History Funny / TheyMightBeGiants

** Right as the intermission ended during concerts for the band's 2018 tour, fans were routinely greeted with [[https://vimeo.com/253025437 this video.]] It features a demo track of "Last Wave" that takes they LyricalDissonance of the original all the way into CrossesTheLineTwice territory. It's a Music/BadLipReading-style spoof [[Music/RunDMC "Walk Th]][[Music/{{Aerosmith}} is Way,"]] wherein John Linnell mocked up the final version's call-and-response by singing several tracks through a pitch-shifter.

** Right as the intermission ended during concerts for the band's 2018 tour, fans were routinely greeted with [[https://vimeo.com/253025437 this video.]] It features a demo track of "Last Wave" that takes they LyricalDissonance of the original all the way into CrossesTheLineTwice territory. It's a Music/BadLipReading-style spoof [[Music/RunDMC "Walk Th]][[Music/Aerosmith is Way,"]] wherein John Linnell mocked up the final version's call-and-response by singing several tracks through a pitch-shifter.

** Whenever they play "No One Knows My Plan," they prelude by kicking up a conga line the way only they know how. Lines vary between performances, but include such gems as "I'm not fucking kidding, put your hands on the hips of a stranger"

** "Oh You Did." Robin Goldwasser, John and John are pitch-perfect in their roles as a beleaguered mother and her admonished sons respectively, even though the latter two were in their mid-fifties at the time. The song starts out pretty straightforward, with the kids getting in trouble for insulting their father or ruining the carpeting or wrecking the house, but quickly gets into ridiculous territory, such as them shaving the family pet and stuffing its hair into the milk carton for reasons unexplained.

** "Oh You Did." Robin Goldwasser, John and John are pitch-perfect in their roles as a beleaguered mother and her admonished sons respectively, even though the latter two were in their mid-fifties at the time. The song starts out pretty straightforward, with the kids getting in trouble for insulting their father or ruining the carpeting, but quickly gets into ridiculous territory, such as them shaving the family pet and stuffing its hair into the milk carton for reasons unexplained.

** "Oh You Did." Robin Goldwasser, John and John are pitch-perfect in their roles as a beleaguered mother and her admonished sons respectively, even though the latter two were in their mid-fifties at the time. The song starts out pretty straightforward, with the kids getting in trouble for insulting their father or ruining the carpeting, but quickly gets into ridiculous territory, such as shaving the family pet and stuffing its hair into the milk carton for reasons unexplained.

** "I Made A Mess," whose completely dramatic delivery would be a textbook case of FelonyMisdemeanor--except each passing verse suggests the eponymous NoodleIncident is far worse than the last verse implied.

-->Hi, this is John [Linnell] of They Might Be Giants, and you're listening to the Frank O'Toole radio show on WFMU. If you're driving your car now, we urge you to sit back, relax, close your eyes, and drive really fast.

** "Oh You Did" from ''Why?'', where guest vocalist Robin Goldwasser portrays a parental figure in the verses and the Johns portray the child in the chorus: The trouble the kid gets into is increasingly specific and elaborate, from saying rude things about their dad and dropping eggs from 14th story windows to [[NoodleIncident whatever actions led to the questions]] "How did the carton of milk get filled with shaved off puppy hairs? What's that river of water doing pouring down the stairs?". Meanwhile, the chorus takes the form of an apology from the child, but the second time it's delivered in a much more mumbled, insincere manner.

[[MajorInjuryUnderreaction I think my hand is broken]]
* The video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4ir6dTP-Rg All the Lazy Boyfriends]] shows various boyfriends getting 'sign-shamed'; the transgressions listed start with reasonable bouts of laziness like "I clip my toenails in bed" and "I never make reservations" but soon turn to absurd things like "I pay someone to shell my pistachios" and "I don't double-check my logarithmic functions". Also included are boyfriends who "[[SantaClaus worked 15 days in the last 15 years]]" or "[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros always use the warps]]". Even on some of the more normal ones, the visuals are still fairly ridiculous.

* The video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4ir6dTP-Rg All the Lazy Boyfriends]] shows various boyfriends getting 'sign-shamed'; the transgressions listed start with reasonable bouts of laziness like "I clip my toenails in bed" and "I never make reservations" but soon turn to absurd things like "I pay someone to shell my pistachios" and "I don't double-check my logarithmic functions". Also included are boyfriends who "[[SantaClaus worked 15 days in the last 15 years]]" or "[[SuperMarioBros always use the warps]]". Even on some of the more normal ones, the visuals are still fairly ridiculous.

