Why the Awkward Humor on "The Office" Is Funny

[livewires4christ]

I hate when people say a show isn't funny because either it has one or two seasons that weren't as good as the other 7 or 8 or because the show didn't exactly go in a direction that the one veiwer wanted them to.

[HaydenCalhoun]

I never thought he would appear on bigthink...

[Conkyisaliveandwell]

stop praising ricky gervais, he is shite!

[Conkyisaliveandwell]

i gotta say something right now, im british myself and most of the british office is shite! the american version is MUCH funnier, because its much more laidback and just isnt as arrogant as the british version, it also involves a lot more physical comedy which our version lacks

[oBLACKIECHANoo]

I don't find it funny at all, the American or UK version. "Awkward humour" is not funny, it's just what it says, awkward.

[STATiSofVITALETHICS]

the office humor is satyr which is frightingly close to the truth

[EricRushOSU]

Why do his glasses sit an inch or two above his ear?

[bellatrixthechicken]

Tim and Eric, Awesome Show, Great Job!

[tehatemachine]

Office space movie > the office.

[howboutthisname]

Thumbs up, if you think "The Office" isn't funny.

[bensimps123]

when i read the title i thought ...no shit

[adamjimo]

yeeeah...where is the fucking camera..i badly badly badly need to look into it

[722Jeslek]

Big Stink

[tasidar25]

Because young people have no empathy...

[matafuckas]

i think the punch line is that dwight has his glasses set two inches higher than his ears.

[saykarpaudel]

big think?

[keewee1091]

Im the 99,999 view ;)

[Balla4life3]

he's absolutely correct!!!! go DWIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!

[InsertDeepLyrics]

Dammit, you did not help me. I thought I was going to be able to use this video to show my wife that yes, the Office, is funny, you just don't get it, but then you go and compare my humor level to that of a 12 year old.

True, perhaps, but she doesn't need that kind of ammunition.

Oh, and: 99,999th viewer!

[jddeitz2000]

@InsertDeepLyrics

Make her watch it from the first episode, in sequence. It worked for my wife and she hated the office.

[MichaelTheOliver]

Eh, a bit of an overreaching explanation. The Office's humor is straight forward double act - straight man/comic type thing.

[TheKingofthebox]

deepstory bro

[SerChade]

Trying to make a totally birdbrained show look good by expressing it with intelligent words... Right. You might as well have just sat there, holding up a sign that points to your glasses that says "the office" because the way you put them on pretty much sums up the whole show.

[allendaniel89]

Question. What kind of comedy is best?

[FPSStix]

Thumbs up if you skipped on Fred !!!!!!

[qazz11q]

if you leave it wont be funny

[jonk970]

why are the arms of his glasses up so high????

[Kornrox66613]

This show sucks. I can't even watch a whole episode.

[TheLegendTheDream88]

@Kornrox66613 troll much?

[Gatorsurfer1887]

@Kornrox66613 /opinion. No one Cares

[deacmod]

@Kornrox66613 you must be a retard then. youve got to have a brain to enjoy the office. especially the uk version

[afromime]

The Office was alright, but if you want to have awkward moments and laugh your ass off, and cry a little bit, watch Super. It's great.

[xITSDUCKYx]

not funny at all

[spacitydrummer4JC]

With Michael Scott it was funny. Now? Not so much.

[Kougeki1000]

They should have had Gervais or Merchant on instead, they're far better at awkward comedy than any of the cast members of the US version. At least they had Rainn on, he's by far the funniest person on the show.

[herringla]

John Cleese remarks on that being a real strategy on Fawlty Towers.

[RoboAddy]

Why aren't the arms of his glasses over his ears?

[BryanRiel]

I hate when people complain about which version of the Office is better. Everyone has a different sense of humor! NOW GET OVER IT!

[Theonegamefreak]

11 years old? What the.. no.

[TheEffinBongShow]

hahaha id love to have a camera to look at like "wtf?" thats great.

[comeoutstandout]

Trailer Park Boys Also did this very well.

[blazemanfoshizzle]

@comeoutstandout Trailer park boys is waaaay more funny than the fagget office

[theshortestpath]

@comeoutstandout Agreed! They are missed...

[Conkyisaliveandwell]

@comeoutstandout i know what u mean, sometimes ricky will say something completely idiotic and people will just look at him and think 'what the hell?' lol

[xxfisher321xx]

"7/10 attacks come from behind"

"What if I attack from the front"

"I have a chance of blocking or counteratt..." *slap

[TheVetobug]

this was so not funny

[MrYougotshot]

society is changing, as is what is and is not socially acceptable. therefore, those awkward moments when you do something (that because of social unacceptability) is embarrassing, people will laugh.

