That’s pretty good, but might you have any gift cards with FOUR wieners?

The Chuckler was over at Target this weekend and spotted this curious gift card at the register. How did no one at Target HQ see it and think, “Boy, this sure looks like a bear, a duck, and a frog hanging out with their dongs out.” Talk about a boner!

Guess what, fellow readers! Now you can get your dose of the Chuckler 140 characters at a time! That’s right, the Chuckler’s on Twitter! For those of you who don’t have an account and are asking yourselves, “Twitter? I barely know her!,” you now have a reason to sign up. Twitter’s a great place for up-to-the-minute Chuckler news. Whenever a new post goes live or a bowel is moved, the Twitter crowd will be the first to know. So click here to follow the Chuckler on Twitter, and check our left side nav for all our social network links.

First things first, we’re no longer Vulture Droppings. From now on, we’re only going to answer to The Chuckler. (Please, NY Mag, don’t steal this name too.) We got a bunch of new features to go along with our name change.

- Comments. Yes, now you can leave snarky remarks to your heart’s desire.
- Like and Dislike. With a swift click of the mouse, you can vote whether a post is worthy or not.
- Condensed View. Hate the bulkiness of images and body text? Switch to this view and just read the headlines.
- And many little things that you’ll get bored reading about!

Out of all our changes, you know which one we like most? READ MORE

With over two million views on YouTube, chances are you’ve seen the fake trailer for Minesweeper: The Movie. That video was made by New York’s Elephant Larry, a sketch comedy group known for their inventive takes on popular topics. Elephant Larry is Geoff Haggerty, Stefan Lawrence, Chris Principe, Jeff Solomon, and Alex Zalben. This group of Cornell Grads has a knack for writing pop-culture skits in brilliantly original ways.

Watch their Street Fighter 2 skit Hadoken and Optical Illusion Girlfriend for examples of what we’re talking about.

Recently, we had the fortune of chatting up with one-fifth of the EL machine, Chris Principe.

Chuckler: How’d you all meet?

Chris Principe: We were all in a college sketch group at Cornell called The Skits-O-Phrenics. Silly name, but it was like comedy boot camp. Stefan and Alex were seniors when Jeff and Geoff auditioned as freshmen, and I joined a semester later. So technically, I’m still five months behind everyone.

C: How did the name Elephant Larry come about?

CP: Our first real name was actually Phantlar. It’s a nonsensical word that became one of our first inside jokes and then, somehow, the name of the new group. At our next rehearsal, we grudgingly admitted that Phantlar was just too weird, even though we all kinda liked it. Stefan suggested we could keep it by expanding the name to Elephant Larry.

C: What’s the brainstorming process like?

CP: Most often it’s just us f*cking around and then pairing off to try and crystalize that f*ckage into something that can be put onstage or in front of a camera. So I guess the answer to your question is “crystalized f*ckage.”

C: Ha! Once you’ve got this “crystalized f*ckage,”how long does it take turn it into a video?

CP: It varies. Depending on the complexity of the idea and whether we’re doing it ourselves or with outside producers, it can take anywhere from a few days to a few months.

C: How does one go about getting College Humor to produce their videos?

CP: Um, e-mail them maybe? I don’t know. We’ve known those guys for years, and it kind of happened organically.

C: Your sketches often evoke a “why didn’t I think of that!” response. Is this something you set out to do?

CP: For me, the highest form of flattery in the comedy world is seeing another person’s sketch and thinking that exact thought: “Damn, I wish I’d thought of that.” So yes, we do want to make sketches people love. Who doesn’t? But ultimately, we set out to create material that we ourselves find funny. I suppose the ideal scenario is when those two goals intersect.

C: Minesweeper: The Movie definitely met those two goals and it’s gotten a great response. Reading the YouTube comments, it seems like a lot of people would pay to see the movie in theaters. Is this something you would consider doing?

CP: We discussed it semi-seriously when Minesweeper was first released, but abandoned the idea pretty quickly. I have a feeling the people who say they’d like to see a full length Minesweeper movie don’t take the time to visualize sitting down and watching another version of that same exact joke, only forty-five times longer. Not that we wouldn’t want to.

C: A lot of comics switch over to the world of drama. Have you guys ever considered this switch? Maybe making a video about a little girl with terminal cancer who gets a puppy that also has terminal cancer? That could be a real tear-jerker.

CP: We have a sketch called Waiting For Gobots. Does that count?

C: It’ll do. According to Wikipedia, John Landis directed one of your videos. How did that happen?

CP: We entered a contest and were selected with a handful of other groups to be flown out to Los Angeles and have our sketch filmed by the man himself. It was fun and surreal. We actually ran into him a year later at a screening of Resident Evil: Extinction. That was also surreal, but a little less fun because it involved zombies and they’re terrifying.

C: Did you hear he’s suing Michael Jackson to stop “Thriller” from becoming a Broadway show? Are you guys worried he’ll sue you next?

CP: I did not hear about this, but I bet Jeff is probably worried about it.

C: Incidentally, how’s it feel to have a Wikipedia article about you?

CP: It’s an honor and a privilege. Proof of existence is not something to be taken lightly.

C: It most definitely is not. Any new gigs you wanna plug?

CP: Stefan’s baby! It’s in his wife Biz’s belly right now, but should be coming out sometime this summer. Stefan has promised to name it Cedar Box if it’s a boy, Megaman if it’s a girl.

C: Ha ha ha, we hope it’s a girl. Speaking of the youth, any advice for your young fans?

CP: Ah, yes. A great hip hop/techno act we got paired with at a college show once said, “Follow all your dreams/If they come true, it’s your fantasy.”

C: Lastly, what’s the ultimate goal for Elephant Larry?

CP: To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a television show.

C: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, Chris.

CP: Thank YOU

With more videos, live shows, and several top-secret “large mysterious projects” coming up, 2009 is looking good for Elephant Larry.