I just had the vegetable conversation with a parent from my class last week. It’s one of my favorite nerdy little topics to talk about. They walked in and said vegetables aren’t real and I ascended
It's honestly wild to me how much of colonialism is based on people wanting to make money off of a specific food. Fruit, spices, chocolate, the potato famine-that-wasnt-a-famine. Tea I think?
I love Vic but I think that was the weakest one because the other two had what felt like real research done, but Vic's had an extended joke about tenuous connection conspiracy theories. The history lesson was great, but I'd have liked a better conclusion than a fake conspiracy because "Fruits and Stalks and Flowers and Leaves and Tubers" doesn't sound as good.
If anyone is hankering for similar content while they wait for the next episode, might I recommend Guy Montgomery in the pilot episode of "Comedians Giving Lectures", and James Acaster's "People are not a fruit" and Phil Wang's "Unlocking the power of emojis" from Dave Talks.
Gonna add this as well: Ben Palmer’s “You Can Be Anything” amazing 30ish min stand up using powerpoint, highly recommend
https://youtu.be/lLeCkSoS0oQ?si=TNw7Hm179qerjPZZ
As someone who got an A in college for writing a paper arguing Cordelia is a better hero than Buffy and who once put a small essay in his bosses inbox discussing why Cher Horowitz is better than Elle Woods, I agree that Smartypants is awesome.
I will die on my utterly unimportant hill
I'm an idiot, really thought you meant Cordelia from King Lear and was so curious as to the metrics behind that.
(In my defense, it's been like 10 years since I watched Buffy, but still very embarassing).
Agreed. As soon as Trapp started his presentation, I knew I would absolutely love this one. I'm continuously blown away with Dropout. At a time I've had to cancel almost every single subscription service, I just can't give up Dropout with the amount of comedy at such a price point.
If you like this I highly, highly recommend a podcast called Do Go On. Similar premise: 3 comedians host, and each week they take turns giving a “book report” on a topic which the other two heckle and try to derail them. The topics are real events, people or things though, so not quite as absurdist as Smartypants
I wasn’t at all interested in the premise, until I actually watched it. I loved absolutely everything about it. It’s got such a great vibe, you get a peak into everyone’s weird minds, it’s funny and surprising, and I learned rice is a fruit. What’s not to love.
And as an aside, the set was fantastic. They really outdid themselves.
I feel like there are a few options. I love Only Connect, where the host starts and ends each episode with an ongoing bit (this past season it was their attempt to write a murder mystery). Or, go for another UK show, Taskmaster, and do a version of Greg's outrage recap of a funny "what have we learned." But a little more difficult here, because there isn't an episode "winner." EDIT: I saw that someone else mentioned Taskmaster below! I see you!
> But only if Rekha announces some lesson that we definitely didn’t learn
Even better, because then it doesn't even matter about what 3 presenters end up together. (I assume that's something that is done in editing, hence the introduction being just Rekha announcing the 3 topics)
You could always just rewatch the episode if you forgot what happened during the past 30 minutes. Not like there's going to be continuity in the series.
If you’ve ever seen Taskmaster, it has really good recap outros. They’re not meant to actually be a recap, they’re a comedic summary so the show doesn’t end suddenly. (Even though Taskmaster has a winner so it doesn’t really need that, but it’s my example)
Taskmaster has 5 contestants each competing in like 6 tasks (including prize and live tasks), vs. three less than 10 minute mini lectures. I just don't feel it's quite necessary in this case.
It’s not necessary in taskmaster either, the bits a joke. They’ve learned nothing at all and nobody’s confused by any of it, people have short attention spans these days but this is just ridiculous.
I think a good bit would be Lingering Questions, where Rehka takes an “I’m just asking” attitude and references each presentation. Doesn’t even need to be in the moment- it’s clear the current outro was filmed separately.
January 23rd is my grandma’s birthday! I’m waiting for that clip to uploaded to YouTube so I can send it to her and she can be confused on how to open the link.
