Comments on: Where did the punchline drum roll come from?

Question: Where did the punchline drum roll come from?

deshead — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 14:16:14 -0800

What's the origin of the drum roll, "ba-dum-bum-CHING", used by old-school comedians after a joke's punchline?

And is it "tom-tom-kick-crash", or just "tom-kick-crash"? I've heard it both ways.

By: milkrate

milkrate — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 14:20:09 -0800

I don't know the origin, but it's called a rimshot.

By: kenko

kenko — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 14:27:22 -0800

The "ching" part is a rimshot.

By: dash_slot-

dash_slot- — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 14:30:34 -0800

It's a verbalisation of the old vaudeville / musichall tradition of the percussionist making a drumroll+rimshot after the comic cracks a joke (and therefore a cue, for us in the audience, to laugh).

Still used today by Letterman & Paulie...

By: quadog

quadog — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 14:32:41 -0800

I've always heard it as "Ba Da Bing". Maybe I'm thinking of some mafia related thing.

By: Zed_Lopez

Zed_Lopez — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 14:32:55 -0800

Related AskMe

By: nebulawindphone

nebulawindphone — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 14:33:32 -0800

What dash_slot said. Think of it as doing the same job as a laugh track, back in an era when recorded laugh tracks weren't possible.

By: pmurray63

pmurray63 — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 14:34:05 -0800

I'd hazard a guess that its origins are in vaudeville -- having a drummer add a rimshot would seem to add a little extra oomph to make the joke go over better. Whereas in the modern era, I think it's usually meant with irony or sarcasm, or just a very self-aware "THERE'S THE PUNCHLINE!" kind of thing. Of course, I could be wrong.

On preview, dash_slot said it faster.

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 14:35:36 -0800

I've always heard it as "Ba Da Bing". Maybe I'm thinking of some mafia related thing.

Club Bada Bing? Bada Bing Bada Boom?

By: deshead

deshead — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 14:38:42 -0800

Ah, thanks dash_slot .. According to this page (and Zed_Lopez's AskMe link), it's called a "sting."

Hmmm, but that doesn't help Google settle the issue of how many beats there should be. Just a drummer's preference, maybe?

By: Witty

Witty — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 14:58:02 -0800

To expand on what milkrate is saying... the true definition of a rimshot, from a drummer's point-of-view anyway, is when the tip of the stick strikes the head of the drum (usually the snare drum) and the barrel or shoulder of the stick strikes the rim at the same time. It's usually quite loud and it obviously used for emphasis on that particular beat. The are other slight variations of this, but that's the commonly understood rimshot. FYI... that's all.

By: jjg

jjg — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 21:12:31 -0800

The "ching" is not necessarily a rimshot -- in fact, I think it's more often a crash cymbal. A rimshot is a very loud, jarring "crack!" noise, and not something you really want to subject an audience to over and over again.

My impression of the convention is that, in the old school, if the joke went over well (i.e., the audience was laughing), you got "ba dum bump crash". If the joke flopped, you got a rimshot at the end -- "ba dum bump thok!" -- and the audience would at least laugh at that.

I think it's four beats, deshead, tom-tom-kick-[crash/rimshot], although I've heard it abbreviated to three and even down to practically two, with the tom and the kick happening in very close succession.

Also, I don't think "ba da bing" has anything to do with any of this.

By: fletchmuy

fletchmuy — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 06:30:57 -0800

Is Anton Fig a MeFier? His expertise would be a godsend in this thread. He (with Dave's encouragement) has turned the rimshot into an art form.

By: deshead

deshead — Tue, 15 Feb 2005 13:42:14 -0800

Thanks for the idea, fletchmuy. I asked Anton on his message board, and he responded: I always thought the basic figure was a three beat figure - 2 sixteenths and a quarter note [the quarter note being the downbeat]. The 2 sixteenths are on the snare, the quarter note is bass drum and crash. Not technically official, but probably as close as I'll get.