Funny / Pink Floyd

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

Somehow, yes!

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• The epic effort of photographing a giant inflatable pig over the Battersea Power Station for the cover of the Animals album. Two days of trying to get a clear shot, with the pig finally breaking free of the lines and floating over to Heathrow Airport. Thankfully no one was hurt, but the incident itself became Memetic Mutation and funny as hell. Flying pigs later became a staple of Pink Floyd concerts.
• During Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secret's show, Guy Pratt follows up The Nile Song with a monologue about his love for The Nile Song, which would be unnecessary if not for how funny it is. First off, he cites it as one of his favorite songs. He then states the main reason, which was that it was on Relics, which was cheaper than the other Pink Floyd albums. He then tells an anecdote from when he was playing during David Gilmour's On An Island Tour. David was looking for suggestions on what tracks to play on the tour. Reportedly, this ensued:

Guy Pratt: I think we should play The Nile Song.
David Gilmour: I think you should join a different band.

• And speaking of "The Nile Song"... one memorable Floyd show (West Germany, November 27, 1970 - during which "Several Species of Small Furry Animals" was performed not once but TWICE) featured a loud audience member shouting to hear "THE NILE SONG!" Roger complies by playing the first chord of "The Nile Song," and promptly telling him that's all he's getting.
• The lyrics to "In the Flesh" are a spot-on mockery of racism, as long as you've got a dark sense of humor.
  "And that one looks Jewish! And that one's a coon!
  Who let all of this riffraff into the room?
  There's one smoking a joint, and another with spots!
  If I had my way
  I'd have all of you shot!"
• "Corporal Clegg" is a song about WWII with two kazoo solos and darkly humorous lyrics.
  Corporal Clegg had a wooden leg
  He won it in the war in 1944
  Corporal Clegg had a medal too
  In orange, red and blue
  He found it in the zoo
  • It's a hilarious case of Mood Whiplash because you have this regular groovy sixties rock tune and then...suddenly...KAZOOS! Even the band can't keep from cracking up.
• "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving With a Pict".
  • As mentioned above, "Several Species" was attempted live on a handful of (VERY rare) occasions, the most notable being its double appearance at the November 27, 1970 West Germany show - where mid-Scottish rant, Roger threatens to kill Nick! ^note Either that or it's Roger joking about almost killing Nick with a cup of tea (see near the bottom of the page). Otherwise, the whole thing is still unintelligible. It needs a transcript.
• Others include "Have a Cigar" and the line "Mother, do you think they'll try to break my balls?" from "Mother".
• The teacher's voice, complete with Scots accent, heard on The Wall.
  • "If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding! How can you have any pudding if you haven't eaten your meat?!"
• The background shouting of "Go on, judge, shit on him!" from "The Trial". Roger Waters himself mentions this as a personal favorite funny moment in the DVD Commentary for the film adaptation.
• One day while they were making the soundtrack to Zabriskie Point, they got to the part where they had to start making music for the sex scenes, Roger and David decided instead to fool around (pun intended) and record the both of them moaning (and doing monkey noises for some reason) into the mics (a moment bound to be a hit with Pink Floyd fans who actually 'ship' the band members).

Roger: "That was a fucking long three minutes, and I do mean fucking!"
David: "It never seemed as long as this when I was doing it." [a few moments and some weird noises later] "Okay, you can take it out, now."

