Technabob » comedy

Voiceless Comedian Enlists iPad as Sidekick, Expected Hilarity Ensues

Lambert Varias — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:00:19 +0000

Lee Ridley has cerebral palsy. One of its unfortunate consequences is that he lost his voice as a child, and according to him he “hasn’t found it since.” But he’s still able to do stand-up comedy, thanks to modern technology. Ridley, who also goes by the moniker Lost Voice Guy, used the iPad’s text-to-speech feature in his stand-up debut.

Ridley said in his blog that he usually relied on a Lightwriter for his text-to-speech needs, but found that the iPad was easier to use – he could just copy-paste his material instead of typing them live – and the synthesized voice sounded clear enough. Watch the video below to see Ridley perform. I recommend you turn captions on and drive the young ones away. Sorry kids, this is for adults only. We get to hear dirty stuff and you get to not pay for things. That’s how the world works.

This isn’t really about how awesome the iPad is but how awesome technology is in general. I’m sure Ridley could have used other tablets or smartphones for his act. The fact that we have devices which are widely available and so powerful is something that we should all be thankful for. ~~Although I do wish I could install SBSettings without jailbreaking –~~ Thanks technology!

[via Lee Ridley via The Verge]

The iPad Comic has No Room for Adlibs

Lambert Varias — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:05:59 +0000

From the moment we heard its name, we all knew that the iPad was going to be a comedy goldmine. Comedian Adam Kontras takes it to another level; recently he’s been promoting himself as the iPad Comic. Kontras’ act used to be of him interacting with four alter egos, each one on a TV. Now he’s upgraded the tools of his trade:

As with Kontras’ previous set up, timing is everything:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I don’t think he’s that funny, but man that was smooth. I’d like to see how many variations Kontras can make out of this one. Watch out for more of the iPad Comic on his website.

[via TUAW]

Mac Vs. Pc? Mst3k Classic Clip Adds Fuel to the Fire

Technabob — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:08:45 +0000

John over at Boing Boing Gadgets dug up this awesome video from the classic Sci-Fi comedy show Mystery Science Theater 3000. Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot debate the pros and cons of PCs and Macs in a debate that still seems relevant nearly 17 years after this hilarious clip made its debut.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I can’t decide which is funnier, Crow and Tom Servo arguing over the finer points of the DOS command line, or the memories of what seemed like an endless wait for the overhyped System 7 operating system.

Of course, Joel presents the ultimate solution to the system wars – Amiga OS.

Oh, how I miss MST3K.

Honda Asimo Does a Face Plant

Technabob — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 14:03:14 +0000

Some guy with a cell phone camera recorded this incident at a recent press conference showing off Honda’s Asimo humanoid robot. If you fast-forward the video clip to about 0:59 seconds, you can witness the pratfall:

Watch in horror as the brave little robot attempts to climb the stairs and instead does his best Chevy Chase impression. The best part of the clip is when the stage crew attempts to conceal the lifeless, limp body of the poor little guy. For a moment there, I had flashbacks to the famous Derek Smalls pod sequence in This is Spinal Tap.

[via Digital World Tokyo]