[BlitzNeko]

That color of comedy...... you mean lack of talent....

[Iggyinator]

I've been watching this since I was 8. I'm 13 now and this show is still the fucking best.

[cstalley]

He needs to wear his glasses up higher over his ears

[Berelore]

it's cause people who have been around long enough all know people or have been in the situations with people like those and no one wants to remember those people.

And yea the american office sucks

[preemptivestrike20]

@Berelore According to you it does. That doesn't count for much at all. 

[Uberschallknall]

Lol, I'm 13 and my entire class loves the show.

[mykalsc]

Another thing that makes the office so popular is the earnestness and sincerity of the characters. There's very little sarcasm in the office. And we love watching people be their authentic selves. For better or worse. Mix in their absurdity and quarks and it makes a great comedy.

[PunkChorus]

The origional is too dry, American version is much better.

[jallison71]

@PunkChorus thatsyouropinion.avi

[PunkChorus]

@jallison71 That is my opinion, isn't that what people generally post in comments?

[cinemar]

it's funny in the original office but not this crappy US version

[pcheyer]

I think he's right about the reaction being what's humorous. That's why I enjoyed Jerry's character in Seinfeld so much, because his reactions to the absurdity of the other characters were what was funny to me.

[serbin16m]

correction the office WAS funny

[973JJJ]

@serbin16m Why?

[973JJJ]

@serbin16m Why?

[watdoejebigtime]

dwight looks kinda gay here. he also reminds me of elton john. anywayz imo he's the funniest character from the office

[donchaknoweh]

this describes the office up until season 5.

[musicforchewfaygs]

behold, fishboy!

[GibsonMolosser]

well it hasnt been funny since season 5...What the fuck happened?

[chinamanspeakenlis]

@GibsonMolosser you've grown older.. :P

[manuelextreme]

i like the office because of that of the awkward humor, i think that if a show makes you feel that way then it fulfills its purpose... i dont know what does the age have to do with anything but im 19yo and this is my favorite comedy tv series i used to watch two and a half men and the big bang theory but they all seem dull and boring since i started watching the office

[LambOfMusic]

1:19

Stop. Hammer time.

[suckittwins]

how much make up is he wearing

[TheUberAtheist]

There's no awkward humour on your AWFUL show. And it's the most un-funny piece of shit out there. So I don't know WHAT the fuck he's talking about.

Stupid Americans.

[LucasRidesBikes]

@TheUberAtheist Why watch the video if you are going to hate on it? Because you were raised an asshole? Your name would make a few people mad, not myself particularly. So how about to leave an let people who like the show enjoy the video.

Stupid fucking British Assholes.

[IVIegadude]

@TheUberAtheist With this sort of emotional, baseless drivel, I'm SHOCKED you're not a creationist.

[flash348]

Shut up crime!

[mrObsessedwithmusic]

why is my comment always getting flagged for spam or removed. how am i spamming???

[skoockum]

It's humor of pure emotion, with no verbal or intellectual commentary whatsoever. Even the Stooges had more wit.

It's just one more way of dumbing down the nation.

[corncat]

"generational shift"? Seriously? These forms of humor have been around for as long as there have been actors.

[YeaThatsWhatSheSaid]

i'm 16 and still don't get it.

[skoockum]

@mrObsessedwithmusic "The Office requires intellect and there's no obvious/simple jokes."

But The Office never requires intellect. It's just a bunch of 5th graders making googly eyes at each other whenever somebody says something that's the least little bit out of "the norm". It leaves the audience with the feeling that being different is not just frowned upon, but the equivalent of social death. The implication is that having an original thought will get you ostracized.

[MrChefenstein]

@skoockum

[skoockum]

@MrChefenstein I can't disagree with that

[mrObsessedwithmusic]

@skoockum Ok that's an opinion. My post shouldn't be flagged as spam just because someone doesn't agree with it though. I was reiterating what rain was saying that the humor isn't so obvious and isn't presented as "set up punch line" ...there are few 'jokes' in the show and to get the laugh you have to understand the human reaction. If you don't like the show, you probably just don't appreciate that style of humor all together.

[skoockum]

@mrObsessedwithmusic "I was ... saying that the humor isn't so obvious"

OK, then for you the humor must not be obvious, but for myself, the humor is worse than obvious cuz it would have been obvious to me way the fuck back when I was 13 -- and still not funny.