• At the end of the Pink Floyd documentary: "Which One Is Pink", after the documentary tells of what David, Rick, and Nick are doing for their futures, it finally gets to Roger. Who's (jokingly) flipping off everyone in the room; he's in with both of his hands.
• The honking geese effect that's heard at the end of "Bike".
• The Talk Box pig squeals that suddenly come out of nowhere in "Pigs (Three Different Ones)".
• Nick Mason VS. pie crust. The face Roger makes around :22◊ in reaction to the whole thing also counts.
• That Look of the Week interview with Waters and Barrett. The interviewer is a stuffy old Austrian guy named Hans Keller, who can not contain his absolute disdain of "Them dang dirty hippies and their loud rock music". It's subtle in its inadvertent silliness. Keller needs a bucket of ice water. When Hans says something about "loud sounds making one immune to softer sounds", Roger's double take face◊ is priceless! Also a subtle Moment of Awesome because Roger and Syd are absolute, well-spoken gentlemen who answer questions well, don't get angry and don't fall for whatever "traps" and "pitfalls" Keller put out.
  • There's also a moment in when Keller asks Roger if he felt angry with the audience, to which he replies no. Come 1977: "AW, FOR FUCKS SAKE! STOP LETTIN' OFF FIREWORKS AND SHOUTIN' AND SCREAMING! I'M TRYING TO SING A SONG!"
    • And of course, later in that same concert - the next song, in fact - where Roger loudly and psychotically beckons a drunk fan closer to the stage. It didn't end well.....
• Roger Waters and Gerald Scarfe MSTing during the DVD commentary of The Wall.
• During one of David Gilmour's first television appearances with the band, he briefly turns to the camera and gives a "What am I doing here?" look.◊
• In live shows, the laughter in "Brain Damage" is synchronized with footage of world leaders. This usually gets a lot of laughs from the audience as well.
• This fun, impromptu, Yuletide ditty! Nick's singing while Rick's on the piano. Just some guys goofing around rather than anything "official". The last part (concerning Christmas presents) takes the cake, "...None for you & SIX FOR ME!". Hilarious!
• Most of the boys' antics for the Belgian promo for "See Emily Play".
  • Same for their first "Arnold Layne" promo. Picture The Beatles "Ticket To Ride" scene from Help!, but get four different cute musical English lads, film it in B&W, set it on a beach◊ and toss in a male department store mannequin◊ & some Uncanny Valley "smiling baby doll" masks.
• During casting for the film Pink Floyd The Wall, Bob Geldof was told by his manager during a taxi ride that Pink Floyd were making a film and wanted him to star in it. Geldof was less than enthusiastic and said he hated their music. When he eventually agreed to take the role, Roger Waters joked to him about the conversation in the taxi. It turned out the taxi driver was Waters' brother.
  • There's also something ironically funny that the band named the main character of The Wall "Pink", since for years people would ask which member of the band was "Pink" or "Floyd" respectively.
• Roger Waters during a 1977 interview in France...."An alligator makes love to my suitcase." Roger's "ooh la la" expression◊ saying this adds to the funny! (Skip to around 3:25 for the start of the Waters interview). In that same interview, beforehand, Roger mentions a Porsche and when the interviewer is like "Huh?" Roger goes, "Yeah! Porsche! You know...VROOM VROOOOOM!"
• The interviews in Pink Floyd - Live At Pompeii, The stuff with the oysters, David's adorable giggling, Roger's smoke rings and playful snark and Nick Mason's weird "space out face". Also, David, who's obviously bombed out of his gourd saying they're not a "drug oriented band...you can trust us".
  • Right before the video ends, you can see Roger. If you thought David looked high, think again. Roger looks BLASTED◊.
• In the promo for "The Scarecrow", the ending scene has Nick and Roger having an imaginary slo-motion gunfight, complete with Roger (who's a tall, gangly stick) trying to fall down in slow-motion. Roger seems to comically fall down a few times. The outtakes open with Roger Waters humping the ground. Yes, the "morose dark jerk" Roger can be very funny and Adorkable.
• The fact that the spoken interlude in "Sheep" includes, of all things, the phrase "master the art of karate."
• Nick Mason's bio of the band Pink Floyd - Inside Out opens with this, among other statements:
  "...Roger's long distinctive shadow fell across my drawing board...Roger had finally recognized me as a kindred musical spirit trapped within a budding architect's body. The star-crossed paths of Virgo & Aquarius had dictated our destiny.........No no! I'm trying to keep the invention to a minimum. The only reason Roger bothered to approach me was because he wanted to borrow my car."
  • Incidentally, Nick's car was The Alleged Car, a hunk of junk called a "Chummy". Roger was pretty hard-up for a ride if he's asking to borrow something that Nick jokingly described as driving so slow that hitchhikers assumed he was about to pick them up. Nick refused.
• The Deranged Animation for The Trial Animation can be creepy or funny as hell especially with the Large Ham that is the judge.
  THE EVIDENCE BEFORE THE COURT IS INCONTROVERTIBLE
  THERE IS NO NEED FOR THE JURY TO RETIRE
  IN ALL MY YEARS OF JUDGING I HAVE NEVER HEARD BEFORE
  OF SOMEONE MORE DESERVING OF THE FULL PENALTY OF LAW
• Rick Wright mentioned in an interview that after a critic back in the Barrett era predicted Pink Floyd would be popular for about two weeks, the band responded by mailing him a jack-in-the box equipped with a boxing glove designed to punch said critic in the face.
  Rick Wright: "...It was Nick's idea..."
• Young Roger Waters waltzed into a photo booth one day and this happened.◊
• More weird Roger Waters◊ faces.◊ There's much more where that came from & one might get the impression that Waters' mug is proof that "Someone Upstairs" has a weird sense of humor.
• These photos◊ of early Syd's◊ Floyd◊ with a couple◊ with Bob◊ Klose.◊
• Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast. ALL OF IT.
  • It's a Pink Floyd instrumental where a guy (Pink Floyd roadie and interviewer in Live at Pompeii, Alan Styles) making and eating breakfast. He's mumbling stuff about breakfasts he's had in the past as he does so.
    Alan: "Breakfast in Los Angeles, macrobiotic stuff..."
• You mileage may vary on this, but to some, the sole lyric in "One of These Days" can be comical, as it's edited to be slower and deeper to the point of being such.
• Roger and David had a bet once that if David rode a motorcycle through a restaurant, he would give him "a stack of dollars." It was - according to David - "a really bad idea".
• Nick Mason would introduce "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" on his Saucerful of Secrets solo tours as a song he jokingly lamented because Roger Waters played the gong parts in concert. So with Roger making a guest appearance in one of Nick's concerts, it was only fitting that "Set the Controls" would be that song...and it'd also be fitting that the gong mallet accidentally broke while Roger was playing it.
• "Seamus." Just "Seamus."
  • Particularly when you look at the recording credits for the Live at Pompeii version, "Mademoiselle Nobs". Roger Waters: Electric guitar; David Gilmour: Harmonica; Rick Wright: Dog.
• The time Roger nearly killed Nick with a cup of tea. During a break in a rehearsal, Roger waited until Nick was drinking a cup of tea to say "yacht" to him:
  Roger: And it got him completely. He just exploded, and these two rivers of scalding tea came out of his nose like that as he burst out, and then he was writhing, I mean he was in agony. And I thought, "Oh my God, I've killed him!" (laughing)
  • One YouTube comment on the video reads, "We lost our drummer in a bizarre tea-drinking accident."

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