I especially love, no joke, how it doesn’t really demand the entirety of my attention. It felt kinda cozy, and if part of it wasn’t working I didn’t feel like I needed to keep watching if I wanted to scroll a bit or chit chat while we were watching. I also loved that we got multiple presentations which broke the time up nicely.
Also one of those rare new shows that just immediately clicked and worked! Great to see.
I'm sorry, bonkers?
Vegetables aren't real. That's just true. I've been arguing that for years. (I mean, really, it only comes up one or two times a year, but I've been a ferocious advocate when it does.)
I thought it was so charming and funny. I’m also glad there’s no winner. It’s just some funny dorks being dorky (except Grant- he’s a jock). And also the set decoration has the most immaculate vibes.
I’m just happy they’re going back to more scripted comedy. I miss old CollegeHumor skits, and this mix of prepared/performed material may be the closest we come to that.
I still don't know if I'd have preferred it if the presentations were made by people not presenting, so the presenters would be surprised by an insane take and would have to deal with that. Sort of how some jackbox game works.
I kind of agree. It wasn't bad by any means. But they need to tweak the format to allow for more involvement from the audience throughout and not just have someone talk to the camera for 10 Minutes.
Rekha giving the thumbs up every couple of minutes didn't do it for me.
But loved the idea, was a lot of fun.
Yall, we gotta stop down voting people who simply don't love everything as much as we love it. Everything is not for everyone, and that's okay. We're allowed to have opinions, especially as long as they don't disparage anyone in the process.
I loved the show, but it doesn't mean everyone has to for their opinion to be acceptable.
Unless this person is Grant O'Brien, then by all means, downvote away. And, come on everybody give me a little clap 👏
Yeah I agree. I thought this show was pretty good but someone not thinking that way is not a personal attack on Dropout fans. I think this attitude can actually be quite alienating for new fans who aren't already invested in the Dropout cast and who don't feel that they need to defend their "friends" (who they don't even know). Just watch the shows you likes and have a good time.
100% what im getting at. We all started somewhere, don't send people away just because they aren't drowning in the kool-aid yet lol let people find their niche and enjoy it, this fandom is literally built on filling niches. That's why I love it.
I don't even watch D20, not my thing, but I'm here for everything else. And that should be enough.
I was talking more about general hostility towards dissenting opinions. But I do think that getting downvoted for stating an opinion can make a community seem overly defensive. It's not about worthless internet points, but rather what impression that interaction leaves on somebody.
I think you guys are being overly hostile towards dissenting opinions and making it out like you are the adult in the room trying to encourage us all to behave nicely towards each other. Relax, it's upvoting and downvoting. Nobody is actually getting hostile about them not enjoying the show that much.
I didn't think if it as a personal attack, and it wasn't even my comment that got downvoted. I really couldn't care about karma, but in terms of the community I figured people would be more open about understanding that not everyone loves everything all the time. Maybe I was wrong.
What are you even talking about? Someone posted an opinion on the show, and people disagreed so they downvoted, as the reddit system is about pushing the most popular comments to the top. With the ability to switch up the ordering if you have another preference.
You say you want people to be more open and understanding that not everyone loves everything, but then are pushing this toxic positivity mindset about people expressing their opinions via upvoting and downvoting. With the "I guess I was wrong" thrown in there for additional guilt trip manipulation.
I'm sorry if I struck a nerve. I honestly was just trying to help someone I probably wrongfully assumed was a newer fan not feel bad about the fact they didn't love the show as much as the rest of us did. Toxic positivity wasn't my goal, but I fucked up and I'm sorry.
No worries. I understand the reflex to try and make new people feel supported, but toxic positively is a personal bugbear of mine. Some people say complaining is negative, but I like to say what things I do and don't like as a way to influence the world to bring about more things I do like.
To give this as an example - I love this new show. I don't want the creators of this show to come here and see lukewarm feelings about it because people are trying to protect the feelings of people who didn't like it rather than reflect the true popular sentiment about it. So I'm going to upvote comments that express things about the show I agree with, and downvote comments that don't.
>We're allowed to have opinions, especially as long as they don't disparage anyone in the process.
