Ben Schwartz on His Love of Improv, Playing Sonic and Almost Missing Out on Jean-Ralphio

The prolific 41-year-old actor and comedian has several projects on the way, including ‘Renfield’ with Nicolas Cage. But as he tells Cracked, the rejections still hurt — and the memories of the early years of struggle remain

Authors: By Tim Grierson
Published: March 27, 2023
Comments: 0

Hall of Shame Moments from Five Blockbuster Comedies

Listen, not every joke can be a winner, okay

Authors: By Amanda Mannen
Published: March 27, 2023
Comments: 3

PICTOFACT

13 Bits Of Trivia That Lit Up Long-Forgotten Neural Pathways In Our Brains

Aber-clam Lincoln lives.

Authors: By Andrea Meno, JhallComics
Published: March 27, 2023
Comments: 0

PICTOFACT

12 Archeological Discoveries That Would Have Made Indiana Jones Run In Breathless Terror

In ancient Rome, the poor were thrown into pits of corpses, garbage, and excrement.

Authors: By Andrea Meno, JhallComics
Published: March 26, 2023
Comments: 1

‘Succession’s Logan Roy Asked for a Roast, So We Gave Him One

Logan’s Waystar minions were too scared to do it in the Season Four premiere. But not us

Authors: By Tara Ariano
Published: March 27, 2023
Comments: 0

36 Brilliant Ways People Bucked The Status Quo

By:: Cracked Readers

August 01, 2021

36 Brilliant Ways People Bucked The Status Quo

Social psychologists have long been fascinated by people's proclivity to obey the rules and conform to the expectations of others. Half the stuff we learned in our high school psychology class seemed to be about conformity. The other half, of course, was about training dogs.

Even though there seems to be a lot of people conforming to the rules and systems imposed on them, there’s always millions who decide not to. Those are the interesting people, the ones we all admire for poking little holes into the dumb stuff that stifles us.

Quentin Tarantino, Chinese-American immigrants, Oklahomans - they all have one thing in common: they were faced with a dumb, unjustified set of rules and they busted, broke, cajoled, twisted and shouted their way through them as much as possible. Someone has to stick it to the Man, whether the Man is big or small, and these are the people that did.

36

CRACKED.COM REN & STIMPY CREATORS OFTEN PUT IN RED HERRING JOKES TO DISTRACT CENSORS. In one particular episode, Prehistoric Stimpy, censors missed the red herrings and mistook a stylized palm tree for marijuana. The only note was to remove the marijuana trees from the background. All the off-color jokes stayed. — Source: 20 Creators That Schemed Their Way Past Censors

35

Lighbulb? Oh, you're referring to my Heatball. CRACKED.COM German entrepreneur Siegfried Rotthaeuser wanted to sell 75- and 100-watt bulbs, but 60 watts was the legal limit. He argued that his product, the Heatball, was a heater, not a lightbulb. Since he was the only one selling anything harder than 60 watts, he made a mint. — Source: The 4 Most Creative Ways People Used Loopholes to Get Rich

34

Source: 5 Wild Loopholes People Used To Beat Rigged Systems

33

Director Brian De Palma had to tone down Scarface's violence many times to appease the MPAA. Yet, they wouldn't budge and insisted on giving the film an X-rating. After appealing to the whole committee, he managed to secure an R-rating with the edited version of the film. He ended up submitting the first version of the film and no one even noticed. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Creators That Schemed Their Way Past Censors

32

TELL US NOW: BRILLIANT LOOPHOLES will William POP GRACKED Paul M. found the ol' HitClips loophole: I took a mini-disc player to high school, because the student handbook just mentioned radios, CD players, and cassette players as things that weren't allowed. — Source: Tell Us Now: 15 Brilliant Loopholes People Learned To Exploit

31

For sale: baby shoes. Also, baby. CRACKED.COM Adoption rehoming is a practice wherein adoptive parents who find themselves in over their heads can just kinda shovel-pass their kids off to some other stranger, via the internet. While it does have some noble use cases, it's also a pretty sweet deal for aspiring human traffickers. — Source: 9 Insane Loopholes You Won't Believe Are Legal

