[ExI] laugh-in

[spike]

>… Behalf Of William Flynn Wallace
Subject: [ExI] laugh-in

 

. Now shipping from Amazon ( <http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=O.SqQ&m=JWv2i9MQoSAPkr&b=ifK.jdfRvGcNacU_47BOMw> 4 DVDs for a reasonable $15). Fun to see them again? You bet your bippy!

 

 

 

Eh, before you give 15 perfectly good dollars for Laugh-In DVDs, you might want to see if you can find some on YouTube or some place and remind yourself (if you can) what we found so hilarious about these back in 1970.  It remains a mystery.

 

For starters, there are so many contemporary cultural references that if you were not there and then, you won’t get the jokes.  Good chance you won’t even see what is funny about it, the more subtle stuff such as: Sock it to me.  Why is “sock it to me” funny?  Anyone know?  Do listen to your aged Uncle Spike, who was there and had it explained to me by my best friend who was black.  This meant his world was open to many things the rest of us didn’t understand.

 

The birth control pill was introduced in the early 60s but they required a doctor visit which cost money (even back then.)  Good old-fashioned latex still accomplished the same thing, better in a way, for it also reduced risk of spreading STDs which were rampant in those more open-minded times, and they were cheap.  Consequence: richer women used BCPs while poorer couples used condoms.  Urban slang resulted from a discussion between a couple that might go as follows.  

 

He: Wanna?  

She: Sock it to me baby.

 

Translation from urban slang:

 

He:  Shall we engage in sexual activity including copulation?

She: Indeed, sir, however do use a latex protection device, for I am not currently using the expensive pharmaceutical product known as birth control pills.

 

For brevity and decreased demand for mastery of vocabulary, the urban slang was preferred by many, if not most participants.  Furthermore, just singing the song was an ambiguous invitation to copulate.  (This is one of the delightful aspects of the Rock and Roll genre in general (which I find missing into today’s Hip-Hop (but my criticism is not aimed at Hip Hop in general (well OK it is (I can fart better music than that revolting tripe.)))))

 

Rowan and Martin picked it up and had teenage Goldie Hawn prancing about in a string bikini singing Sock It To Me Baby, which pushed the limits of free speech at the time.  Needless to say, current pushers of the limits of free speech are far less entertaining than the very nearly naked teenage Hawn.

 

Conclusion: the humor of Rowan and Martin didn’t age well, but some humor from those days is still hilarious to this day.  Before I give my example (which is also available on DVD) might someone else here, such as BillW or anyone else who was there offer a suggestion?

 

spike

 

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