like saying “I don’t know why LeBron James gets paid to play basketball, when I was 13 my friends and I would play basketball off the garage”. Umm, yeah… but none of the stuff you were making up was anywhere near as clever as _White and Nerdy._
>
> Possibly not - it was almost 30 years ago, and I was a kid. But I’m fairly sure it was at least as clever as “Fat” or “Like A Surgeon”.
I’m fairly sure it wasn’t. I bet I’m right. Whee! Debates are fun.
---
### Author:  [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)
#### Post date: [September 22, 2010, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-al-yankovic-isnt-funny/552300/95 "2010-09-22T09:57:18Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#):
>
> > [@clarkstar](#):
> >
> > i had never heard r kelly’s trapped in the closet before i watched the video for [trapped in the drive thru](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmGVYki-oyQ) but i still thought it was epic awesomeness 😃
>
> So did my wife and I; we saw the video together, and it summed up our usual decision-making process about what to eat, and where.
>
> We’d never heard of r kelly and didn’t know what was being parodied. But the song spoke for itself.
I’d never heard of the song being parodied either (although I was aware of the existence of R. Kelly but couldn’t actually name one of his songs), but yeah, _Trapped In The Drive-Thru_ was epically awesome because the subject itself (trying to work out what to have for dinner and all the complications that can arise from something as simple as visiting a drive-through takeaway) is something everyone can relate to and Weird Al made it funny.
So I agree, his work is far more nuanced and accessible than most other parody acts- and after all, if his stuff was so bad, how come he’s been around longer than some of the people he’s parodied?
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