Who remembers an article about "The Paul Reiser Effect?"

February 28, 2008 10:49 AM

The Paul Reiser Effect -- Does anyone remember an article about this?

A long time ago I read on the internet an article about _something_ I don't even remember what, but the author talked about how a good joke can be really funny at first. Funny again on the second and third times. Not so funny and annoying the 4th - 6th times, but on the 7th utterance of the joke/story it becomes funny again which was dubbed something like "The Paul Reiser Effect."

My question is, does anyone remember reading this?? A bunch of my co-workers remember it, but for the life of me I cannot find it. I have searched 7 years worth of IRC logs and Google in several different ways and came up empty-handed.

I am looking for a link to the original article, or an archive.org link, anything!

posted by mrzer0 to writing & language (21 answers total)

in comedy writing, I've heard this referred to as "Stepping on Rakes," or something like that. This refers to the Simpsons episode where Sideshow Bob hits himself in the face with a truly absurd number of rakes.

I'm sure there are older names for the phenomenon though. I can't help specificially withe Paul Reiser thing though, sorry.
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:55 AM on February 28, 2008 [1 favorite]

Hah, well thanks for that bit of info drjimmy11, that certainly gives me something else to call this particular comedy situation. :)
posted by mrzer0 at 11:08 AM on February 28, 2008

It also is indirectly noted in the South Park episode "Cancelled", when Cartman farts every time Kyle goes to stick his finger in his ass (long story).
posted by loiseau at 11:13 AM on February 28, 2008

Many more examples (but not a specific citation as "The Paul Reiser Effect") at the TV Tropes entry for Overly Long Gag.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 11:20 AM on February 28, 2008

Family Guy is famous for this, too, where they take a joke so far past its original punchline that it becomes funny once again.
posted by nitsuj at 11:37 AM on February 28, 2008

[i]Family Guy is famous for this, too, where they take a joke so far past its original punchline that it becomes funny once again.[/]
Theoretically, at least.

I've read/discussed this effect lots of times, and the Sideshow Bob/rakes moment always comes up (the writers definitely brought it up during commentary to the episode, too). I've never once heard it associated with Paul Reiser, and can't recall anything from his career (the admittedly small part I'm familiar with) that fits. Any chance you got the comedian wrong?

Anyway, comedy writers definitely know about it, and there are defintely circles where it's even considered an overused trope and out of fashion.
posted by aswego at 11:55 AM on February 28, 2008

I've heard of Paul Reiser's Disease and Paul Reiser Syndrome but have never heard of a Paul Reiser Effect, which intimates that there might be the remotest possibility that Paul Reiser says funny things, which means that The Paul Reiser Effect is extremely suspect. Are you *sure* it's Paul Reiser and not some other incredibly unfunny comedian? Like Richard Lewis, because I always get those two mixed up so maybe you do too?
posted by iconomy at 11:57 AM on February 28, 2008

aswego:

I am 100% certain it is Paul Reiser because after the lot of us at work read that article we refer to it so much that it has been driven into the ground and back again. It is eating itself, so to speak just like our discussion about this particular phenomenon (not the discussion but the actual trope). Heh.

I cannot think of any one thing specific to Paul Reiser that would create such a label. If I were to guess, I think what the writer of the article was going for was that Paul Reiser's entire career is this. He was funny at first, then he was on TV and annoying, then he was off TV and he was funny again.

Or maybe it was his show period. The show was funny at first, then it wasn't, and towards the end it got funny again. I wish I remembered the context more clearly, the only thing I am 100% certain of is "The Paul Reiser Effect"

Also thanks everyone so far, I'm still hoping for someone to be like *PABT!* http://web.archive.org/..... ;-)
posted by mrzer0 at 12:03 PM on February 28, 2008

Evidently Mike Myers refers to this as "comedy torture."
posted by cerebus19 at 12:05 PM on February 28, 2008

iconomy:

Interesting... Disease & Syndrome, hmmmmm...

I can also see how it would be easy to mix up those two comedians. At some point in my life I may have done so, but I have been crystal clear on who they are/were for quite sometime now. If only because of Curb Your Enthusiasm. However I still stand by my 100% certainty of it being Paul Reiser. Thanks though!
posted by mrzer0 at 12:08 PM on February 28, 2008

How about Monty Python's "Johann Gambolputty" sketch, in which they repeated the absurdly long name of a German composer, again and again and again. This really pushes the limits of how many times you can repeat a joke before it becomes unfunny, in under 5 minutes.
posted by googly at 12:22 PM on February 28, 2008 [1 favorite]

I cannot think of any one thing specific to Paul Reiser that would create such a label.

