So Jokes: Video EP

2009-08-18 (said on 2009-08-19 — implied: date said in the video; uploaded -1 days later) · song · Hank · 15:51 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Pop culture (also: Books & writing, Everyday life) · mode: Comedy & performance · tags: song or performance, self promotion, community lore

Hank presents songs from his album So Jokes as a 'video EP': comic songs asking J.K. Rowling for an eighth Harry Potter book, declaring his crush on Helen Hunt, 'Accio Deathly Hallows', a sincere 'Looking for Alaska' song, and a comic rant threatening everyday annoyances.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Song 'Book 8': Hank wants J.K. Rowling to write an eighth Harry Potter book

• ★ The song lists stories Hank wants told (Harry's sons, Grindelwald and Dumbledore, the veil, Hagrid's parents) and proposes joke titles such as 'Harry Potter and the Nerdfighters'. (joke) — 00:00:10 · Harry Potter (book series), Nerdfighteria
• ★★ In the song 'Book Eight', Hank sings that he wants J.K. Rowling to write an eighth Harry Potter book; he thinks there is an unwritten story to tell. (playful, hedged) — 00:00:31 · Harry Potter (book series)
• ★★ The 'Book Eight' song wants Rowling to say the Deathly Hallows epilogue was crap, 'cause we all know it was crap'. (playful) — 00:00:31 · first in: 2008-07-18, Book Eight...Another Harry Potter Song

00:03:19 — Song 'Helen Hunt': Hank's comic love song to the actress

• ★★ In the song 'Helen Hunt', Hank comically declares a crush on Helen Hunt dating from puberty, punning on her film and TV titles and on sharing the name Hank with her husband. (joke) — 00:03:19
• ★ The Helen Hunt song says she was best comedy actress four years in a row. (playful) — 00:04:33 · first in: 2007-04-25, Helen Hunt

00:04:53 — Song 'Accio Deathly Hallows': waiting for the last Harry Potter book

• This part replays July 18: Accio Deathly Hallows (no spoilers) (2007-07-18); what is said here is covered on that page: 1 statement.

00:09:08 — Song 'Looking for Alaska' (by Lianne Graham per the description), addressed to Alaska

• ★★ Lianne Graham (quoted): Lianne Graham's song 'Looking for Alaska' addresses Alaska: the singer hopes she has escaped 'this labyrinth of suffering', recalls Thomas Edison's last words, and is still looking for her. (fiction) — 00:09:08 · Looking for Alaska (novel)

  “Thomas Edison's last words were It's very beautiful over there”

00:12:31 — Song about wanting to kill everyday annoyances: grocery-line lady, SUV-driving neighbour, loud upstairs neighbour; closing 'Thank you'

• ★★ In a comic rant song, Hank threatens to kill everyday offenders, a rude express-lane customer, an SUV-buying neighbour and a noisy upstairs neighbour, while calling himself 'usually a very peaceful person'. (joke) — 00:13:16
• ★★ The song's SUV verse mocks a man down the street who bought a giant SUV (an H2): 'we're fighting a war' so he can drive it home from the grocery store; Hank urges a Honda Fit instead. (playful) — 00:13:44

In the description and comments

• ★ Hank thanks his Twitter followers for sending the photos used in the video's slideshow. — video description · Twitter

Humor (dominant)

• Listing untold Harry Potter stories, Hank offers his theory about the veil Sirius fell through. — 00:01:22

  “And I think Sirius is in Middle Earth”

• Hank suggests titles Rowling could give Book 8. — 00:02:32

  “Or Harry Potter and the Nerdfighters”

• Hank thanks Helen Hunt for a film scene, punning on her film As Good as It Gets. — 00:03:43

  “It was as good as it gets in my pants”

• Hank notes Helen Hunt's husband's name. — 00:04:08

  “Your husband's name was Hank, right? Well, my name is Hank”

• A friend asks how an old, ugly actress could mean so much to Hank. — 00:04:33

  “Well, a minute later, looking down at him bleeding in the snow”

• Hank lists his fears about the last Harry Potter book. — 00:06:12

  “And what if Harry's brain is a horcrux? Oh, holy crap!”

• Hank threatens the woman holding up the grocery express lane. — 00:13:16

  “I'll do a scorpion's fatality and rip out your spine”

• Hank's note to the neighbour who bought a giant SUV. — 00:13:44

  “I hope you know that we're fighting a war So you can get your badass home from the grocery store”

Threads in this video

• callback · 'In your pants' suffix game (2007) — Hank's Helen Hunt song rhymes 'as good as it gets' with 'in my pants', calling back the in-your-pants gag. (00:03:43)
• callback · Hank's crush on Helen Hunt (2007) — In the song 'Helen Hunt', Hank comically declares a crush on Helen Hunt dating from puberty, punning on her film and TV titles and on sharing the name Hank with her husband. (00:03:19)
• milestone · Hank's song 'Accio Deathly Hallows' (2007) — In 'Accio Deathly Hallows', Hank sings of needing the final Harry Potter book as its release approaches, and of being sad that the series has to end at all. (00:07:37)

Mentioned

People: Hank Azaria · Helen Hunt (actor) · J. K. Rowling

Works: Accio Deathly Hallows · As Good as It Gets · Book Eight · Harry Potter (book series) · Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows · Harry Potter and the Pillar of Storgé · Helen Hunt (song) · I'm Gonna Kill You · Looking for Alaska (novel) · Looking for Alaska (song by Liane Graham) · Mad About You (“you know I'm mad about you”) · Starfighters of Adumar · The Solitaire Mystery · The Waterdance (“water dance”) · Twister (“twister of my burning want”)

Terms: in your pants (“in my pants”)

Characters: Albus Dumbledore · Gellert Grindelwald · Middle-earth · Rubeus Hagrid · Sirius Black · Voldemort

Products: Honda Fit · Hummer

Only in the description or credits: Alan Lastufka · DFTBA Records · iTunes · Liane Graham · So Jokes · Twitter

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