After brunch, family and friends were gathered around looking for entertainment. Perfect time for an ITYSL sketch. Based on past experiences, other than a few, most people don’t get/like I Think You Should Leave. They find it…stupid. I put on 2 sketches from The Characters that I thought had potential and both bombed miserably. We’re talking 2-3 minute skits and it was like we were watching a beheading video. The group was not impressed.

I gave one more try and they found minor amusement in the Day Robert Palins Murdered Me. In hindsight, I should have gone Zipline.

Which made me wonder how can I enjoy it so much and others don’t find the humor? I arrived at a simple answer which starts before the episode even begins. It’s an advanced level of humor. When people want to laugh, they want instant gratification like a fart at the wrong time. That’s funny. When you see The Driving Crooner, you’re confused. In order to like ITYSL, you need to suspend reality and bring yourself in the sketch. You need to be the character. When you don’t take that advanced step of being the character, you’re not going to get it.

Bud and I were talking a bit and he was commenting that the more he watched them, the better they get. This is mainly because you’re not watching it for the first time trying to understand the plot, you’re watching it to see why it’s funny. They’re all trying to be funny based on the premise. Even the ghost of Christmas of past battling the robots of the future is trying with that concept. It just wasn’t funny. Same with the Metal Maniac zipping around and being the slowest. The idea of the episode is expounding on what is supposed to be funny. Bud brought up that he didn’t like the Caleb Went one. When you step back and think of it like, Tim is this guy’s biggest fan who happens to choke, and then do his very best not to let on he’s choking, it’s comedy. I’m a big fan of “poppers” and this line.

When people don’t like the Pointer Brothers, they’re missing the very first joke which is the Pointer Brothers. Some would look at that and say this is stupid. Others laugh because it’s a group who literally points at people in a room full of a thousand people with no concept of how you can actually point at everyone (or how they are even an act). The inner turmoil of the group is what makes it all the better. Which leaves a funny sketch even if I’ve seen it 17 times. The 18th though…