The
Funny 115 - version 2.0
#29.
Getting clotheslined by the clothesline
Samoa - episode 4
I swear to God, the "Shambo and the chickens" subplot in Samoa
is the pretty much the comedy gift that keeps on giving.
Seriously,
do you know how many Shambo/chicken entries I have had so far on the
Funny 115? I swear I must have written at least four or five
of
them already. And they weren't really all even the
same
entry either. What happens is that the minute the Galu tribe
wins chickens in episode four, funny things start to
happen
around the Galu camp. There is just something inherently
funny
about the combination of Shambo being an idiot, Galu having a bunch of
over the top wild cards, and chickens running around all willy
nilly like they are fricking Rupert in a candy store.
"Dots!!! They
have Dots!!!"
Well, my friends, I am proud to say that this is the last of the Shambo
and the chickens entries.
Oh,
it doesn't actually feature Shambo and the chickens. This is
just another one of those entries that crops up
because of
the legendary moment when Shambo met the chickens, and the chickens
were the smarter ones. Like I said, that little meeting of
the
minds was pretty much the Survivor comedy gift that kept on giving.
And out of all the greatness that eventually developed out of
it,
this one is the best..
This entry is short, sweet, and simple. But it almost made
the top 25 for a reason.
It is a personal favorite.
The Ultimate Warrior - clothesline enthusiast
Have
you ever watched professional wrestling and run across a wrestling term
called "a clothesline"? Well of course you have.
Come on,
we all know that more people watch pro wrestling these days than go to
church. Let's stop trying to kid ourselves.
However,
if you are living under a rock and have never actually heard the term
before, here is the definition of a "clothesline", as provided
by
the Oxford-English dictionary*:
* not true
Clothesline (noun): A
combat sports move
in which one person runs towards another and extends his/her arm out
from the side of the
body and parallel to the ground, hitting the
opponent in the neck or chest and knocking him/her over. See Foundation, Hart or
Brown, Chris.
Want a visual example of a clothesline? Well here
you go:
Why do you hate my trachea?
So
anyway, there you go. A clothesline is a move where some dude
gets blasted across the throat and knocked backwards.
Which leads us to one of the simplest and more pure moments on the
Funny 115.
Sit back, relax, and enjoy.
The comedy in this scene pretty much writes itself.
It is the fourth episode of Survivor: Samoa, and Father Erik Cardona is
spending the day saying blessings around camp Galu
Until? Tragedy strikes!
Brer Chicken just tricked Shambo via the old "Please don't throw me
into that wide open clearing" maneuver
"Shit! Why do I always fall for that?"
The very reverend Erik immediately springs into action. He
races across camp to go catch the rogue poultry
And luckily for us, we have Danger Dave Ball on hand to narrate the
action.
"So her and Erik go running around chasing it."
"And it's like Tweedledee and Tweedledum."
One of the Tweedles
And now, a Survivor moment I will always treasure.
Erik sneaks up on the chicken
And there he goes! He's making a break for freedom!
The Galus run after him
And here comes Erik! Entering from stage left! He
is running as fast as he can!
Only... uh oh... I don't think he sees that rope tied between two trees
right there...
Clotheslined!
He crashes to the ground
And rolls
Fail
And here is the magic in real time
Now,
on paper, this is just a quickie little slapstick moment like we have
seen hundreds of times before on Survivor. Some dude is
running,
he hits something, and he falls down. On paper, it is really
nothing special. On paper, this could have just been one of a
hundred moments of Bubba trying to pick up spaghetti with a spoon.
But
what sets this particular moment apart from the others, and what gives
it such a high entry on the Funny 115, is the comment that follows
immediately afterwards.
Yes, it is time to go back to Danger Dave Ball for the punchline.
You
see, only a man like Danger Dave would have been able to identify
ironic comedy serendipity when he sees it. Only a man like
Danger
Dave would have been able to put the awesomeness of this moment into
its proper comedic context.
So now, instead of me writing about it any further, I will just leave
it to the professional.
Dave Ball, was there something you particularly enjoyed about this
moment?
"Erik, he's runnin' after the chicken..."
(excitedly) "And he gets clotheslined."
(pause)
(giddily) "By the CLOTHESLINE!"
I
figured if there was one thing that could bring back the Danger Dave O
Face, it is somebody being clotheslined by the actual clothesline.