Why is the "funniest joke" of the Fringe always so lame?

[rogerzilla]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-66569215

This might be the worst yet.  Tim Vine won it for years with similar "dad jokes" 

[Jurek]

That's worse than my:
'Tiger Woods. It's no place for a picnic.'

[rogerzilla]

That's worse than my:
'Tiger Woods. It's no place for a picnic.'

[cygnet]

The construction of No.7 on that list has n[er]o redeeming features.

[rogerzilla]

No.9 would be quite good if I didn't know the history (it was the Cooperative Permanent).

[hellymedic]

Maybe the jokes are lame as Offence Must Be Avoided.
Broccoli was a problem not long ago.

[cygnet]

Have you got florets too? (2019)

[hellymedic]

 

[Peter]

Because most wannabe young stand-ups are not half as funny as their parents think they are.  Try 6.30pm weekdays on radio 4 for proof.

[ian]

Isn't the whining about the best joke in The Fringe actually part of The Fringe?

[citoyen]

I like the inflation one.

[robgul]

No.9 would be quite good if I didn't know the history (it was the Cooperative Permanent).

Didn't NWBS swallow up Anglia Building Society? - and local to me in the 1970s, the Shernhall Methodist BS (I had my first mortgage with them)

[citoyen]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-66569215

This might be the worst yet.  Tim Vine won it for years with similar "dad jokes" 

I’ve read that the joke a) has been misquoted, and b) loses a lot from being taken out of the context of the routine of which it is a part. It’s the punchline to a much longer joke.

But the people who run this poll need to reduce these things to one-liners for some reason.

[rogerzilla]

No.9 would be quite good if I didn't know the history (it was the Cooperative Permanent).

Didn't NWBS swallow up Anglia Building Society? - and local to me in the 1970s, the Shernhall Methodist BS (I had my first mortgage with them)

About 150 antecedents by merger, but Nationwide as it now is started as the Cooperative Permanent.

The oldest is apparently the Ramsbury BS, only a few miles from Swindon - although that ended up as part of the Portman, which Nationwide merged with in 2007.

[tiermat]

In answer tot he original question, it's the old adage that to be truly popular you have to be truly mediocre.

[citoyen]

In answer tot he original question, it's the old adage that to be truly popular you have to be truly mediocre.

An unfair and lazy assessment of this year's winner, based on a limited and inaccurate representation of her act.

[Nuncio]

I’ve read that the joke a) has been misquoted, and b) loses a lot from being taken out of the context of the routine of which it is a part. It’s the punchline to a much longer joke.

But the people who run this poll need to reduce these things to one-liners for some reason.

I thought critics sent the jokes to Dave who form a shortlist and put it out to a vote, so unless the shortlist included the full context 'joke' and it wasn't misquoted by them I still don't understand why that particular one was deemed the the best by those who voted. I know it's all subjective but that one doesn't seem to make sense to me.

Of course, most of the stand-ups at Edinburgh (and elsewhere) don't tell 'jokes' anyway, and you'd have to be exceptional (eg Tim Vine, Gary Delaney, Milton Jones) to get away with a set primarily consisting of one-liners.

[citoyen]

I thought critics sent the jokes to Dave who form a shortlist and put it out to a vote, so unless the shortlist included the full context 'joke' and it wasn't misquoted by them I still don't understand why that particular one was deemed the the best by those who voted. I know it's all subjective but that one doesn't seem to make sense to me.

Yes, it is a bit of a mystery.

My best guess is that the shortlist given to voters includes the full context of the joke but only the one-line versions are included in the press release that's sent out to journalists.

Of course, most of the stand-ups at Edinburgh (and elsewhere) don't tell 'jokes' anyway

Indeed.

Not to mention that there are other factors determining a joke's humour value too, such as where the joke is placed in the routine as a whole and the delivery.

These reductive lists are actually counter-productive because they only ever lead to the type of lazy reactions evident in this thread. 

[redshift]

Because most wannabe young stand-ups are not half as funny as their parents think they are.  Try 6.30pm weekdays on radio 4 for proof.

It's not the 6.30pm slot that bothers me - I'm usually making dinner - it's the 2245 to 2330 (or even as far as 0000) slot that I can't stand any more.  Shite books, unfunny people shouting ('cos shouting louder is funnier, yes?), drivel about ghost stories and the supernatural, unfunny politicians shouting at each other.

The problem with recycling podcasts is that there used to be an editorial process, whereas now they seem to just buy them in fully (badly) formed.  R4 is quickly becoming so irrelevant that nobody will now complain when they bin it.  Perhaps that's the point.

[Basil]

It's not the 6.30pm slot that bothers me - I'm usually making dinner - it's the 2245 to 2330 (or even as far as 0000) slot that I can't stand any more.  Shite books, unfunny people shouting ('cos shouting louder is funnier, yes?), drivel about ghost stories and the supernatural, unfunny politicians shouting at each other.

This. Yes absolutely this.

[Regulator]

I've stopped listening to Radio 4, having always had it on in the background since I was a teenager.  Over the last decade there has been a marked drift to the right editorially, and now the chaff/wheat ratio is too high for me to be bothered having it on.  If there are particular programmes I want listen to I'll download them... but those are few and far between these days.

[FifeingEejit]

The panel is Hitchcock

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu5g86nhWK4

[mrcharly-YHT]

I've stopped listening to Radio 4, having always had it on in the background since I was a teenager.  Over the last decade there has been a marked drift to the right editorially, and now the chaff/wheat ratio is too high for me to be bothered having it on.  If there are particular programmes I want listen to I'll download them... but those are few and far between these days.

I just listen to the podcasts on BBC sounds. Newscast, Americast, Ukraincast and most things with Marianna Spring.

[Legs]

The panel is Hitchcock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu5g86nhWK4

I've recently been listening to past episodes of ISIHAC on Youtube.
Just been delighted with this trio of Uxbridge English Dictionary gems from TB-T:

Perspire; how a cathedral builder gets paid.
Perverse; how a poet gets paid.
Perpetuate; how a chef in a Korean restaurant gets paid.

[cygnet]

A little bit of context, from 17m in. Abbreviated? Probably.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001ptgz