Possibly the first quote listed for this episode. Although it's really quite short compared to some of the other instances cited in this thread. But yeah, I don't know that Reiser was particularly known for that sort of gag.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:50 PM on February 28, 2008

A long time ago I read on the internet an article about _something_ I don't even remember what, but the author talked about how a good joke can be really funny at first. Funny again on the second and third times. Not so funny and annoying the 4th - 6th times, but on the 7th utterance of the joke/story it becomes funny again which was dubbed something like "The Paul Reiser Effect."

I remember something similar. I don't think it was ever called the "Paul Reiser Effect", however, I think it was just something that Reiser noted in one of his routines.
posted by 23skidoo at 1:32 PM on February 28, 2008

My favorite example is The Story of The Story of Everest from Mr. Show. Though to be honest I laugh every time, even when I know it's coming and I swear I won't laugh again.

I think there is something subliminal magic that forces me to laugh.
posted by Mr. Ugh at 1:45 PM on February 28, 2008 [2 favorites]

Space Ghost Coast to Coast did this a lot, especially in the weird later episodes.
posted by roll truck roll at 3:17 PM on February 28, 2008

This is addressed specifically in Chris Turner's Planet Simpson, through reference to the long Sideshow-Bob-Stepping-on-Rakes bit in the episode "Cape Feare" (as referenced by drjimmy11). If I recall, he discusses the phenomenon over at least a couple of paragraphs.

(I just looked it up via Amazon's "search inside" and he addresses it on pages 59-60, and he doesn't offer much more than what you have here, though it might come up beyond what I can get via Search Inside. My copy is the book is a few hundred miles away at the moment.)
posted by synecdoche at 5:09 PM on February 28, 2008

Thanks everyone for your input! I have to admit to laughing at reading most of these gags, let alone seeing them performed! Good stuff. Throw the YouTube links in for good measure and you've got me rolling on the floor.

This truly is "comedy torture" that I can't remember anything about a story that has made me laugh to think about for years. The only thing I got out of it was "The Paul Reiser Effect" and now I'm not even certain that's right! Heh, oh well.

Comedy torture indeed.
posted by mrzer0 at 7:04 PM on February 28, 2008

23skidoo:

Holy Smokes! Now I'm wondering if I read something by Paul Reiser, this gives me something else to go on. I'm inclined to think you and I are close to being on the same page, even if thats not what you're getting at.
posted by mrzer0 at 7:08 PM on February 28, 2008

This is completely true. Also- a slight pause is funny. A long pause isn't. A really, really absurdly long pause is hillarious.
posted by thebrokenmuse at 9:57 PM on February 28, 2008

23skidoo:

Holy Smokes! Now I'm wondering if I read something by Paul Reiser, this gives me something else to go on. I'm inclined to think you and I are close to being on the same page, even if thats not what you're getting at.

If this helps, the other thing I remember about the bit (or possibly bit that was later turned into a written piece) was this story about how Reiser and a friend had concocted this comedy routine when he was a kid, for part of a school project. They were supposed to bring out this skeleton for part of it and Reiser was supposed to say "Ladies and gentlemen, Red Skelton". And they practice the whole routine, so that him and the other kid don't make any mistakes. When the time comes to say that line, Reiser changes it and says "Ladies and Gentlemen, Red Buttons." Which no one thinks is funny at all, except for his partner, who is rolling on the ground with laughter. And then Reiser says that these are the kinds of jokes that he likes to tell: ones that most people don't get, but that a select few think are absolutely hilarious.

Which is not at all how I would describe his comedy style, but it was in his bit, nonetheless.
posted by 23skidoo at 8:29 AM on February 29, 2008

Letterman does this as well... As he once put it, "If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing." Of course, some of these repetitions even begin to get on the nerves of the most loyal of fans.

One personal favorite was when each night would feature a segment called "Alan Kalter's Campaign Round-Up," with Dave introducing his announcer, promising the latest news of the 2000 presidential race. But instead, Alan would always burst into a roaring rendition of "Who Let the Dogs Out" as he walked off-stage. Eventually it got weirder and weirder, including a few times where he'd rip his shirt off while in a state of dementia. A similar segment can be found at YouTube (Kalter must be sporting the bloody lip because he got "beaten up" earlier in the show).
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 12:04 AM on March 1, 2008