Made-up sex position names
Amy Schumer , compared with Patrice O'Neal
The comic describes absurd, gross sex acts and gives each one a mock-official name.
Schumer runs through outlandish acts she calls "The Abe Lincoln" and "The Houdini." (paraphrase)
Live at the Apollo (HBO), 2015▶ watch ↗
O'Neal's set featured named acts including "The Gorilla Mask" and "The Poltergeist." (paraphrase)
The Nasty Show, Just for Laughs Montreal, 2007▶ watch ↗
Same format of naming gross sex acts like official moves, but every name and payoff on record is different.
- Premise 34/40
- Structure 18/30
- Punchline 8/30
- Premise34/40Same device: describe gross, absurd sex acts and give each a mock-official name.
- Structure18/30Both run a list format, act described then named, repeated.
- Punchline8/30The names differ entirely: Abe Lincoln and Houdini versus Gorilla Mask and Poltergeist.
Setup
She describes outlandish, gross sex acts.
Setup
He describes absurd, gross sex acts.
Turn
Each act gets a mock-official name.
Turn
Each act gets a mock-official name.
Punchline
Names like The Abe Lincoln and The Houdini.
Punchline
Names like The Gorilla Mask and The Poltergeist.
Scores and beats are our editorial reading of the public record, not a ruling.
Context
When and where
O'Neal performed his sex-position names at Just for Laughs Montreal's Nasty Show in 2007. Schumer's version is in Live at the Apollo (HBO, 2015). The comparison spread in October 2015.
What followed
Reddit users raised the comparison in 2015 (the linked video shows both clips side by side). Schumer, who had co-hosted a radio show with O'Neal, said she loved him and had never seen him do those jokes.
Receipts
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Amy Schumer by Mario Santor, CC BY-SA 3.0; Patrice O'Neal by King Taco, CC BY 2.0