** Whenever they play "No One Knows My Plan," they prelude by kicking up a conga line the way only they know how. Lines vary between performances, but include such gems as "Everybody conga, I'm not fucking kidding, put your hands on the hips of a stranger"

''I love you both, but yuletide is still H-E-double-L for me''

-->Hi, this is John [Flansburgh] of They Might Be Giants, and you're listening to the Frank O'Toole radio show on WFMU. If you're driving your car now, we urge you to sit back, relax, close your eyes, and drive really fast.

** A running gag in the "Our Options Have Changed" tour was to have They Might Be Giants take calls to the Dial-A-Song service mid-show. The callers (played by Flansburgh) included [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrqobISYwsE Mama They Might Be Giants]] (who gave birth to quintuplets and, in the ensuing stupor, could only come up with three names) and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZgZaFfaf28&t=1m40s an increasingly furious David Miscavidge,]] who speaks in a squeaky voice and sends the band all manner of baffling, empty threats.

* The video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4ir6dTP-Rg All the Lazy Boyfriends]] shows various boyfriends getting 'sign-shamed'; the transgressions listed start with reasonable bouts of laziness like "I clip my toenails in bed" and "I never make reservations" but soon turn to absurd things like "I pay someone to shell my pistachios" and "I don't double-check my logarithmic functions". Also included are boyfriends that "[[SantaClaus (have) worked 15 days in the last 15 years]]" and "[[SuperMarioBros always use the warps]]". Even on some of the more normal ones, the visuals are still fairly ridiculous.

* On the Amazon release of "Here Come The ABCs," there is a re-recorded and re-worked version of their song "Hovering Sombrero" (originally of their "Mink Car" album). The original song is slow and relaxing. Their new version is fast, cacophonous, and only one original verse is kept. Every other lyric is replaced with Linnell, singing gibberish in a comically deep voice, and several overdubs of Flansburgh in the background shouting "B!" and "BO!" whenever the other John is silent.

[[MajorInjuryUnderreaction I think my hand is broken]]

* Speaking of Dial-A-Song, there's also "ECNALUBMA," (later on ''Phone Power'') which takes AmusingInjuries to heights unprecedented.

::...but the spoken word on the bridge of this version qualifies it by a long shot[=:=]
-->'''Flansburgh:''' Hi, this is John of They Might Be Giants, and you're listening to the Frank O'Toole radio show on WFMU. If you're driving your car now, we urge you to sit back, relax, close your eyes, and drive really fast.

::...but the spoken word on the bridge of this version qualifies it by a long shot:

* "Erase," off the 2015 Dial-A-Song reboot (and later, "Glean"), is a gleefully dark tune which includes such gems as:

* "Thinking Machine", another Dial-A-Song exclusive, is a duet wherein Flansburgh sings WordSaladLyrics and Linnell responds pretty much as the listener would:

** This particular passage is made funnier by the music video, where dogs materialize with every repetition of the word dog... Then one of the dogs promptly [[ToiletHumour lifts its leg...]]
* Speaking of Dial-A-Song, there's also "ECNALUBMA," which takes AmusingInjuries to heights unprecedented.

[[MajorInjuryUnderreaction I think my hand is broken]]
* "Hello Mrs. Wheelyke," which deadpans its way between the mundane and the absurd.

* Speaking of Dial-A-Song, there's also "ECNALUBMA," which takes BloodyHilarious to heights unprecedented.

** A running gag in the "Our Options Have Changed" tour was to have They Might Be Giants take calls to the Dial-A-Song service mid-show. The callers (played by Flansburgh) included Mama They Might Be Giants (who gave birth to quintuplets and, in the ensuing stupor, could only come up with three names) and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZgZaFfaf28&t=1m40s an increasingly furious David Miscavidge,]] who speaks in a squeaky voice and sends the band all manner of baffling, empty threats.

** A running gag in the "Our Options Have Changed" tour was to have people (played by Flansburgh) randomly contact the band (via the Dial-A-Song service) mid-show. These include Mama They Might Be Giants, who gave birth to quintuplets and, in the ensuing stupor, could only come up with three names, and an increasingly furious, squeaky-voiced David Miscavidge, who repeatedly sends the band empty threats.

* Speaking of Dial-A-Song, there's also "ECNALUMBA," which takes BloodyHilarious to heights unprecedented.

** This particular passage is made funnier by the music video, where dogs materialize with every repetition of the word dog... Then one of the dogs promptly [[ToiletHumour lifts its leg...]].

** A running gag in the "Our Options Have Changed" tour was to have people (played by Flansburgh) randomly contact the band (via the Dial-A-Song service) mid-show. These include Mama They Might Be Giants, who gave birth to all five of them and, in the ensuing stupor, could only come up with three names, and an increasingly furious, squeaky-voiced David Miscavidge, who repeatedly sends the band empty threats.

-->'''Linnell:''' Now you’re just repeating the word '''dog'''