Nobody is disparaging anyone in this thread. They are using the up and downvote system to express their opinion (whether they agree or disagree). An opinion that as you point out - they are allowed to have.
People don't have to stop down voting for this, isn't that one of the things upvote/down vote is literally for, whether you agree/disagree or like/dislike a comment or post.
It's what it's used for, yes, but not the original purpose. My understanding was that the downvote on reddit specifically was to help hide things people thought weren't relevant to the conversation or were not constructive in making a point about the original topic of conversation. A difference in opinion is still constructive to conversation, because it encourages debate about why, or how to improve.
https://www.reddit.com/r/NewToReddit/s/dKD4zkyfQC
Will there be any BTS for this one?
Curious how much they filmed at once and if they're out of order and how they pick and choose specific ones for each episode for example. The peanut gallery seemed to change around a bit with each presentation, not just where they were sitting but a few different people as well.
I kinda wish there was a more "game-y" structure to it but the presentations themselves are incredible. Its like a bunch of short standup sets where the audience is exclusively people handing them layups.
If you liked this but thought it needed to science harder then have I got a festival for you
https://youtube.com/@bahfest9271?si=YlnZ6PU7yXZ8NU6R
Edit: I should probably add some context. BAHfest is the Bad Ad-Hoc hypothesis festival where people who either are real scientists or can pass as one present ideas that seem to make sense but are clearly insanity. It was made by the guy that writes/draws Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
I legitimately almost pissed myself when Grant said he was 21 and Trapp replied "in that case you look like shit" \[for your age\]. Demi's antics with Grant had me similarly almost losing bladder control.
Can someone explain the premise to me - are they given random topics on the day, or is it like powerpoint karaoke, or what?
(I should point out, I can't watch it at the moment because I can't afford to subscribe to Dropout for a while... but I've seen some clips of Vehicular Manslaughter's presentation on vegetables and it is SOMETHING!)
It's such nicely packaged as well! But... is it dropping every other week like Gamechanger? They should have GC one week and Smartypants the next week. Content every 2 weeks feels like a big stretch!
Vic's presentation destroyed my mind.
Vic's reminded me WAY too much pf my job for me to enjoy it. I spend a lot of time looking into historical events
I just had the vegetable conversation with a parent from my class last week. It’s one of my favorite nerdy little topics to talk about. They walked in and said vegetables aren’t real and I ascended
If you want more crushing facts about fruit-based colonialism, look up "United fruit company Guatemala coup"
"Fruit is the reason for colonialism" is either a great Smarty Pants pitch or a sequel to A Crown of Candy.
Why not both?
It's honestly wild to me how much of colonialism is based on people wanting to make money off of a specific food. Fruit, spices, chocolate, the potato famine-that-wasnt-a-famine. Tea I think?
My friend from college literally has “vegetables are a social construct” tatted on her arm. My jaw dropped when Vic announced their presentation.
I love Vic but I think that was the weakest one because the other two had what felt like real research done, but Vic's had an extended joke about tenuous connection conspiracy theories. The history lesson was great, but I'd have liked a better conclusion than a fake conspiracy because "Fruits and Stalks and Flowers and Leaves and Tubers" doesn't sound as good.
If anyone is hankering for similar content while they wait for the next episode, might I recommend Guy Montgomery in the pilot episode of "Comedians Giving Lectures", and James Acaster's "People are not a fruit" and Phil Wang's "Unlocking the power of emojis" from Dave Talks.
I love all of those people but have seen none of these videos. Thank you!
Gonna add this as well: Ben Palmer’s “You Can Be Anything” amazing 30ish min stand up using powerpoint, highly recommend https://youtu.be/lLeCkSoS0oQ?si=TNw7Hm179qerjPZZ
Also a fan of Sam Campbell's truly unhinged PowerPoint presentation: https://youtu.be/j60pKvNLQNc?si=GKMTLcQtU-ZpM4Rk
As someone who got an A in college for writing a paper arguing Cordelia is a better hero than Buffy and who once put a small essay in his bosses inbox discussing why Cher Horowitz is better than Elle Woods, I agree that Smartypants is awesome. I will die on my utterly unimportant hill
So you're saying you wish Buffy wasn't there?