[cero2515]

@skoockum but the sad thing is it probably will a lot of the time.

[skoockum]

@cero2515 ",,,it probably will a lot of the time."

Which is one more reason to hate the Office -- for encouraging stupidity.

I have a very low regard for another of Gervais' ideas -- that claptrap he has on the Sci -- it's the same childish horseshit aimed at the impressionable and the brainless.

[TheFinalGoose]

YOU DON'T BUT IN LINE!

[toasty303]

young people love it? wrong. i'm 18 and the office is probably the most boring show i've ever seen. i can't believe people look forward to watching it.

[TheUberAtheist]

@toasty303 EXACTLY!!!

[gobrazil12]

aka intelligent humor for kids

[ThemWildHorse]

one of my teachers look exactlly like him 

[DassWarcraft]

modern family's better

[desktorp]

I think it says a lot that they talk to all of these other celebrities about real shit.. often about philosophy.. and then this jerk swoops in to talk about the only thing he has going on; a shitty TV show. The show is not funny and should've been stopped a long time ago.

The only think awkward about the show is that the writers can't decide if they want to write a drama or a comedy. This is what happens to network shows.. it's a money train and this guy actually thinks he's funny.

[SoldierMedicDaniel97]

@desktorp he is funny though

[2007TypeR]

US Office is not that awkward in comparison to the original.

[jimbojamesIV]

I enjoy Rainn Wilson as much as the next person, but I don't agree, or understand, the distinction between someone's reaction and a set-up, or punch, line. They're the same except one is verbal and the other isn't.

[stickmantribe]

Less setup-setup-punchline

More setup-setup-.....

[Fatalfury1391]

Is it just me or does he look a little high... maybe I'm just saying that because I'm high.

[DaFunkmastaFresh]

Elton John's now on The Office?

[ItsMrQ]

Im all for awkward humor, and I think The Office is a great show, but get rid of Gabe. I hate his character.

[Decateron]

They're high on his head so that there isn't glare reflecting from his glasses into the camera.

[desktorp]

@Decateron Hollywood forbid the hipster retard REMOVE the dumbass looking things. Like he really needs to be able to see to give an interview. No instead.. let's look like a complete fucking moron by wearing my glasses all crooked. Hollywood thing, my foot.. it's called "stupid" ..

[TheAerosmither]

@Decateron you've got to be "high" to know the glasses were "high".

can you tell what's behind the white background?

[reesespeices100]

i love 99% of it. i cried when toby wasnt invited to the beach

[sgtclam]

And now I am going to go google Anton Chekhov

[SamTrombone88]

I think it's more that you laugh because someone else has demonstrated how not to act in a social situation, and younger people are more uncertain about social situations, so the humor comes from a) relief at discovering what not to do without personally suffering the embarrassment and b), the triumph of the relative shift in social status between themselves and the fictional character with whom they relate

[lithograph87]

why is he so orange?

[keenjerbear420]

guys is a genius

[ogonga94]

I'm a young person and I can confirm this.

[CorporalHotdogs]

TIL rainn wilson thinks his ears are 2 inches higher than they really are.

[syntallas]

Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica

[MrJugnoris]

Gervais!! 

[the1984olympics]

I can't stop looking at his glasses!

[MMusashi420]

Ummmm, he admits the Office isn't funny.....you don't say......

[ecmpave]

so weird to see him not as dwight

[zDJP0n3]

Americans: There's an English Office?!

[keza00]

Ron Paul 2012

[billytfix]

BRILLIANT! What he said about young people and chaos. Im 23 so i think i'm considered a young person. There are many instances on a weekly basis that I wish I could turn to the camera and be like "wtf?"

[kidmanburns]

i like this show. but curb your enthusiasm is the funniest awkward humour. Larry David and Ricky are good friends but i must say that Larry was around first. by around 10 years.

[ahosack]

I'm 21 and i fucking love the office. Michael Scott was the best character out of all of them. Jim's facial expressions are pretty OP too. Pam, Stanley, and Phyllis are really good supplements as well.

[Lostzilla847]

immature humor = immature viewers, there ya go

[bsapaka]

@Lostzilla847 not quite

[Lostzilla847]

@bsapaka pranks, obnoxious jokes, spontaneously cutting to singing, avoiding doing work to do something stupid, ridiculous romance storylines... sounds like a typical day in a immature person's life.

