Monty by Jim Meddick for February 05, 2021

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Libs

The great Roger Price. These were always surprisingly funny, along with “Droodles.”

You can tune a piano but you can’t tuna fish.

Judging by the last week, the robot seems to be writing the novel as much as he is

Should qualify as artificial intelligence writing a novel.

My adult niece got Mad Libs for her kids, and calls me to ask what is an adverb. [sigh]. When I was visiting, I discovered that definitions are printed at the front of the pad. “I need those last two pins,” Tom thought sparingly.

Worked for James Joyce.

If it’s tuna “fish”, why not “salmon fish” or “bass fish”? (Though I’ve heard codfish cakes.)

Ha-ha. Funny as “improv”, which is generally set pieces with the “audience contribution” crammed in sideways.

“He defiantly discombobulated the irascible tuna fish”?

For a science-fiction convention game night, I once put together a bunch of “Mad Libs” stories in the styles of different well known SF writers. They were only 1 page each, but the fans were easily able to figure out whose style I was imitating.

When we first got a computer I wrote my own Mad Libs program and some templates with blanks for it. We had great fun with it, but we can’t play it anymore because my daughter-in-law has no idea what any of the parts of speech are. She was mortified the first (and only) time we played it.

Widespread Undetectable Voter Fraud.

defiantly irascible tuna fish – weren’t they at woodstock…?

Pulling a Herman Melville, Monty? —And will your novel be as long?

“The irascible giant tuna fish swam swiftly, defiantly, straight at the small fishing vessel, a murderous gleam in its eyes….”

Hey—sometimes writing gibberish to start gets the brain cranking and leads to good, real ideas. (I speak from experience since I write a lot for fun.)