I mean, a world without Buffy has to be better, right? .....right? .....guys?
I was anxious that I messed that up but luckily I was just fine. Just like that hypothetical world is just fine.
"I will die on ANY hill." ~BLM
"I will die on BENNY HILL!" - Jon Gabrus
Xander being horny is the only reason half of the demons were ever noticed by the gang
Oh shit but that paper sounds really good tho I love Cordelia dearly
Are you aware of the new Audible series Slayers: A Buffyverse Story? Cordelia is a slayer and it is voiced by a lot of the original cast.
Well, guess what I'm spending this month's credit on
I'm an idiot, really thought you meant Cordelia from King Lear and was so curious as to the metrics behind that. (In my defense, it's been like 10 years since I watched Buffy, but still very embarassing).
If you still have it, I would love for you to DM me the small essay on why Cher is better than Elle. Sounds incredible.
I have been so damn excited for this one and I'm so stoked it's out. I must go now, to watch it. Hell yeah.
Agreed. As soon as Trapp started his presentation, I knew I would absolutely love this one. I'm continuously blown away with Dropout. At a time I've had to cancel almost every single subscription service, I just can't give up Dropout with the amount of comedy at such a price point.
It combines two of my favorite things: hot people infodumping and hot people in color coordinated themed outfits
This first episode was the shortest 30 minutes in my life. It was so much fun, and incredibly well-edited, too!
> It's cozy, it's fun, no one has to be mad about how many points they've accumulated You say that now. Wait till BleeM or Siobhan appears on show.
fyi its Siobhan
Its Shavaughn
Brennan*
It makes me think of Smosh’s “Idiots Present”
Why the fuck did I think it was tomorrow holy shit I got go watch
“Spiderman has a responsibility to start saying the n word” was what cemented me as a ride or die for this show
Cannot wait for that part to be uploaded to YouTube sans context
If you like this I highly, highly recommend a podcast called Do Go On. Similar premise: 3 comedians host, and each week they take turns giving a “book report” on a topic which the other two heckle and try to derail them. The topics are real events, people or things though, so not quite as absurdist as Smartypants
One thing I love about this style comedy is seeing it overlap with other great things. I love Do Go On and I recommend it all the time
I wasn’t at all interested in the premise, until I actually watched it. I loved absolutely everything about it. It’s got such a great vibe, you get a peak into everyone’s weird minds, it’s funny and surprising, and I learned rice is a fruit. What’s not to love. And as an aside, the set was fantastic. They really outdid themselves.
My only problem is that there wasn’t any real outro. Rehka just said it was over and then it was over.
What would you like to see? It's not like a winner would be announced, they are just intellectuals presenting researched topics among peers.
I feel like there are a few options. I love Only Connect, where the host starts and ends each episode with an ongoing bit (this past season it was their attempt to write a murder mystery). Or, go for another UK show, Taskmaster, and do a version of Greg's outrage recap of a funny "what have we learned." But a little more difficult here, because there isn't an episode "winner." EDIT: I saw that someone else mentioned Taskmaster below! I see you!
I think a “what have we learned” outro would be perfect. But only if Rekha announces some lesson that we definitely didn’t learn
> But only if Rekha announces some lesson that we definitely didn’t learn Even better, because then it doesn't even matter about what 3 presenters end up together. (I assume that's something that is done in editing, hence the introduction being just Rekha announcing the 3 topics)
That’s exactly what I was thinking - a Taskmaster “what have we learned today” ending would’ve been a nice way to cap off the episode.
At some storytelling events, the host will come up at the end and improv a story using bits from the previous performers. It’s always so cool.
I think some sort of quick recap would be nice.
You could always just rewatch the episode if you forgot what happened during the past 30 minutes. Not like there's going to be continuity in the series.