30

FAMILY GUY'S 2005 KEVIN SPACEY IS A SEXUAL PREDATOR JOKE GOT BY FOX CENSORS BECAUSE IT WAS AKNOWN RUMOR AT THE TIME. Reportedly, Fox Standards and Practices is lax with two things public rumors and things so outrageous they have no credibility. CRACKED.COM — Source: 20 Creators That Schemed Their Way Past Censors

29

The $60, 000 coupon loophole CRACKED.COM Norbert Verswijver, the Robin Hood of couponing, has math'd his way into entire shipments of frozen food, which he donates to the less fortunate. He also once found a small print oversight that allowed him to spend 60 cents on $60k worth of electronics. — Source: 5 Insane Ways People Trolled the System (And Won)

28

TELL US NOW: BRILLIANT LOOPHOLES $ $ $ CRACKED Ryan H. absolutely obliterated ol' JP Morgan: I needed my paycheck to go into my account immediately but the teller explained to me that only cash goes in immediately, checks take 3 days. So I asked her to cash the check for me, and when she handed me the cash, I handed it right back and asked to make a deposit. — Source: Tell Us Now: 15 Brilliant Loopholes People Learned To Exploit

27

British schoolboys wear skirts and shave their legs. CRACKED.COM Male students at Isca Academy in Devon weren't allowed to wear shorts, even in a record heatwave in 2017. So 30 students started wearing skirts, which were, of course, allowed for girls, and not expressly forbidden for boys. The leg-shaving started when a teacher protested their unsightly hairy legs. — Source: 6 Hilarious Loopholes Normal People Used To Beat The System

26

Chinese families took turns playing Gordon Ramsay CRACKED.COM In order to qualify as a high-grade restaurant in the 1950's, you needed one full-time manager (who didn't do any real restaurant work). As a high-grade establishment, you were then eligible to bring your family over to work for you. Multiple families would take turns managing a shop, bringing over their families, opening new shops, and SO on, ad infinitum. — Source: 5 Wild Loopholes People Used To Beat Rigged Systems

25

CRACKED.COM How do you keep a puppet-on-puppet sex scene in your movie and still escape the dreaded NC-17 rating? simple. Add a golden shower sequence. Trey Parker and Matt Stone knew the MPAA would have a problem with the now famous Team America: World Police scene, so they deliberately added a golden shower moment, knowing they could cut it as a compromise. — Source: 20 Creators That Schemed Their Way Past Censors

24

Australian hipsters dine in a dumpster. CRACKED.COM A local design company protested (and temporarily solved) the lack of community space and public parks by setting a dumpster in the road and turning it into a quaint little outdoor cafe. — Source: Herald Sun

23

TELL US NOW: BRILLIANT LOOPHOLES GRACKED Frank o. has doomed the paid subscription model of web publishing: When you go to a site with a paywall, wait for the article to load, then 'Select All' and 'Copy' in the 5-second interval between when the page loads and when the firewall notice appears. Then 'Paste' into MS Word. — Source: Tell Us Now: 15 Brilliant Loopholes People Learned To Exploit

22

One first-class ticket let a man dine free for a year. CRACKED.COM In 2014, Xi'an Xianyang International Airport noticed that one ticket had been canceled and rebooked over 300 times. When they looked into it, they found that the ticket holder had been entering the first-class lounge, eating a delicious free meal, then cancelling his ticket free of charge -- nearly every single day. — Source: 5 Brilliant Loopholes People Used To Cheat The System

21

A Colorado inmate discovered legal shanking CRACKED.COM Colorado has a very cool law, probably named by a very cool and well-adjusted person, called the Make My Day law. Any degree of physical force is allowable against someone who breaks into your dwelling which now legally includes prison cells. — Source: 9 Insane Loopholes You Won't Believe Are Legal

20

CRACKED.COM Meet the Fockers was almost renamed to Meet the Fokkers, title a that the ensors considered to be more family-friendly. Fortunately, Universal Studios found the real-life Fockers, a family from Canada. That was enough to convince the censors to approve the original title. — Source: 20 Creators That Schemed Their Way Past Censors

19

New Yorkers find delightful way to bring dogs into the subway. CRACKED.COM The MTA explicitly states that dogs must be enclosed in a container and carried in a manner which would not annoy other passengers. Dog-owning subway riders started putting their dogs in hiking backpacks and shopping bags. — Source: 6 Hilarious Loopholes Normal People Used To Beat The System

