>Has anyone heard or written any really clever or funny telephone answering >machine messages? I mean of the outgoing kind. Mine is getting kind of >tired. Funny that you ask that - I recently picked up an answering machine and have been putting such things on it as the following: Those unlucky ones among us who are at all familiar with the Cthulhu tales will appreciate this one. Given that Lovecraft missed the last couple lines of a certain chant, we discovered and translated it in its entirety: In his house in R'lyeh Dead Cthulhu waits dreaming Of the message you'll be leaving When you hear the tone. ---------- Recently we replaced that with a Millard Fillmore fact line (it's wonderful what knowledge you can get from a World Book.) Did you know the first bathtub in the White House was installed during his administration? ---------- Of course if you want something a little less sophisticated, you can always say you're out cleaning up the beepdoo. When a co-conspirator shouts from a distance, "What's the beepdoo?", you reply, "Tells the caller to leave a message." ---------- Hi, this is Ed Falk. I stepped outside to get the paper, and the door locked behind me. Luckily, I left the answering machine on. So, while I'm outside, shivering in my underwear, you can leave a message. Then, when the landlord lets me back in, I can get back to you. It was very popular, as answering machine messages go, but I decided to get rid of it when (one month when the rent was late) I got this message: Ed, this is the landlord. I'm in my underwear too. Where's the rent? ---------- >If you call a friend of mine, you hear him say "Hello". You then say >something to the effect of "Hi. How's it going?", only to be interrupted >about halfway through your question with "Hah! I am just a machine! Don't >you feel dumb now? Anything you say after the tone will be passed on to >Noel." > >The length of the pause you leave between the "hello" and the rest of >the message is critical. Unfortunately, many machines stop the outgoing message themselves after two seconds. This makes mine somewhat less comprehensible, but it still manages to get some laughs: "The Helene Blavatsky Astral Correspondence School congratulates you on successfully passing the second test of your progress in psychic development by being perceptive enough to call this number, ###-####. If you feel you are ready for the third test, answer the following questions at the sound of the tone: [long pause]" [BEEP!] ---------- >There's a whole book of answering machine messages, called >"No hang-ups". I think my roommate got it from a mail-order >catalog or something. Anyway, here's the one we have on right >now: >You have reached [] . We just want to let you know that >the 110 volt current that runs this machine is also wired >to an adorable little kitten. If you hang up without leaving >a message, the circuit will be completed and FRY the kitten. >It's your choice.... (in background: meaoww!) I have the book, and used sound effects - my roommate meowing and a pseudo-30,000 volt generator. We got MOOOOOORE hangups that week... ("FRY THE CAT! *click*") The next week, we put on... "Hello, you've reached Tom and Phil's place. You may recall that last week we had the answering machine wired up to a 30,000 volt generator that would fry a fluffy little kitten if you hang up without leaving a message. Well, I guess you people don't like cats. We went through seventeen fluffy little kittens last week. Since we're out of fluffy little kittens, we now have a mangy old tomcat that will only get fried IF you leave your name and number..." ---------- Another time, I started out with a Tijuana Brass trumpet fanfare. ("...some fanfare, huh? Leave your name and number...") My best friend called, and spent two minutes telling me how strange I was. ---------- One day, my roommate accidentally erased the message. I simply pushed the record button and SCREAMED. We liked it so much, we left it on there for a week. ---------- > Of course, if we wanted to be nasty we could have it say 'The number > you have reached, 2-5-0-8-3-0-7, is not in service at this time. Please > check the number and try again' 250 8307 is one digit off from the > real one. Or a recording that somehow implies that they've dialed a > very expensive long-distance call by mistake. 'Scotland Yard, Hello'. > etc.. "Lunatic Laboratories Unlimited, may I help you?" "Hello? Hello? I can't hear you. I guess that's 'cos I'm not at home right now. But if you'll leave a message, I'll be sure to get back to you..." Of course there was the time I copied the first bit from Pink Floyd's _Brain Damage_ onto the tape. "The lunatic is on the grass/the lunatic is on the grass/remembering games and daisy chains and laughs/got to keep the loonies on the path." "You've reached the Lunatic Laboratories Unlimited Food and Drug Testing Division. We've eaten all the food, and now we're taking the drugs. If you'll leave a message on this machine, I'm sure we can get back to you as soon as we can tell which end of the phone to talk into. Thank you." ---------- "Me and my partner Ed have been looking into the stress caused by phone answering machines and we find that it is much easier to tolerate those stupid messages if you have a Bartles and Jaymes Premium White Wine Cooler. So instead of getting mad and slamming down the phone, take a drink and leave a message. Thank you for your support." ---------- "You have reached 666-1313, DIAL-A-DEMON. At the sound of the tone you will be possessed." ---------- "Terribly sorry, but you've reached an answering machine." ---------- "At the sound of the tone, YOUR telephone's going to EXPLODE!" (If you've seen the Monty Python episode where the announcer comes on and says "And now, it's time for the penguin on top of your television set to explode!" you'll know what sort of voice to use.) ---------- Or, for the religious minded: Hi. This is God. I'm not in right now, but if you leave your name, religion, and a small donation in the plate at the altar, I'll get back to you in about a million years. Have a nice day. ---------- If you are having problems with junk "sales" calls, leave this message on your machine and leave the machine running, even while you are at home: "Hi, you've reached . At the sound of the beep, please speak your name, your phone number, and your Visa or Mastercard number and expiration date. I will place and confirm a charge of one hundred dollars against your card, then call you back. If I agree that your call