MovieChat Forums > MADtv (1995) Discussion > I don't get the 'Can I have your number?...

I don't get the 'Can I have your number?' bug-eyed black guy?


OK there's this one recurring segment that I just don't "get" as in, I don't find it particularly funny. Maybe someone can explain it to me, as I seem to be missing something. This 'bug eyed' black guy goes up to every girl in sight and says "You're real pretty. Can I have your number?" or something along those lines. He's got these HUGE eyes, bulging right out. The audience seems to think it's hilarious but I find it tiring. He also only seems to approach white women.

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[deleted]

Oh really? I had no idea ... is the character also supposed to be a woman? i.e. a lesbian?

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no the actor is a woman... the character is a man

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Ok but once you get over the fact that it's a woman playing the part, where's the humour in it?

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I thought the skit was funny because I have been approached by some dudes like Darrell (Character in question). I think thats how you have to look at it to get the humor. There are some guys that actually use this sad approach to try and get girls, and they will keep trying until someone bites.

I've always wanted to say this..........for shizzle!

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When you say you've been approached by dudes like Darrell... you mean black or white guys?

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I am a black girl, so its been mostly black. However I wouldn't be shocked if there were some white dudes that have done this as well.

I've always wanted to say this..........for shizzle!

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OK maybe that's why I can't relate to this. I'm from Australia.

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There are no bad "chat up" lines in Australia?

Oh pshaw.

I'm not that gay.

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Here in Australia it doesn't cost anything to receive a phone call, so people give out their numbers more freely. I hear that in the US, with cell phones, it sometimes costs money to receive a call? So I cannot really relate the skit.

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Aparently no one has a sense of humor in Australia, either.

If I was a Disney Kid, I'd want to be known as the Disney Kid that said NO to singing.

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The skit is more about a guys desperation tactics to get women, not so much about the cost of phone calls. Even if it was cheaper to recieve phone calls, you wouldn't want a guy like Darrell calling and annoying you constantly. I guess this just isn't the skectch for you.

I've always wanted to say this..........for shizzle!

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in america there are some guys in the black culture who pronounce their names oddly and have bizarre ways of approaching people and he chats her up with odd pieces of conversation and he wants her number although he knows nothing about her personally. it's odd. that's why it's funny.

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how could you not find it funny.. damn it was one of my favourite in the episodes it aired in.. specially the cinema one.. just brilliant.

Its also in the way the women(acting as a guy) would ask.. "Can I have your number" not that it was just that one thing that made that sketch funny.. a whole lot other subtleties aswel that get packed into a sketch like that when you notice and 'get it', can be really funny.

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I too found it funny.

Part of it was that Nicole Randall-Johnson is a female. Part of it is just her facial expressions and delivery and parody of often-seen male desperation. It's just funny. It's hard to explain funny.

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"Part of it was that Nicole Randall-Johnson is a female. Part of it is just her facial expressions and delivery and parody of often-seen male desperation. It's just funny. It's hard to explain funny. "

yeah it hard without describing every detail.. but those bits you've said were also reasons why I found it funny too so its just a combinations of things I suppose :)

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it wasn't exactly recurring, i think they only had 2 of those sketches.

i found it funny cause in the restuarant one it was seen from her point of view and he looked so creepy staring at her while she was trying to eat lunch

the theatre one was okay





"I was in the hall... I know because I was there."

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don't worry, just to assure you, it's not because you are austrailian and have no sense of humor like some had said. The reason you didn't find it funny at all is because it was just that...not funny.


The writers on this show came up with some ok things, but most have missed anything resembling being funny in the last 4 years. certain actors have been funny like macdonald, sullivan, and parker..and for some reason remember "THats my white Mama" really well. The last few years it seemed like the material they came up with was something you would see some teen doing or find funny doing on youtube.

Oh I live in america, not some other country that may not get the supposed sense of humor. You cannot pick one thing and do a whole sketch on it, especially if it's unfunny in the first place.

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