18

TELL US NOW: BRILLIANT LOOPHOLES CRACKED Rory L. figured out how to achieve a true American cholesterol level, abroad: McDonald's used to do a scratchy card promotion in my country. Every card was a winner, you just had to scratch the winning panel first. You could just scratch a pinprick of each panel in a specific location, and see if it was a winner. And of course the staff aren't paid enough to notice. All-you-can-eat cheeseburgers and fries! — Source: Tell Us Now: 15 Brilliant Loopholes People Learned To Exploit

17

A gambling website was ruined by baccarat CRACKED.COM PlayNow.com ran a promotion where a player would get a free $100 voucher, provided they bet $100 of their own money. Users figured out that, by making 2 $50 bets in baccarat -- one on themselves, one on the dealer -- they'd be statistically guaranteed to break even, and qualify for the voucher without actually gambling a penny. — Source: 5 Brilliant Loopholes People Used To Cheat The System

16

Not allowed to marry? Try adoption instead! E SHO GRACKED.co Civil rights leader Bayard Rustin and his boyfriend were just one of many couples who opted to adopt one another when their love was deemed legally icky. It was a great way to get much-deserved legal and financial protections, but it was also a big gamble, as adoption is much more permanent than marriage. — Source: 5 Wild Loopholes People Used To Beat Rigged Systems

15

A bald-faced lie helped get an interracial kiss on 1960s television. The TV special, Movin' with Nancy, featured Nancy Sinatra performing with other famous singers, like Sammy Davis Jr. At the end of their duet, they share a kiss on the cheek. The director, Jack Haley Jr., pre-planned to film the scene last, knowing that NBC would complain. He also told the network that Davis Jr. had to catch a flight -- which was a lie. — Source: 20 Creators That Schemed Their Way Past Censors

14

Black people hire ghost buyers to sidestep racist policies. CRACKED.co Before the Fair Housing Act of 1968, it was explicitly legal - some might say encouraged, by the state - to segregate suburbs. To circumvent racist housing policies, white Ghost Buyers would tour homes and even sign paperwork on behalf of Black people who wanted to buy a house. — Source: 5 Wild Loopholes People Used To Beat Rigged Systems

13

TELL US NOW: BRILLIANT LOOPHOLES BLOCKBUSTER CRACKED Catherine L. figured out the key to Blockbuster's demise: We used to have a Blockbuster kiosk in our town, and if they were out of a movie you wanted, you would get a different movie for free. They also had the out-of-stock movies LABELED ON THE MENU. So we would 'try' to check one out, then get the movie we actually wanted for free. — Source: Tell Us Now: 15 Brilliant Loopholes People Learned To Exploit

12

A woman paid war-era rent until 1992 CRACKED.COM New York City resident Fannie Lowenstein lucked into a rent-controlled, $500-per-month hotel room - on 5th Ave, no less -- during WWII. She held onto it for 35 years, and even managed to finagle an upgrade from owner and famous good-deal maker, Donald Trump. — Source: 6 Hilarious Loopholes Normal People Used To Beat The System

11

You can, technically, commute to work in an armed tank CRACKED.COM A British man realized he could take his kids to school in his friggin' tank, if he just modified the treads to prevent road damage. In the US, one merely has to buy a $200 Destructive Device Permit to keep one's guns mounted on one's hog. — Source: 9 Insane Loopholes You Won't Believe Are Legal

10

CRACKED.COM The Joker is a well- known homicidal maniac in the Batman universe, but the creators of Batman: The Animated Series weren't allowed to show any killing due to it being a kids' show. So they introduced the iconic Joker grin to the Joker's victims. Producer Bruce Timm remarked that being afflicted by the Joker grin was a fate worse than death. — Source: 20 Creators That Schemed Their Way Past Censors

9

Iranian women sneak into soccer game by dressing in Bro Drag. CRACKED.COM 5 women went viral in 2018 by wearing wigs and beards to get into a futball game in Tehran. It's not technically illegal for women to attend, but 35 women were detained just that year for trying to get into a stadium. — Source: BBC

