CHUCK NORRIS FACTS

'Chuck Norris Facts' are satirical "facts" about martial artist and actor Chuck Norris, which have become an Internet phenomenon and as a result have become widespread in popular culture. The "facts" tend to involve jokes and plays on claims of Norris' toughness, attitude, virility, "alpha-male status", sophistication and masculinity stated in an absurdly serious tone, for example:
:''Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad Chuck Norris has never cried. Ever.''
The "facts" typically claim that Chuck Norris is some type of irate, all-powerful, superbeing. Some of these "facts" have also turned into popular jokes. Like most Internet phenomena, the Chuck Norris facts have spread around the world, leading not only to translated versions, but also spawning localized versions mentioning country-specific advertisements, other Internet phenomena, etc. Allusions are also sometimes made to his use of roundhouse kick attacks to perform seemingly any task, his large amount of body hair with specific regard to his beard, and his role in the action television series ''Walker, Texas Ranger''.
All of this combined makes for humor driven by hyperbole. Many of these 'facts' are often crossing over and mention how Norris is superior alongside Jack Bauer.

Contents

Background

Chuck's response

Famous mentions

Spin-off jokes

References

External links

Background

Chuck Norris Facts were originally seen on the Internet in early 2005. Conan O'Brien's Chuck Norris jokes on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' (which generally center on ''Walker, Texas Ranger'') have been seen as an inspiration for the fad. Chuck Norris Facts followed "facts" based on actors Vin Diesel and Bob Saget, and spawned similar "facts" about fictional character Jack Bauer from the television series ''24'', Mr. T and other personages. The exaggerated style of these facts is similar to a recurring ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch called ''Bill Brasky''. These are similar to "Tall tales" such as those of Paul Bunyan. Chuck Norris Facts surged the gaming community shortly after a Chuck Norris Fact generator was introduced as a World of Warcraft addon in early 2006^[1].

Chuck's response

Chuck Norris responded to the Chuck Norris Facts on his official website, chucknorris.com, with a statement.
He was generally surprised and flattered by the attention. Admitting some of the statements were indeed humorous, he tries not to take any of them seriously, and he hopes that such statements will interest people in real facts about Chuck Norris contained in his literary works. ^[2]
On October 23, 2006, Chuck Norris' first column for WorldNetDaily consisted of yet another response. It began similarly to the above quote from chucknorris.com, but then disclaimed Norris' own prowess in favor of God and Jesus Christ.
One of the satirical "facts" made of Norris states that "There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live." Upon hearing this, Chuck replied:

It's funny. It's cute. But here's what I really think about the theory of evolution: It's not real. It is not the way we got here. In fact, the life you see on this planet is really just a list of creatures God has allowed to live. We are not creations of random chance. We are not accidents. There is a God, a Creator, who made you and me. We were made in His image, which separates us from all other creatures.
By the way, without Him, I don't have any power. But with Him, the Bible tells me, I really can do all things—and so can you."^[3]

Norris appeared in a 2007 commercial for Mountain Dew where he had his revenge on the two fictional webmasters of a popular site that featured Norris in a humorous light, undoubtedly a reference to the Chuck Norris Facts meme.^[4]

Famous mentions

★ Norris has appeared on ''The Tony Danza Show'' and ''The Best Damn Sports Show Period'', and has been questioned regarding the satirical facts. In the latter show, he read up the current Top 10 facts, as well as mentioning his favorite one was ''"They once tried to carve Chuck Norris' face into Mount Rushmore, but the granite wasn't hard enough for his beard"''.

★ ''Rolling Stone'' magazine featured a short blurb regarding the "facts". (See image above.)

★ In the March 20, 2006 issue, ''TIME'' magazine interviewed Chuck Norris, calling him an "online cult hero." In the answer to their last question, he called the Chuck Norris Facts "weird but wildly popular sayings" and quoted one: "Chuck Norris ''can'' divide by zero."^[5]

★ On an episode of ''The Daily Show'' in a parody of Alaskan senator Ted Stevens' comments about the Internet being a "Series of tubes", John Hodgman stated that beneath every American home there were indeed a series of tubes and they could be used to send various pieces of information, mainly Chuck Norris Facts.

★ On "Boys Do Cry", a 2007 episode of ''Family Guy'', Peter Griffin mentions a Chuck Norris Fact that, when challenged by Brian, turns out to be true when Chuck Norris punches him with a fist concealed under his beard.

★ One of GaiaOnline's February 2006 'monthly collectibles' is presumably named after Chuck Norris. The Item itself has a suggesting name (Chyaku Norisu) and its description resembles one of the Facts: "There are only two things in the world that can cut diamonds ... other diamonds and CHYAKU NORISU!!"

★ "DON'T FUCK WITH CHUCK" is a popular facebook application which generates Chuck Norris Facts for visitors to read.

Spin-off jokes

Due to the popularity of Chuck Norris facts, and in order to keep this style of jokes fresh, other celebrities have become the target of these jokes. Bob Saget facts are in fact the opposite of the Chuck Norris facts, pointing out Saget's sensitivity. For example, "every night, the boogeyman checks under his bed for Chuck Norris; but then Bob Saget comes in, gives the boogeyman warm milk and quietly reads him a bedtime story." This style has also been applied to other celebrities, such as Vin Diesel, Jack Bauer, Ron Paul,^[6] Mister T, Bruce Schneier,^[7] The Silver Surfer, Chris Benoit (before his double-murder/suicide), Albus Dumbledore^[8] and Oprah Winfrey. On the DVD reissue of ''Road House'', Kevin Smith's commentary track gives several Chuck Norris facts retitled to reference Patrick Swayze's character Dalton.

References

1. Curse Gaming - The original addon can be found at http://wow.curse.com/downloads/details/2242/
2. In response to the "Random facts" that are being generated on the Internet Chuck Norris
3. On Chuck Norris 'mania' sweeping the Net
4. Chuck Norris Gets His Vengeance
5. People Rebecca Winters Keegan
6. [1]
7. Schneier Facts
8. [2]

External links

★ Chuck Norris Facts.com

★ More Chuck Norris Facts

★ Random Fact Generator

★ Chuck Norris' official response

★ A Washington Post article on Chuck Norris Facts

★

★ Chuck Norris' Video Appearance Reading Top 10 Chuck Norris Jokes (Best Sports Period)

★ Chuck Norris Facts Dashboard Widget