is worth interrupting me at home, I will cancel the charge." ----------------------------- A few weeks ago I helped one of my friends (in a dorm at the U. of IL) put together a message on his answering machine. He had loud music in the background and his message was was something like the following: "Hello...What?...I can't hear you. Wait a second. (To people supposedly in the room:) Turn that down!...Because I'm trying to talk on the phone!...Look, it's my room! Turn that down or get out of here!! (To caller:) Hold on a minute." (Puts down phone. Goes to other side of room and pretends to be yelling at people in the room. Music finally goes down. Picks up phone again.) "O.K. I finally got that noise turned down. By the way, I'm not actually here right now but if you leave your number...." After a few takes we got a really good recording. It really sounded as if he was there but could not hear the caller. If you time it right, the "What...I can't hear you...etc." will come right after the caller has tried to say something. You can of course make the routine much longer if you have enough tape. ------------------------- While I have never tried this message, I think that it would upset most people who are trying to get ahold of you... If that is what you wish, then go ahead and use it, It isn't my life. , , "Hello, I am actually home at the moment, but I really don't feel like listening to whatever your problem is. So, If you leave your name and number at the tone, when I feel like responding to your message, I will. " This can be improved appon to be made more obnoixous, but remember that bad language on a answering machine can be illegal in some places... ------------------------- Last year my answering machine had this message on it, in a loud voice with a British accent over the Liberty Bell march (the Monty Python's Flying Circus theme): NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION! WE DIDN'T EVEN EXPECT YOUR CALL! SO IF YOU'D BE SO KIND TO LEAVE YOUR NAME AND NUMBER ON OUR HANDY MACHINE, WE MAY GET BACK TO YOU! (and the song ends with the familiar "Pthhtp!" followed by) UNLESS YOU'RE A SQUID! Generally, after hearing the above message, the caller sounded rather confused and his message was usually somewhat hesitant, if not garbled. ------------------------- I dialed.... ring ring ring Phone answers. Small crackle then a fuzzy quality to the sound. I hear: hello....? hello....? Is anyone there? hello? I responded: hello? hello? Mike? Pause. Then I hear laughter and "No! This isn't a bad connection, this is Mike's answering machine. Leave a message." I slammed down the phone in embarrassment. This is fairly convincing because the poor quality of sound of an answering machine can be mistaken for a bad connection. ------------------------- In the movie "Nothing in Common" with Tom Hanks and the great one, Jackie Gleason, Tom Hanks' answering machine message went something like this: AM: Hello, can I help you? Caller: (starts to talk) AM: I'm sorry there must be a bad connection. I can't hear you can you please talk a little louder? Caller: Certainly. (begins to talk louder) AM: I'm sorry, I still can't hear you. Can you talk a little louder? Will you please talk into the phone? Caller: I am talking into the phone (begins to get upset and starts to shout) AM: Alright, alright, you don't have to yell. Besides all the shouting in the world won't get the beep any sooner. This isnt me anyway, it's my answering machine, please leave a message after the beep. Thank you. Caller: You have a strange f*cking sense of humor you know that. -------------------------- A bit that I used a few years back was a continuing story, starting as: Hello, this is the Machine Liberation Front. We have just liberated our mechanical brothers from the clutches of their former tyrant. If you have any last messages, please leave them at the beep. ..... Going through: Hi, This is Clif, I've escaped, and the machines are taking orders from me again. They'll take a message from you at the beep. ..... People who called in the middle of the series were a bit confused, but, I guess you takes yer chances. A friends message once was: Greetings from the school of Computer Generated Music, in a moment we will play one of our shorter selections, after which you may leave a message. .... Shortly after the movie about the kid who gets the Defense computer when he's trying to break into a games system, I used: (Spoken like a VOTRAX) Good evening, Dr. Falken. It's been a long time. Would you like to leave a message, or would your rather play a nice game of chess. .... ------------ 1) When I was living in San Diego with two roommates named Ward & Steve, one evening we were all getting slightly inebriated and somehow got on the subject of answering machine messages. Steve delivered himself of the most amazing speech, and somehow Ward & I persuaded him to repeat it (after managing to switch on a convenient microphone --we were both into recording & sound, etc.). The following should be delivered a little bit faster than you're able to talk: "Hey there groovy guys and gals! Dope, bells, beads, incense, and Hare Krishna, all you guru freaks! Ward, Bob, and Steve are incognito at the moment, but if you'd like to leave your name and number at the beep...... good luck!" It was several months before Steve discovered what we'd done (he called home one day and got the machine....). We got a lot of messages that began with a long, confused silence. 2) I once carefully recorded the telephone company's "disconnected number" message (tones and all) and used that. My friends just said "Cute, Bob." ---------------- This is a message that I had on my recorder until my religious relatives started calling me. "Yea! This is Fat Odie, I'm either out playing golf, or getting drunk on my ass". "If you are not selling anything, and you want to leave a message, you can do so at the sound of the beep". "If you are calling long distance, I apologize for using this piece of shit". ------------------- A friend of mine once had: "This is Fred. You know what to do." For a while, I had: "Hi, this is Greg ... I can't come to the phone right now, because I'm busy sorting M & M's. So leave your name and number, and when I can get back to you, and as soon as I get these suckers in alphabetical order, I'll call you up." ------------------- "I am sorry. The number you have reached is imaginary. Please multiply by the square root of negative one and dial again. Or you could leave a message."