Comedy

What would life be without laughter? Below some of my favorite pointers to kill time. Well, some of them I don't actually consume anymore, but one simply should know them!

• xkcd: If you are a computer scientist (or a mathematician etc.), you very likely know these great comics already! Their own description: A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language. Here's a selection that's highly related to us (computer) scientists:

  • The difference (between scientists and non-scientists) -- fun fact: as a young undergraduate that was the first xkcd comic I've ever seen, and I was sure to be the person on the right
  • Correlation -- Just one of my favorites. :)
  • Is it worth the time? -- Cheat sheet for increasing your efficiency!
  • Fuzzy Blob -- A reference to the US pentagon's release of "UFO videos" that got viral although for some there are obvious explanations, and others got debunked years earlier.

  xkcd also features what if?, "serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions". (You might know this from the big bang theory... :))

• PhD comics: These are comics concerned with doing the PhD or academics in general. The comics are not "smart" as xkcd, they are just funny for academics since we can identify. Here's a list of the 200 most popular comics.

• Monty Python

  Well, there are countless "Best of" lists you can easily google for by yourself, so I don't see the point providing yet another list here. I just try to obtain a bit of "culture" by making aware of it! It's simply so old already that current just don't it anymore. So, I just give two of the most famous sketches (search for more!).

  But first, did you know that the name of the programming language python is a tribute to Monty Python? There are further references, such as using "spam and eggs" in comments (etc.) instead of the typical "foo and bar". (see Wikipedia)

  • Argument Clinic, just the part about having an argument (from 1:16; but you should still watch it from the beginning). Why do I link it here? Because Logic (which I taught for two semesters) is literally about forming arguments! I.e., a sequence of statements from which another follows. Or is it? No! Yes it is! No! Yes! (Watch it!)
  • SPAM. Did you know that the expression "SPAM" for the endless flooding with unwanted content comes from exactly this sketch? If you are a computer scientist you should know!
• Don't forget that some of the educational channels listed in the YouTube section are actually comedy concepts! E.g., Last week Tonight and Adam ruins everything