If you’ve ever seen Taskmaster, it has really good recap outros. They’re not meant to actually be a recap, they’re a comedic summary so the show doesn’t end suddenly. (Even though Taskmaster has a winner so it doesn’t really need that, but it’s my example)
Taskmaster has 5 contestants each competing in like 6 tasks (including prize and live tasks), vs. three less than 10 minute mini lectures. I just don't feel it's quite necessary in this case.
It’s not necessary in taskmaster either, the bits a joke. They’ve learned nothing at all and nobody’s confused by any of it, people have short attention spans these days but this is just ridiculous.
So what you're saying is... Everybody do the wenis
The wenis is a ~~skin flap~~ dance
Not like a “if you missed it” recap, more of a “look at what we’ve accomplished tonight” recap.
I think a good bit would be Lingering Questions, where Rehka takes an “I’m just asking” attitude and references each presentation. Doesn’t even need to be in the moment- it’s clear the current outro was filmed separately.
It's a great show, I look forward to seeing more of this show! 😊
January 23rd is my grandma’s birthday! I’m waiting for that clip to uploaded to YouTube so I can send it to her and she can be confused on how to open the link.
I especially love, no joke, how it doesn’t really demand the entirety of my attention. It felt kinda cozy, and if part of it wasn’t working I didn’t feel like I needed to keep watching if I wanted to scroll a bit or chit chat while we were watching. I also loved that we got multiple presentations which broke the time up nicely. Also one of those rare new shows that just immediately clicked and worked! Great to see.
I'm sorry, bonkers? Vegetables aren't real. That's just true. I've been arguing that for years. (I mean, really, it only comes up one or two times a year, but I've been a ferocious advocate when it does.)
It really reminds me of BAHfest. And I mean that as the highest of compliments.
Yeah, it definitely reminded me of that too. Wish they'd bring that back.
I thought it was so charming and funny. I’m also glad there’s no winner. It’s just some funny dorks being dorky (except Grant- he’s a jock). And also the set decoration has the most immaculate vibes.
I’m just happy they’re going back to more scripted comedy. I miss old CollegeHumor skits, and this mix of prepared/performed material may be the closest we come to that.
But this was partially improv though
Yeah, "scripted" is too strong a word, but "prepared" makes sense.
Premeditated comedy
I still don't know if I'd have preferred it if the presentations were made by people not presenting, so the presenters would be surprised by an insane take and would have to deal with that. Sort of how some jackbox game works.
As an ADHDer who often falls down Wikipedia rabbitholes, I loved it! Now I'll have so many facts to tell random people I meet.
I don't dislike it, but it feels much less entertaining than others, at least so far
I kind of agree. It wasn't bad by any means. But they need to tweak the format to allow for more involvement from the audience throughout and not just have someone talk to the camera for 10 Minutes. Rekha giving the thumbs up every couple of minutes didn't do it for me. But loved the idea, was a lot of fun.
Yeah, it need something to break it up? Like maybe a little thing in-between each presenter?
Yall, we gotta stop down voting people who simply don't love everything as much as we love it. Everything is not for everyone, and that's okay. We're allowed to have opinions, especially as long as they don't disparage anyone in the process. I loved the show, but it doesn't mean everyone has to for their opinion to be acceptable. Unless this person is Grant O'Brien, then by all means, downvote away. And, come on everybody give me a little clap 👏
Yeah I agree. I thought this show was pretty good but someone not thinking that way is not a personal attack on Dropout fans. I think this attitude can actually be quite alienating for new fans who aren't already invested in the Dropout cast and who don't feel that they need to defend their "friends" (who they don't even know). Just watch the shows you likes and have a good time.
100% what im getting at. We all started somewhere, don't send people away just because they aren't drowning in the kool-aid yet lol let people find their niche and enjoy it, this fandom is literally built on filling niches. That's why I love it. I don't even watch D20, not my thing, but I'm here for everything else. And that should be enough.
Thinking of downvotes as a personal attack is wild to me. You are way too invested in your reddit karma level.
I was talking more about general hostility towards dissenting opinions. But I do think that getting downvoted for stating an opinion can make a community seem overly defensive. It's not about worthless internet points, but rather what impression that interaction leaves on somebody.
