Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Comic 920: Randy Is So Very Alone

youtube parties

[Comic title: YouTube Parties; alt text: This reminds me of that video where ... no? How have you not seen that? Oh man, let me find it. No, it's ok, we can go back to your video later.]

Randy, I am saying this as a friend: under no circumstances is it acceptable to acknowledge that you think YouTube parties are a thing with a sufficiently large following that you can just casually mention them on your illustrated picto-blag. Do you know what the problem with YouTube parties actually is? THEY ARE FUCKING TERRIBLE.

This comic is nothing more than a trite observation. I'm pretty sure about ninety-five percent of all jokes that have ever been told have been a variation of this one: "man I hate how when you're [talking to people/showing people YouTube videos] they're just waiting for their turn to [talk/show YouTube videos]." Well done, Randy, you've uncovered the universal human truth that people think that they are brilliant and dazzling, but really everyone else is too busy thinking they are brilliant to even notice that you're talking. (A very Randallian trait, but I digress.)

Apart from that, though, this comic is a real shocker--not because of its content, but because Randy, for the first time in ever, has made a post acknowledging that he didn't do the joke first. (Don't read the comments on that post. They are depressing.) He has a long history of making jokes which are worryingly similar to other comics, or very recent and highly popular Reddit threads, etc. It's always a comic that we know Randy reads, or Reddit, which is second only to Wikipedia as a substitution for ideas for darling Randall. And this is the internet. I'd be very surprised if every time this happens, Randy hasn't gotten emails noting the similarity.

So why has he suddenly decided to start noting when he accidentally ripped something off? I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and suggest that maybe he's turning over a new leaf and has decided to start doing the classy thing and say "from now on, just like every other webcomics person out there, when a similarity occurs between something I write and something someone else does, I will be cool about it and mention it with a link, instead of pretending it never happened." So let's keep an eye out for more of these. Maybe with time and dedication Randy will become a vaguely acceptable human being.

74 comments:

  1. okay okay okay okay

    okay

    he makes a bad webcomic

    how does that = unacceptable human being

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  2. he doesn't, being a douche makes him an unacceptable human being. see paragraph in which i call him an unacceptable human being for context w/r/t his doucheyness

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  3. sorry that should be "it doesn't"

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  4. Randall am douchiness.

    Also, I should have listened to you to not read the comments. I wonder how sharp the knives are in my kitchen...

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  5. it's tough, isn't it? if I don't mention the comments, then people won't wonder what's so awful about them to make me warn people off about them. but if I don't mention them, people won't know that terrible things lurk beyond the link...

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  6. the problem with youtube parties: everyone is annoyed they have to be part of a contrived social gathering, just in the service of telling a joke that's not even very funny in the first place.

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  7. if i weren't lazy i'd remake the comic w/that caption. thought bubbles would read 'o god why did i ever try out for XKCD' or something similar/funnier

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  8. Ohmygod, why didn't I listen to you? They're honestly downright terrible.

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  9. Of all the webcomics to say of, "yep, I stole a joke," you credit FREAKING DOGHOUSE DIARIES??? Really?

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  10. "If a billion Internet cartoonist created enough comics, given enough time, I’d still lay odds you come up with a higher percentage of original ideas than 99.7% of the rest."

    Yep, sounds about right.

    CAPTCHA: pooffedr. Pooffedr? I 'ardly knew 'r!

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  11. BROS BLOBERT VERSUS ROBERT WHO IS FATTER AND WHY? DISCUSS LOLOLOOLOLOLLO!!

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  12. I theorize that Randy gave credit on this one and not others because he doesn't feel any guilt about this one. If he actually didn't intend to rip off Doghouse Diaries, he can post saying it was an honest mistake because it was. In the other situations, he knew good and well that he was ripping off other popular webcomics, which caused him to feel peripherally guilty. This guilt made it impossible for him to handwave it nonchalantly.

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  13. I didn't mind 921, I guess, but did it really need that many panels? The joke isn't exactly genius material!

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  14. Anon 12:40 + Anon 6:54 = samefag

    Wait for it!

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  15. New one is banal, shit, boring.

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  16. "Hey no big deal. Just a fluke of the universe. In 900+ comics you’re bound to copy someone."

    Hahaha. Yeah, it is a certainty

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  17. Did the guy leave a note for his own package? The figure is wearing a hood so I don't think it's the UPS guy (THANKS FOR THE CLEAR ART RANDALL), but that makes no fucking sense. If it were the UPS guy it would make sense, just be dull.

