1. “Pony Tales” segment from Kroll Show
2. Kroll, Nick. “Pony Tales.” Kroll Show. Comedy Central, 2013. Comedy Central. Web. 19 January 2016.
3. I started watching Kroll Show not too long after it started airing in 2013. I like to watch it with other people but Alanna’s not a big fan so I was probably watching it by myself when I first saw the clip, probably on Comedy Central. Since then, I’ve watched the video with several instances of Rhetoric of Satire.
4. Kroll Show is a show that aired for three seasons on Comedy Central from 2013-15. It’s a “sketch show,” somewhat in the traditions of Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Kids in the Hall. The difference is that Kroll Show focuses on making fun of a particular kind of media: the reality show. Kroll Show appears as one of the “Shows” on CC.com, alongside Key & Peele, The Daily Show, and South Park. Like all Comedy Central material, it’s aimed at people who want to laugh, but Kroll Show targets assiduous viewers of reality television.
5. Wheezy, snort, chuckle, cackle, a bit muffled
6. This sketch’s success has something to do with my enjoyment of the absurdist, parody-based concept of Kroll Show, generally. There are very few moments in the show that do not make me laugh in dread at the overwhelming barrage of reality content on TV and the web. These are shows I don’t watch, so Kroll Show‘s parodies make me laugh whether or not they hit a specific target (e.g. The Biggest Loser, a particular reality star). With this particular sketch, though, it’s the focus on the male ponytail that makes me laugh self-reflexively. The sketch introduces us to three grown men who, like myself, have long hair they often wear up. I recognize a little part of myself in each of these poor guys, and it makes me think about how other people perceive ponytails on men. Through his caricatures, Kroll identifies four stereotypes associated with men wearing ponytails: childlike adults, dirty, free-thinking hippies, and idiosyncratic loners. Seeing these stereotypes (examples of logical fallacy) enacted like this makes me laugh at the unnuanced way people accept these qualities and how they might apply them to me, either correctly or incorrectly. Like all stereotypes, they originate out of human experience and, to some degree, represent a kind of truth. The idea of wearing a ponytail to “retain youth” is the one that resonates most with me. Watching the clip again this week, it makes me think of the “World Leaders Rock Elegant Man Buns” meme that came through a few weeks ago. (What’s the difference between a “man bun” and male ponytail?)
7. Self-effacement, joy at the text’s creativity (e.g. Bruce Lee-zard)

Prompt:

1. Find something that makes you laugh.
2. Upload, link to, or otherwise represent the text and create an MLA works cited entry for it (see EW).
3. Note the context in which you first come across this text. Where did you see or hear it? Who was with you?
4. Compose a short paragraph describing the text’s rhetorical situation (i.e. genre, publication context, intended audience).
5. Brainstorm a list of words and phrases describing the non-verbal rhetoric of laughter that erupts when looking at this text. What does the laughter sound like? What is its tone, pitch, attitude? What does the laugh feel like? What does it look like? Create a list.
6. With the help of our new rhetorical vocabulary, compose a paragraph explaining the way the text achieves its rhetorical objective (i.e. persuades the audience [you] to laugh). What is it that makes you laugh, in terms of the primary appeals and fallacies?
7. What emotional quality or qualities does your laughter reflect (e.g. happiness, aggression)?
8. Collect your responses to the above in a PDF and submit it in response to this assignment.