8

TELL US NOW: BRILLIANT LOOPHOLES CRACKED Thomas G. stays up at night, wracked with guilt over cheating his local cybercafe: I feel bad about it now, but I was a broke high school kid at the time. There was a pop-up window that would show your remaining credit, and I found out if you clicked and held on the counter, it would pause the countdown. Websites were extremely slow to load, so it helped avoid getting charged while waiting. — Source: Tell Us Now: 15 Brilliant Loopholes People Learned To Exploit

7

London is chock-full of taxis GRACKED.COM London charges a driving fee of 10 pounds per day to individual drivers, but taxis are exempt. You won't be surprised to learn, then, that many of the cars you see on the road are technically taxis, thanks to the small amount of paperwork needed to acquire a taxi license. — Source: The 4 Most Creative Ways People Used Loopholes to Get Rich

6

Gay Native American couple manages to wed in Oklahoma CRACKED.co Oklahoma isn't exactly a liberal bastion, and same-sex marriage was still illegal in 2013. But Darren Black Bear and Jason Pickel noticed that they could be wedded by the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribe, which simply didn't specify gender in its federally recognized marriage laws. — Source: 5 Brilliant Loopholes People Used To Cheat The System

5

Hockey players unite to punch each other in the face. BROOKETH CRACKEDo Technically, the NHL says you can't fight with your helmet off. That is, unless it pops off in the course of and resulting from the altercation. Brawling enemies essentially do each other the favor of ripping off their opponent's helmet, SO the fight can continue as brutally as possible. — Source: 5 Insane Ways People Trolled the System (And Won)

4

TELL US NOW: BRILLIANT LOOPHOLES GRACKED Jake s. refuses to let his disability limit him: use a wheelchair due to Spina Bifida. Whenever I buy concert tickets, I always buy the cheapest, most inaccessible tickets possible. Due to the ADA, venues are legally required to make sure things are accessible, so I almost always get moved to a more expensive section where my chair can go, with a better view, for no extra charge. — Source: Tell Us Now: 15 Brilliant Loopholes People Learned To Exploit

3

How to beat credit card companies at their own game TRO CRACKED.com When Dmitry Argarkov got a junk mailer from Tinkoff Credit Systems, he scanned it and - brilliantly -- edited the fine print. Tinkoff accepted his contract without re-reading it, and were forced to abide by his much more generous terms. — Source: 5 Brilliant Loopholes People Used To Cheat The System

2

There's a sovereign state inside of Australia CRACKED.COM 5 farms on the Hutt River attempted to secede from Australia in the 1960's, a request that the state obviously denied. Except that, in their denial, they referred to the Administrator of Hutt River Province, which actually granted them statehood. To this day, the Province doesn't pay taxes. — Source: The 6 Most Creative Abuses of Loopholes

1

CRACKED.COM The bloodiest scenes in Kill Bill were changed to black and white to make the violence more stylized. It worked; the MPAA approved the R rating for the movie. KILLEBELL — Source: 20 Creators That Schemed Their Way Past Censors

Recommended For Your Pleasure

The Funniest Cults Lurking in Comedies

The good part about cults is getting to make fun of them

Authors: By Zanandi Botes
Published: March 26, 2023
Comments: 4

5 Millionaires Who Suffered Ignominious Deaths

‘Wait. With my money, I though I’d live forever!’

Authors: By Ryan Menezes
Published: March 26, 2023
Comments: 4

PICTOFACT

11 Entertainers Who Were Weekend-at-Bernie's'd for Too Long

Take off that oxygen mask and recite these lines, Brando!

Authors: By Jay L'Ecuyer, JhallComics
Published: March 26, 2023
Comments: 1

The 10 Best Dark Humor Jokes from George Carlin

‘There is something refreshingly ironic about people lying on the beach contracting skin cancer in an attempt to acquire a purely illusory appearance of good health, while germ-laden medical waste washes up on the sand all around them’

Authors: By Dan Fritschie
Published: March 26, 2023
Comments: 3

Don’t Worry: The Other Person Hates Themselves During Awkward Small Talk, Too

Is there really that much to say about the weather anyway?

Authors: By Lauren Vinopal
Published: March 26, 2023
Comments: 1

The Best ‘Simpsons’ Episode for Every Simpsons Family Member

They are the very family that makes Springfield — and the show — go ‘round

Authors: By Neil Arsenty
Published: March 26, 2023
Comments: 5