Dull Men’s Club

[King Coconut]

Caps lock shouldn't even exist on a modern keyboard and anyone who uses it for anything is whopper of the day.

[SuperBacon]

1 minute ago, King Coconut said:

whopper of the day.

Big dicks over here definitely. There's a reason its an anagram of slapcock while all you little finger/little willy lads are tickling your shift keys.

 

[BomberPat]

The old BBC Micro had a Shift Lock. We have strayed from the light.

[SuperBacon]

Been absolutely loving this Radio 4 documentary series called Illuminated, half an hour docs on whatever the editor feels like commissioning it seems.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0jcw19l

The last 4 have covered messages in bottles, Peanuts at 75, the Autobahn and trains and quite frankly if that isn't peak dull club, I don't know what is.

[Carbomb]

4 hours ago, SuperBacon said:

Been absolutely loving this Radio 4 documentary series called Illuminated, half an hour docs on whatever the editor feels like commissioning it seems.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0jcw19l

The last 4 have covered messages in bottles, Peanuts at 75, the Autobahn and trains and quite frankly if that isn't peak dull club, I don't know what is.

A bit of own-horn-tooting here, but at the community co-operative-owned bookshop I help to run in Turnpike Lane has recently started a monthly event called "Mystery Talks". Two people each do a talk for 25 minutes on any topic, supremely broad or mind-numbingly specific, and a bit of socialising before, between, and after.

No info released in advance. The audience do not know what the topic will be about until it starts.

It's been pretty successful so far. It was a @Chris B brainchild, and he kicked off the first ever event on a talk about "Flyin'" Brian Pillman - specifically how he worked the Loose Cannon grift to pull off one of the biggest worker cons in wrestling. Bear in mind, this was an audience comprised of mostly civilians. At the end of the talk, they had a lot of questions.

The other talk was about the first ever portable synthesiser, given by one of our directors who does a lot of stuff with electronic and experimental sounds (plays a mean theremin), and again - from an audience of non-fans/non-enthusiasts, there were a lot of questions.

Essentially, like these documentaries you've so generously shared, any subject can be enthralling to anyone, even those without any interest in it at all, if it's presented with passion and skill.

Edited October 16, 2025 by Carbomb
Patrick Kluivert

[SuperBacon]

Sounds great!

Would you like a guest speaker on football shirts, crisps or really shit Christmas films?

[Carbomb]

6 minutes ago, SuperBacon said:

Sounds great!

Would you like a guest speaker on football shirts, crisps or really shit Christmas films?

You genuinely could do that if you really want to! It's the entire premise of the event.

Edited October 16, 2025 by Carbomb
Ernest Koeman

[Lorne Malvo]

I'm already planning one on the versatility of Spam. 

[Chris B]

Yeah, we're going on the basis of talks being very broad or mind-numbingly specific and geeky. My take is that 20 minutes is about the amount of time you can comfortably pay attention to something you don't care about or find annoying. What really struck me with it was how it felt like how we used to interact with TV - watching a documentary about something because it was just the best thing that was on.

Genuinely, if someone wants to do one, get in touch with me. I'd very strongly recommend coming to see one of them first though, so you can get a feel for the kind of stuff we do and the venue it is (and hey, it's a community cooperative bookshop mostly run by volunteers - it's worth a visit anyway, right?). 

People can use slides for presentations or not. For both the presentations we did this time, we both did. Including this one:
 

And because I'm a person who cites their sources, this one:

The bookshop manager's 18-year-old kid is doing one - they're autistic, have watched 57 different adaptations of Hamlet, and ran a beautifully difficult Doctor Who quiz last year that everybody lost at (including the winning team). I cannot *wait* to see what they talk about.

[deathrey]

As someone with ADHD who is prone to intense interest in topics which I love to talk about for 6 months later before moving on to something new, this sounds right up my street. Shame it's isn't actually up my street and I live in the Midlands. 

[gmoney]

You could find a local Toastmasters - https://toastmasters.org/. They're more focused on helping people get comfortable with presentations than just having a nice time, but I think it depends on the club, some are more just about having fun and they're all supposed to be very encouraging. There is definitely more a sense of people trying to improve their career, but as I understand you can present about whatever you like. 

Edited October 16, 2025 by gmoney

[deathrey]

I think one of the local churches does something along those lines, I'm sure I saw it advertised as a speakers club or something.  I do presentations on a daily basis as an integral part of my job so it's more about talking about stuff that I'm interested in. I'll take a look though and see if there is anything like that near me

Edited October 16, 2025 by deathrey

[davertfnewman]

Maybe more boorish men than dull men, but here's a battle of the sexes over snooker:

"Tek Vera Selby, she's the world snooker champion, she's a mother, she's a teacher..."
"Can she play with a Steve Davis?"
"Can YOU play Steve Davis?!"

[SuperBacon]

I think I've come across some of the dullest content ever. And by dullest, I mean best obviously. A tutorial on Word.

I've made it about an hour in. If you can't be arsed to watch the full thing as you actually have a life or something, go to 59:10 and watch for a minute. You won't be disappointed. 

[SuperBacon]

What a hero. A cracking read and good insight to how top quizzers retain information. 

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/nov/04/quiz-17-hours-a-day-emilien-europe-greatest-gameshow-winner