Noah Smith gets paid to be an opinion columnist for Bloomberg, but if this hot take is any indication, maybe Bloomberg would be better off paying Smith to keep his opinions to himself:
The real joke of the SNL "more cowbell" skit is that there actually is no joke. It's not funny at all, and "more cowbell" has zero meaning or significance.
The actual humor is in watching people straining to understand the joke, or tricking themselves into thinking they get it.
— Noah Smith ? (@Noahpinion) April 25, 2019
In other words, the "more cowbell" skit is a demonstration that gaslighting has benign uses.
Simply insisting over and over that the skit contains an actual joke, until people question their sense of reality, is funny!
— Noah Smith ? (@Noahpinion) April 25, 2019
We don’t know, Noah. The fact that you’re apparently this confused by a pretty straightforward SNL skit might be the funniest thing of all.
Want me to explain the joke or no?
— M I K E (@ThoughtMarker) April 25, 2019
There is no joke
— Noah Smith ? (@Noahpinion) April 25, 2019
Oh dear.
This tweet needs more cowbell. https://t.co/8NDb0ige8i
— Carol Roth (@caroljsroth) April 25, 2019
Wait. He doesn't get that the joke is the song has a really loud cowbell in it? https://t.co/iIDR8UVyHp
— RBe (@RBPundit) April 25, 2019
Nope
— Carol Roth (@caroljsroth) April 25, 2019
I thought he was supposed to be one of the smart ones.
— RBe (@RBPundit) April 25, 2019
Maybe he should stick to what he knows and leave the complicated humor stuff to the experts.
"I don't get the joke, therefore there is no joke."
— C Tiberius Thomas (@CThomas66943369) April 25, 2019
The joke is that an extremely popular rock song very prominently features a cowbell, which most listeners do not notice. When people are made aware, the presence of nonstandard percussion in a familiar song creates humorous dissonance.
— Seth M. Miller (@SethMiller79) April 25, 2019
Joke type: absurdity
It’s absurd to focus on the story of the cowbell in the famous song when it’s not known for it, and it turns out everybody involved was absurdly interested in the cowbell at the end of the sketch
That’s the joke
— Jason Hitchcock (@JasonHitchcock) April 25, 2019
Absurdism is the basis of a huge fraction of comedy skits/jokes. To say that that means there “is no joke” is a really strange misunderstanding of how comedy works.
— Matt Birnbaum (@BirnbaumMatt) April 25, 2019
That’s a garbage take. Smh
— ProTip ? (@alt_localgov) April 25, 2019
You must be so fun at parties.
— Jeanine Curtis (@DjJetCityWoman) April 25, 2019
Wow.
This is a really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, bad take.
— Ben. No More, No Less. (@BJS_quire) April 25, 2019
This might be one of the dumbest things ever said by a really smart person.
— TheGiggingBassPlayer (@GiggingBass) April 25, 2019
I agree with 90% of what you say but this is possibly your all time worst take Noah
— “Nathan” (@nrbrn34) April 25, 2019
I love Noah, but is our solemn duty to ratio the hell out of this tweet.
— chairman meow (@i_am_puddle) April 25, 2019
— James Perkins (@jrperk21) April 25, 2019
This take is so wrong that it’s…still very wrong.
— Kevin Carey (@kevincarey1) April 25, 2019
— ?? The eyes of Fred are upon you (@fredontwittur) April 25, 2019