According to Wikipedia, the source of all unscholarly knowledge, Observational Comedy is described as, "a style of humor based on making remarks about commonplace aspects of everyday life." And following that description, the website gives a list of both American and British comedians that have made that style of comedy popular. I hold those comedians directly responsible for much of my adolescent awkwardness, and the misery I have to endure every time I am rhetorically asked "whats with" a utilitarian object.
I think Observational Comedy, or OC as it will from now on be referred to, has been done. Its been overused, and needs to be retired, or at least put on vacation for an undetermined amount of time, along with 'That's what she said'; 'Wasn't that your nickname in high school?'; 'Oh, burn'; 'Zing'; 'No Homo'; and many other expressions that could have been used for good, but instead were quickly overused for evil.
While I'm at it, let me just point out that I also include Lady Gaga in that list.
I focus mainly on Observational Comedy because despite being used primarily to note commonly shared experiences, at this point OC almost always misses it's mark. Because, when someone starts an observation with "Have you ever noticed..." someone else will, without fail, say "No." For two reasons. One: because all the really obvious OC has been done: all social situations, all types of people, all condiments, all restaurant chains, everything. So by the time OC got down to the 'everyman' it sounded something like, "Ever notice how rich housewives from Connecticut lose their shit over cranberry mayonnaise?". The second reason people will say "No" is because people are fed-up with OC, and would prefer to be unnecessarily argumentative with a humor based on the listeners compliance with a common idea.
OC has made everyone a comedian, the problem being: not everyone is a comedian. It is not a universal human trait. I had a girl say to me, while playing a game of twenty questions, "What is a breadbox anyway? And who uses a box for bread. I mean, really." Long story short-- the game became a half hour conversation about shit no one cares about only to end with everyone feeling slightly bitter, and on top of it all, no one ever figured out what she was thinking of.
At the risk of using one of the should-be banned over-used phrases, we have all become 'That Guy'. We're all becoming the guy in your office that wont stop 'Thats what she said'ing side conversations. And if 'That Guy' 'Zing's you one more time you'll stab him with a pen--'No Homo'.
Its gotten to the point where we've figured out how to act like lofty yet pointless pontificating drunks without the drinking. Way to beat the system, us.
To conclude, it's no longer funny and it needs to stop.
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