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  18. @1:56

    The hooded elf that was bringing the fellow his newly-reforged sword knocked on the door and didn't get a response so he stuck another collection note on the door over the original UPS one that was there.

    It's not a very clever joke but I didn't see it coming, at least.

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  19. I think I'm going to quit my job and live in the streets until Randall Munroe no longer has any followers.

    I'm sure there's an e-diagnosis to describe feeling the world so unreasonable that it's no longer worth taking part in. So, diagnose me.

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  20. Depression? If it is so, it is probably not xkcd's fault. Go se a doctor, depression is a real disease and you can get cured.

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  21. So today's comic took me about 10 minutes and reading others' comments to understand. Does that make me an idiot, or xkcd an awfully set out comic?
    I didn't realise he had those notices on his door, probably because I read these comics casually (to mock later) and don't look for every little detail. It then follows that I missed the fact he had 2 on his door in the last panel. But as soon as it was pointed out to me, I guess the joke makes sense. Except explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog, no one really cares and it dies in the process. So perhaps if he's made the key points of this comic more obvious, it had the potential to be slightly amusing.
    Also, I got confused how someone going to the UPS building required elves to forge a sword, so I had no idea this sword was meant for him. In fact I thought this was leading to a series of comics about his quest and him opening the door at the end to the elf was something of a cliffhanger. Okay I've explained enough why I'm an idiot now.

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  22. I'm pretty sure this comic is supposed to be about Rob. He is implied to be so lazy and fat, that he stays home all day and doesn't even bother to open the door when his package arrives. He is also portrayed as the stereotypical nerd who jerks off to fantasy novels. Clearly, this is a declaration of war against xkcdsucks.

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  23. I laughed at 921...... I don't.... I don't know what to do.....

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  24. Timofei: hence that otherwise inexplicable "Sucks" in panel 3. Randall is squaring up to us saying "Your move, Sucks. Your move".

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  25. I think y'all are retarded for treating the concepts of "youtube party" and "social gathering in which people decide to show youtube videos" as distinct.

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  26. Here's my weak ass attempt at salvaging what little humor can be extracted from 921.

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  27. That is actually much better, 5:52, well done.

    By the way, I noticed that the announcement at the top of the page says "New blog post: Family Illness". So is he not calling it a "blag" anymore? Or just not when there's serious news?

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  28. I don't get it - was he waiting for a laptop or a sword? He says sword in the first panel then starts going on about a fucking sword which gets delivered.

    I. Don't. Get. It.

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  29. Also any word on why Randall disowned the fora?

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  30. Err, he says 'laptop' in the first panel. Not coffee make brain work no yet.

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  31. Outta my mind on a Saturday night
    1970 rollin' in sight
    Radio burnin' up above
    Beautiful baby, be my love

    All night till I blow away
    All night till I blow away
    I feel alright, I feel alright

    Baby oh baby, burn my heart
    Baby oh baby, burn my heart
    Fall apart babe, fall apart
    Baby oh baby, burn my heart

    All night till I blow away
    All night till I blow away

    I feel alright
    I feel alright

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  32. I love how he's using his laptop to see where his laptop is. Because he's waiting for his laptop, but not the one he's using. Another one. That's also his laptop.

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  33. I thought XKCD921 was kind of entertaining. I laughed maybe once.

    Anon552: That is terrible. Congratulations on making XKCD less funny -- that is a talent.

    Captcha: restical.

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  34. Also, everyone here is an idiot. EVERYONE.

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  35. Ravenzomg: sorry, I removed the Star Wars reference. I know how much you like that shit.

    Seriously though, it is better than the original, because it removes the crap, and makes it a simple joke about how the guy won't shut the fuck up and misses his package again. It's also a commentary on Randall's overuse of speech. It is sheer brilliance, and I should know, being its brilliant creator.

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  36. Anon 12:40 + Anon 6:54 = samefag

    I love brick jokes.

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  37. Anon at 6:21 isn't. Fun House is a fucking incredible album.

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  38. The latest xkcd isn't bad. This is the first time in quite a while I've been able to truthfully say that. It didn't make me crack a smile, but it was worth reading.

    I didn't get it until I read the first part of the alt text. At first I thought the hooded figure was our hero knocking on the UPS door.

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  39. "Also, everyone here is an idiot. EVERYONE."

    :( :( :(

    :'(

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  40. @cptnoremac, I found the same problem too. The context wasn't entirely clear from the start. Anyone who didn't read 'Delivery Notification' as the title, would find it hard to understand from the start.
    @Anons 12:40 and 6:54, that's an awful long time to wait just to link to TVTropes.

