improv4humans with Matt Besser
Episode 105 — Zombie Lisp
By JulyDiaz, October 31, 2013 in improv4humans with Matt Besser
MichaelStanford 69
I figured, if I got mentioned on the show at all, Matt would make me out to be some kind of formerly bullied, oversensitive jerk.
And yet, here you are, totally not being oversensitive at all.
You're getting upset about someone's opinion on milk and posters. Chill out.
I also figured I'd be misrepresented, which I was -- I had more to say than the single message Thomas read on the air, plus Thomas and I had a brief conversation via private message that further clarified where I was coming from. When Thomas asked me to be on the show, I said no not because I was afraid of being bullied, but because I can't recall a single listener/Twitter follower who's been brought on as a guest who hasn't been, on some level, belittled or shouted at. And I have better things to do with my time than be a punching-bag for Matt.
So let me get this straight - you were afraid that you'd be misrepresented, so to combat that you chose not to represent yourself?
It's hard to feel sorry for you. You were given the opportunity to have a discussion, and instead chose to take the internet equivalent of 'talking about him behind his back' by bitching on the forums.
I don't believe Matt is guilty of bullying anyone. I believe you're guilty of being offended on behalf of someone who wasn't.
They're two hot babes wrestling in a kiddie pool full of jello, and you're a strict Protestant referee with a thousand PSI asshole.
Again - chill the f out.
But I called it -- weeks ago, I'd said this to Thomas in a private message:
Anyway, can't wait to hear Matt spin this as me being a coward who was afraid of a little shouting!
Where was the spin? It seems like that's exactly why you didn't do it.
You chose to circumvent the accountability of conversation and post on the forums instead.
Let's rephrase that.
You chose to talk about Matt instead of to Matt.
Talking about someone is something that a bully would do.
I also definitely believe that you were afraid to talk to Matt. Not because of a little shouting, but because you know you don't have a defensible position. Thomas didn't feel bullied, and you were upset on his behalf. There's really no argument to be made - your platform has no legs. You simply can't defend something that you can't defend, and you were afraid of that.
But let's use your words.
And I have better things to do with my time than be a punching-bag for Matt.
You have 'better things to do with your time' than to defend something for which you pretend to have conviction?
If you're so 'anti-bullying' to the point where gentle ribbing about milk-drinking sends you into an internet rage, then I'd think you'd have more passion about it. You'd want to spread your anti-bullying message on as many mediums as possible.
But you claim to have no time for that. More to the point, you claim to have no time for Matt. As if you're above him somehow. As if he isn't worth your time at all.
My point here is that one of 3 things is true -
1) You're actually a bully yourself. You talk about people behind their backs and don't burden yourself with the responsibility of accountability, and you look down upon them as if they are inferior.
2) You actually couldn't care less about bullying. Your lack of conviction is pretty glaring even though you continue to pretend to be upset about silly things like "someone's opinion on posters". It's all a show, and you're milking this attention as much as you can.
3) You had a knee-jerk reaction to misinterpreted comedy and you're afraid to admit it.
Whatever it is, man, one thing's for sure.
You need to chill out.
greggy 15905
rillist thing runnin
Location: @TheGreggiest
Thomas is among the strongest best men on this crazy f*ckd up planet, he has a mighty head mussle engorged with the power of scientifically calculated calorie rich fluids, if anyone could stand up to matt if he felt he was getting bullied it would be my hero thomas
tortoisebeats 113
Goddamn City Slicker
I figured, if I got mentioned on the show at all, Matt would make me out to be some kind of formerly bullied, oversensitive jerk. I also figured I'd be misrepresented, which I was -- I had more to say than the single message Thomas read on the air, plus Thomas and I had a brief conversation via private message that further clarified where I was coming from. When Thomas asked me to be on the show, I said no not because I was afraid of being bullied, but because I can't recall a single listener/Twitter follower who's been brought on as a guest who hasn't been, on some level, belittled or shouted at. And I have better things to do with my time than be a punching-bag for Matt.
I read your single other post if thats what you are referring to. It basically ignored what another poster was saying and its clear you missed the point. I'll requote him if that helps.
There's a big difference between bullying and giving someone a hard time, especially when it's clearly in good fun. The only other time we have heard about it was last week and there was more context. It isn't that drinking milk is strange, Matt thinks it's odd that a grown man often goes to a convenience store specifically to buy a gallon jug of milk that he drinks from. We found out this episode that he(Thomas?) goes to this store enough that the staff recognizes him. If you listen to enough of the I4H episodes, the interns job is supply material for the show. If that material happens to come from the odd behavior they exhibit, so what?
Again, what Matt and the other improv folks do is pick up on quirky situations from real life and expand on it. Sure Matt can be pretty bombastic about it, but if you noticed in that scene every other guest laughed at the same time when Thomas talked about drinking milk out of a gallon. Matt wasn't bullying Thomas about drinking milk, Thomas drinking milk out of gallons is a weird thing. Not weird in a bad way, more in a unique situation way that improv can be built up around. I can give you countless of examples off the top of my head.
Andy Daly reads a message from his mom where she says "did you know the desert has sand just like the beach?"
Danielle Schneider talks about a "crabtini" which is crabmeat and old bay seasoning in a martini glass with alcohol
Youtube video of preachers that think homosexuals "eat da poo poo"
Ben Schwartz seeing homeless people digging through garbage 2 at a time, where the 2nd one digs through the remains the first one didn't want
Tim Meadows thinking he saw a ghost of Edgar Allen Poe
Charlie Sanders fighting for parking with Martin Landau
Horatio Sanz working at a barbershop with a gloryhole
Let me try to explain it in a different way and I'm assuming you are a CBB fan because of the name Hotdog. I think whats happened here is similar to when you recommend an episode of CBB to someone who has never heard it before. If you listen to episodes with a guest Scott is close to, you can hear the playful dismissiveness that goes between one another, but people unaccustomed person might think Scott is a total weirdo who is being an ass to his guests.
TL;DR You are completely missing what happened in the context of this podcast
poorpete 9
I know Matt has had on a previous bully-expert, but since this keeps coming up, I'd recommend trying to get Emily Bazelon of Slate's Political Gabfest podcast and author of 'Sticks and Stones," a best-selling book on bullying. http://emilybazelon.com/books/sticks-and-stones/
Fantastical 14
Sorry to bump an old thread, but I think this episode has one of the funniest scenes of the podcast. The scene where Eugene and Pam are listening to the radio while a disaster is happening is hilarious. He keeps changing the channel as the disaster escalates. So good!
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