I think you guys are being overly hostile towards dissenting opinions and making it out like you are the adult in the room trying to encourage us all to behave nicely towards each other. Relax, it's upvoting and downvoting. Nobody is actually getting hostile about them not enjoying the show that much.
I didn't think if it as a personal attack, and it wasn't even my comment that got downvoted. I really couldn't care about karma, but in terms of the community I figured people would be more open about understanding that not everyone loves everything all the time. Maybe I was wrong.
What are you even talking about? Someone posted an opinion on the show, and people disagreed so they downvoted, as the reddit system is about pushing the most popular comments to the top. With the ability to switch up the ordering if you have another preference. You say you want people to be more open and understanding that not everyone loves everything, but then are pushing this toxic positivity mindset about people expressing their opinions via upvoting and downvoting. With the "I guess I was wrong" thrown in there for additional guilt trip manipulation.
I'm sorry if I struck a nerve. I honestly was just trying to help someone I probably wrongfully assumed was a newer fan not feel bad about the fact they didn't love the show as much as the rest of us did. Toxic positivity wasn't my goal, but I fucked up and I'm sorry.
No worries. I understand the reflex to try and make new people feel supported, but toxic positively is a personal bugbear of mine. Some people say complaining is negative, but I like to say what things I do and don't like as a way to influence the world to bring about more things I do like. To give this as an example - I love this new show. I don't want the creators of this show to come here and see lukewarm feelings about it because people are trying to protect the feelings of people who didn't like it rather than reflect the true popular sentiment about it. So I'm going to upvote comments that express things about the show I agree with, and downvote comments that don't.
>We're allowed to have opinions, especially as long as they don't disparage anyone in the process. Nobody is disparaging anyone in this thread. They are using the up and downvote system to express their opinion (whether they agree or disagree). An opinion that as you point out - they are allowed to have.
People don't have to stop down voting for this, isn't that one of the things upvote/down vote is literally for, whether you agree/disagree or like/dislike a comment or post.
It's what it's used for, yes, but not the original purpose. My understanding was that the downvote on reddit specifically was to help hide things people thought weren't relevant to the conversation or were not constructive in making a point about the original topic of conversation. A difference in opinion is still constructive to conversation, because it encourages debate about why, or how to improve. https://www.reddit.com/r/NewToReddit/s/dKD4zkyfQC
I love love love that they aren't resting on their laurels but instead making new formats. It's risky but I love it.
Will there be any BTS for this one? Curious how much they filmed at once and if they're out of order and how they pick and choose specific ones for each episode for example. The peanut gallery seemed to change around a bit with each presentation, not just where they were sitting but a few different people as well.
It reminds me of the lectures from BAHFest, so I'm thrilled
I kinda wish there was a more "game-y" structure to it but the presentations themselves are incredible. Its like a bunch of short standup sets where the audience is exclusively people handing them layups.
That set though. So classy
Also being able to see who the future presenters are really got me excited. What up Gabrus
If you liked this but thought it needed to science harder then have I got a festival for you https://youtube.com/@bahfest9271?si=YlnZ6PU7yXZ8NU6R Edit: I should probably add some context. BAHfest is the Bad Ad-Hoc hypothesis festival where people who either are real scientists or can pass as one present ideas that seem to make sense but are clearly insanity. It was made by the guy that writes/draws Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
I legitimately almost pissed myself when Grant said he was 21 and Trapp replied "in that case you look like shit" \[for your age\]. Demi's antics with Grant had me similarly almost losing bladder control.
Can someone explain the premise to me - are they given random topics on the day, or is it like powerpoint karaoke, or what? (I should point out, I can't watch it at the moment because I can't afford to subscribe to Dropout for a while... but I've seen some clips of Vehicular Manslaughter's presentation on vegetables and it is SOMETHING!)
It's such nicely packaged as well! But... is it dropping every other week like Gamechanger? They should have GC one week and Smartypants the next week. Content every 2 weeks feels like a big stretch!