[swilson3d]

10-years-olds love The Office? Yeah, that sounds about right. I've been waiting for someone to explain why that show is funny.

- I'm still waiting.

[Sternertime]

@swilson3d because you fall into the category of viewers looking for "setup, setup, setup, punchline"

thats not real life dude, if yours is well good for you,have a pleasent time with that?

[teenwolftoo]

@Sternertime This show is hardly "real life" or a reasonable approximation of it either. Just because The Office winks at the audience and gives them a faux reality show setup that allows them to break the fourth wall and thusly normal comedic sitcom structure doesn't make the storylines and dialogue any less of a setup than average sitcoms. All you really have is a more organic form of the same formula. The exaggerated plots, characters, and jokes are no less formulaic or artificial though.

[ftlqed]

transference, disassociation, encapsulated power...you could just draw a picture of dinosaurs each in its own separate universe. But, you could only story board them until it made sense or promised something for nothing.

[jerantjor]

I think Adult Swim started to capitalize on the humor before the Office.

[coldlogic1]

those are some interesting thoughts

[sageSPH]

I'm sorry, Rainn, no one wrote comedy like Shakespeare.

[Simp44]

The Office is a comedy? I thought it was a really slow documentary. Seriously it is to comedy what Will Ferrell is to...comedy.

[reaperinred11]

@Simp44 its a fake documentary. thats the premise.

[Simp44]

@reaperinred11 Yeah...I get that...wow

[RESTxINxPIECEZ]

im 15 andi fucking love the office.

[dkenyeru88]

just seeing his face made me laugh!

[Leon2101]

dwight, you are an awesome character in the office!!

[marquezbayside]

Dwight!

[TG1212able]

Sounds like he is inadvertently saying 'young people can't empathize'.

[reaperinred11]

@TG1212able he saying young people recognize absurdity in reality. which is where humor comes from.

[Hellgrinder0]

@TG1212able no, I would take it the other way. That they empathize more then the last generation. That the reaction is similar to how they feel, making them feel similar to the show. They relate and understand more to the show then the last generation.

[ThwartedVillainy]

@TG1212able I think it's the opposite, though. I loved the original The Office because it seemed so utterly real and I could relate to all the characters in their flaws. So, although I cringed with their failures, I was also celebrating with their successes.

[B1aDK]

@TG1212able Empathy is exactly why people would get the "awkward-ness" feeling and find it funny?

[ZNel999]

@TG1212able I hear that he is inadvertently saying 'old people are un-accepting'.

[aliofisher]

i could watch these big thinks all day, all night...

[RespectYourViews]

1)In real life people laugh in awkward situations to relieve the tension. some people such as my myself don't feel at all like laughing when we're tense. We need to be at ease in order to find things funny.

2) I wonder if there's really a generational shift happening, or if preteens/teens/tweens have always been more amused by awkward humour, just as 3 yr olds are more likely to laugh at potty jokes.

[RespectYourViews]

@bagoty1011

The difference is that British awkward humour often overlaps with other forms of humour whereas the American version of the office is pretty much devoid of traditional jokes or gags.

[superclaydude]

This is such a great channel. Penn Jillette then Ricky Gervais then John Waters then Dwight Schrute. Every video is great food for thought.

[losackjl]

why are his glasses so high up on his head

[gtaylorjohnson]

@losackjl So they don't reflect the studio lights. If you tilt them down like that you can avoid the glare.

[texymex1]

@losackjl I think it's to avoid the reflection from the lights.

[arsonall1]

@losackjl its probably because the lights were reflecting into the camera. I've had to to this a few times taking pictures and filming interviews when in school.

[fokkenpoepol]

@losackjl So that the key light right in front of him won't reflect back into the camera.

[fatshadow92]

@losackjl Because that's how you're actually suppose to wear them.

[rhysmx182]

@losackjl maybe he is like me, and suffers from ear tenderness.. top of my ears get sore. so i chuck my glasses up like that for a bit

[BritishRobotSean]

@losackjl Because he wishes his ears were higher up. He's hoping his ears will float up right under them

[floofywhoodiddly]

@losackjl Swag

[flyyinmysoup]

@losackjl I didn't notice that at first so I had to replay it then I was like "ohh. yes they are" lol

[israelhill]

@losackjl They are tilted so they don't reflect the lighting and you are able to see his eyes.

[bassman615]

@losackjl I would guess its avoid his glasses reflecting in the shot.

[shad0wman]

@losackjl try it and u will understand

[TheDrunkenMantis]

@shad0wman Wow... feels good man