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  41. 921 is good for what it is.

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  42. Kudos Anon 12:40/6:54. That was pretty awesome

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  43. yeah, it's good at being an utter shit comic

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  44. Anon522: Don't listen to Raven. She's wrong. Your edit fixes the two major problems with the strip (wordiness and an ambiguous punchline), and I actually ended up posting it on my review of 921. It's a good edit.

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  45. Surely you're not going to take that sort of crap, Raven? Especially when you're right for once?

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  46. I would usually jump in and defend Raven here, but bitch called me an idiot so sod that

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  47. Gamer is right. The lord of the rings bit made no real sense at all... really shoe horned in.

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  48. Anon522's edit is different from, but equally as amusing as the original. It would be perfect for xkcd: Could Be Better.

    Does anyone even update that anymore? I never check.

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  49. Anon 8:22 is 12:40/6:54, as it was the stupidest, easiest "trick" one could do.

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  50. Also doesn't qualify as a brick joke, because he said, "Wait for it," indicating what his action would be. A brick joke is supposed to be a line that seems like a nonsequitur until a much later joke incorporates it long after everyone has forgotten about it. It was fairly obvious what you had set up and what you would do, and so it doesn't qualify as anything but idiotic.

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  51. Non-Anon, are you available?

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  52. Anon652: I don't think you understand how those delivery slips work. That, or you're too slow to understand the original comic. Maybe both.

    You know what, scratch that. Your major problem is that you don't understand what it means to edit a comic -- a proper editor would leave the original artist's style intact.

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  53. That wasn't a brick joke, Gamer. That was a reference to an in-joke that was completed long ago.

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  54. Speaking of references completed long ago, check out the second half of raven's most recent post.

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  55. GOOMH Randy, I too remember Lord of the Rings!

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  56. Ravenzomg: that's true, unlike the USPS, UPS doesn't re-attempt delivery, so it is not strictly accurate. Still better than the original.

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  57. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynXKdM5aUJ0

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  58. UPS will attempt delivery three times before giving up.

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  59. That's what she: I guess I'm confused then why Ravenzomg claimed I didn't understand how those delivery slips work...

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  60. Why does nobody go on xkcdsucks reboot anymore?

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  61. I commend what Raven is attempting to do with the second half of her most recent post, and wish the effort luck. As everyone knows, editors exist only to fix spelling errors and correct grammar. The comic is lessened by any change to structure or wording, since this destroys the very thing which makes it 'art'. And XKCD is art, my friends. Art which sucks.

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  62. Guys guys guys, this is frigging amazing!

    Randall's profile on Google+

    Choice quotes:

    "Her immune system analyzes it for pathogens, and the next day she produces breast milk specially tailored to kill whatever the baby was crawling around in the day before."

    "Q: Why did Douglas Hofstadter cross the road?
    A: To make this joke possible."

    "Sure, someone's gender is usually obvious from their name, but there's no need to force people to draw extra attention to it—introducing myself with "Hi, I'm Randall." sends a different message from "Hi, I'm Randall, and I'm a MAN."

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  63. randall makes our job too easy

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  64. "It is ironic because my whole life I have felt uncomfortable with the nerd culture that centers on computers. I always hope my writings will resonate with people who love literature, art, and music. But instead, a large fraction of my audience seems to be those who are fascinated by technology and who assume that I am, too."
    -Douglas Hofstadter

    Also Randall is not an androgynous name, just kind of an ugly one

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  65. From here:

    "Pulitzer Prize-winning author and academic Douglas Hofstadter told the New York Times of his Wikipedia entry, "[it] is filled with inaccuracies, and it kind of depresses me." When asked why he didn't fix it, he replied, "The next day someone will fix it back.""

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  66. NON GENDER SPECIFIC PERSONJuly 7, 2011 at 5:37 PM

    https://plus.google.com/111588569124648292310/posts/SeBqgN9Zoiu

    jesus christ what a faggot

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  67. Oh Randall.

    http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/internet_white_knight_colored_4350.jpg

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  68. Wait. How can the WHITE knight be COLORED?

    Which fountain does he use?

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  69. It's like Randall is deliberately confirming every single slur xkcdsucks has ever made against his character, even the ones that were less serious.

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  70. It doesn't bug me so much that Randall is saying idiot things like that; after all, there's no shortage of stupid people on the internet. What bothers me is that people, including the Google people, are taking him seriously.

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  71. cisnormatize or shut up, amirite

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