The Stereotypical Al Fan

Post by **KnottyEmily** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:02 am

i have to write an istructional essay, preferably humerous, so i'm going with ''How To Be A Hardcore Al Fan''. i'm basically going to ridiculously exaggerate the traits of Al fans and mix them with the stereotypical ones, to make what i hope will be a funny guide to being an Al fan. So i have a few questions:

what makes a person a hardcore Al fan?

how would you describe the stereotypical Al fan? [geeky etc]

what would make the ultimate hardcore Al fan?

*if any of these have been answered in other threads, please post links

*

Post by **weird_el** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 5:49 pm

The word stereotypical has a very negative connotation, but I like to think of Al fans as a group of people with at least a fair awareness of the trends in pop culture.

That, and they're overwhelmingly white. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Post by **DrSteggy** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 6:35 pm

Well...the typical concert dress for the Hardcore Al Fan includes:

1. Al related T shirt. The older the concert tour, the more cool points you have.

2. Hawaiian print shirt over this.

3. Probably wearing Vans.

Other things I have noticed among our more obvious members (and I include myself in this, but I'm not saying which ones

)

1. They are probably sitting in the first 10 rows of the concert hall

2. They are probably singing along word for word, and probably also at least lip synching the video segments

3. They might be wearing a costume of some sort

4. Star Wars memorobilia (especially Yoda) is popular

5. They are probably hanging out by the buses post show. For hours.

6. They have a tendency toward admiring other funny/quirky musical acts--They Might Be Giants, the Arrogant Worms, Moxy Fruvous, etc. Almost everyone I know who plays the accordion is an Al fan.

Ultimate hardcore?

I can direct you to two folks here who are famous among fans....Fred and Elvis. Sorry guys.

What brings these guys so far into the limelight among fans?

1. They usually see multiple shows on a given tour. Generally this is in the double digits (I'm definitely not saying this is a bad way to spend time...I'm there too)

2. They have pretty extensive collections of AL memorbilia

3. They are both also known for the Al related body art...Dave/Elvis has the band, and Fred/Denise had the artwork from the cover of Peter and the Wolf.

I personally have found that Al fans are generally very nice and fun to be around. They are not like everyone else....they tend to be more open minded about music and interested in all sorts of other unusual things. They tend to be pretty smart, and funny, and love to find people who appreciate the subtlties of "Dare to be Stupid" too.

Jackie (no Al related ink, many many miles on the Cruiser going to shows!)

Insert Coin(s) to Continue · Fri Mar 03, 2006 8:04 pm

The stereotypical Weird Al fan has a Weird Al t-shirt on, usually the one where he is in the circle from the Weird Al Experience and a Hawaiian shirt over it. If they don't have a Weird Al shirt on, they have either something non-distracting because the main focus of attention is their Hawaiian shirt or a shirt with a 27 on it. Al fans wear whatever they can find with a 27 on it. The stereotypical Al fan is also seen to be geeky but funny and can play accordion. They'll wear vans, no style of pants is prevalent.

Weird Al fans generally like to make lists as seen in countless examples over the internet. They also like to make obsquere media references more than other groups. Weird Al fans, probably because of the content of his material, tend to have cleaner humor and are generally nice people.

Also, all Weird Al fans hate it when people use the H word, that's right, Yankovic - h. No other misspelling makes them as mad. We can live with Jamkovich but we have to draw the line somewhere. Weird Al fans are also angered by non-Al songs being credited to Al.

Post by **Aron** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 8:29 pm

You gotta get your face autographed by Al.

Even more hardcore if you show up to school the next day and put up with the mockery you get with that autograph on your face.

Post by **Gadget Girl** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 9:58 pm

* Incredibly intelligent

* Wicked sense of humor :9~
* Unique take of the world

* Can laugh at themselves (after they're done laughing at you)

* Maybe "average/normal - avoidant"?

Post by **NovaGreensocks** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:10 pm

"Just for the sake of proving how cool and WAY MOBY they are, Al fans are known to dip their arms in vats of hot melted chocolate, rip off a pant leg, shave their right eyebrow, and even wear bunny ears." Okay, so maybe that doesn't ALWAYS count...

But some of us are known to wear wrist-watches around our ankles XD

*happy from TWAS DVD hype, obviously*

Post by **KnottyEmily** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:59 pm

NovaGreensocks @ Mar 4 2006, 07:10 AM wrote: "Just for the sake of proving how cool and WAY MOBY they are, Al fans are known to dip their arms in vats of hot melted chocolate, rip off a pant leg, shave their right eyebrow, and even wear bunny ears."

i'll have to use that, Nova!

great responses guys

what about the extent of CD collection? how far would be too far? would the hardcore fan stop at owning one copy of everything?

Post by **Kristine** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 11:07 pm

I have something to add to what they wear:

A fan who bears long brown hair may even (at least for the day of a concert) curl it to resemble those curly locks. I know I did. Last concert going season, I had straight hair down to the small of my back. I made it wavy (from sleeping in 27 wet braids) for the Mission Viejo Lake concert.

Post by **Jigawatt** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 11:38 pm

weird_el @ Mar 3 2006, 10:49 AM wrote: That, and they're overwhelmingly white. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Count me in the "off-white" faction.

I think most hardcore Al fans generally agree that their lives are enriched by the experience. Except for the inhalation of bus fumes.

Adrian