Rule of Threes

arthursimone · Post by **arthursimone** » September 21st, 2008, 1:59 pm

"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is Enemy Action."
-- Auric Goldfinger

starkserious · Post by **starkserious** » September 24th, 2008, 2:42 pm

Rule of Three... a comedy standard principal.

HerrHerr · Post by **HerrHerr** » September 24th, 2008, 4:27 pm

"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is Enemy Action."
-- Auric Goldfinger

vine311 · Post by **vine311** » September 24th, 2008, 4:39 pm

"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is Enemy Action."
-- Auric Goldfinger

I just declared war on the forums.

Lants · Post by **Lants** » September 24th, 2008, 5:47 pm

I don't understand the rule of threes

mpbrockman · Post by **mpbrockman** » September 24th, 2008, 10:51 pm

vine311 wrote:"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is Enemy Action."
-- Auric Goldfinger

I just declared war on the forums.

Four times is the counter-revolution.

Beware of counters.

acrouch · Post by **acrouch** » September 25th, 2008, 1:24 pm

Someone once said that the next rule up is seven, as proven on Family Guy here and there.

HerrHerr · Post by **HerrHerr** » September 25th, 2008, 1:54 pm

After seven comes eleven. Can you go all the way to eleven?

vine311 · Post by **vine311** » September 25th, 2008, 2:28 pm

Letterman uses the rule of 7, 11 and 5,432 quite a bit.

bilbo · Post by **bilbo** » September 28th, 2008, 11:10 am

the significance of numbers is ancient and shit.
3, 6, 7, 9, 11 - these are all critical numbers in the history of mankind.

3 is the first stable number (as in a tri-pod), but it is also unstable because it does not seem balanced.

6 doubles this, but allows it to appear more balanced, therefore having less power.

7 adds one to the balance of 6, creating an unstable atmosphere again.

9 is 3 three's.

11 is just weird.

DollarBill · Post by **DollarBill** » September 28th, 2008, 11:35 am

bilbo wrote:9 is 3 three's.

Also one of my favorite things about nine that I learned on "Square One Tv" if that the digits of any number that nine is a factor of, add up to be nine. In other words, multiply nine times any number and the result is made up of numbers that add up to nine.

For example:
9 * 4 = 36, 3 + 6 = 9
9 * 8 = 72, 7 + 2 = 9
9 * 351 = 3159, 3 + 1 + 5 + 9 = 18, 1 + 8 = 9

SQURE ONE! bwaaa na na naaaa neh bwaaa neh naaaaaaaaaa

starkserious · Post by **starkserious** » October 8th, 2008, 11:10 am

set up...set up....PUNCHLINE

ie...(1)I see my girlfriend after work everyday. , (2)cook her dinner, and (3)masterbate by myself. ( yeah I know it's a lame joke but you get the point...)

acrouch · Post by **acrouch** » October 8th, 2008, 2:57 pm

starkserious wrote:set up...set up....PUNCHLINE

ie...(1)I see my girlfriend after work everyday. , (2)cook her dinner, and (3)masterbate by myself. ( yeah I know it's a lame joke but you get the point...)

set up...set up...punchline...set up...setup...denial of expected punchline...twist on expectations from denied punchline

(1)I see my girlfriend after work everyday,
(2)cook her dinner, and...
(3)masturbate by myself.
(4)TONIGHT, I saw my girlfriend after work,
(5)lit candles, put on a soft R&B record, cooked her a quiche with a side of sauteed asparagus and baby spinach, and...
(6)masturbated by myself...
(7)then served her strawberries and cream for desert.

Aden · Post by **Aden** » October 8th, 2008, 3:22 pm

TexasImprovMassacre · October 9th, 2008, 11:04 am

I believe the formula to be closer to 1)set up, 2)establish (set up) the pattern , 3)subvert expectations.

while 2 is technically still a type of set up for the punchline, I think it is important to note that the most important thing about step 2 is that what it is setting up is the pattern.

Austin Improv

Rule of Threes

Rule of Threes

Rules of Three