Anaconda Joke

The Anaconda Joke is a running joke used on PWN as filler conversation, the idea being to make the viewer question the context to the line. It was written and delivered by Wes Davies during the making of The Handshake. Since then, the quote has been used several times in PWN projects, though never again in an uploaded video.

Behind the Scenes

On October 28, Nick informed Wes of the next sketch they would film, The Handshake. Nick told him to come up with a line that Wes would say to Nick at the beginning of the sketch. Wes looked to CollegeHumor's Hardly Working series for inspiration, as Hardly Working videos often start with a contextless joke. Later that day, Wes typed the following note on his phone that contains two different options for lines that he could say in the sketch. He obviously went with the second option, which refers to the innuendo used in Nicki Manaj's "Anaconda" over the darker first option. The note also includes the Wesley's Name Joke that he planned to say on the unreleased Our Fandoms: PWN 4, in which his fandom is the BBC series, Sherlock.

Usage

Since the first usage in The Handshake, the Anaconda Joke has been used in several PWN videos:

• The Handshake - Spoken by Wes to Nick as they enter the scene.
• Press Triangle to Wake Up - Said by Wes as he pulls out a chair.
• The Hostage - Spoken by Chris Smith to Mikey Davis moments before Chris is shot.
• A Hot Lead - Said by Sam to Chris as they head to Johnny's warehouse.
• The Mugging - Spoken by Nick while on the phone.
• Mr. Salami Reviews A Hot Lead - Mr. Salami uses the joke in an example of content and themes repeated across the PWN channel, showing the jokes as used in A Hot Lead, The Handshake, and The Hostage.

Additionally, the line was used in the unreleased The Sequence, when Wes says the line to Joey Cianfrani.

Reaction

Nick - "The fact that Wes created this joke at the peak of Minaj's popularity, and the fact that 'anaconda' is a not so subtle euphemism, combined with the facts that it was so out of nowhere is truly what makes this joke perfect. Even with the countless minutes I have spent thinking about the joke, I have yet to come up with a reasonable, plausible explanation for why anyone would say this. It's truly the perfect joke."

Wes - "There really is no meaning behind this joke, which is why I really like it (totally not because I wrote it). The viewer can interpret the rest of the story in so many different ways. Were we the first to have a contextless joke? Of course not, but it's fun whenever we are writing a script to ask ourselves, 'Where can we put The Anaconda Joke?'"