Filed under: Video
Apple employee gets fired for hilarious standup/poetry routine
I love the 'six degrees of everything' effect of the world wide web. I especially love it on a Sunday morning that is the second day of my spring break, as I have the time to check out this hilarious video of a standup/poetry routing from a talent show on the Apple Campus (thanks to TUAW commenter Mike). While the routine is a riot, what (apparently) came out of it is not: the employee says Apple's VP, who was hosting the event, fired him for it.
I have embedded the video from Google Video in this post, and you'll need Flash to view it. I'd recommend actually going to the post at Google Video and downloading it while you can, before Apple legal attempts to obliterate it from the 'net.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Xipher said 5:29PM on 3-19-2006
From a Canadian, and a Vancouver resident, that was hilarious!
Good stuff indeed.
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Reg said 5:35PM on 3-19-2006
It's a bit old, and doesn't refer to the apparent fact that he also bad-mouthed his (Apple) customers in his public blog:
Here's a comment on it:
http://www.returnfalse.com/docs/entry.php?eid=1565
I doubt we're getting the whole story. The behind-the-scenes attitudes of phone support people - "the customer is always a doofus" - are rather well known.
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Paul said 5:37PM on 3-19-2006
That was so funny. Too bad he lost his job.
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mike said 5:38PM on 3-19-2006
as a canadian... lol...i can never take americans seriously when they attempt to sound intelligent
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Dom said 5:40PM on 3-19-2006
Could you not have found anything older to post about?
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Cris said 5:40PM on 3-19-2006
I'm confused. Why did anything he say get him fired?
Seriously. What am i missing?
???
Apple's VP is strange and unusual.
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Curious George said 6:19PM on 3-19-2006
I'm with you number 6...I couldn't even figure out what about that was supposedly offensive?? or unprofessional? That horrible singing lady...now there's a person who should have been let go for even singing in public.
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Andy Lee said 6:28PM on 3-19-2006
So that's how Apple helps its employees relax? Frankly it creeped me out a bit. The setup and the cold lighting and the weird singing person made me uncomfortable.
BTW, I must be the only one who didn't find the routine all that funny. But that's a separate issue from whether it warranted firing. I reserve judgment on that.
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The Wizard said 6:30PM on 3-19-2006
The poem was very funny. The guy is really talented with a high sense of humour that can allow him to write the next upcoming episodes of a sitcom like friends or so. Why the hell he got fired??!! Certainly not for this. It has to be something else. From his performance I like him but I think that he is hiding something.
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Justin said 6:56PM on 3-19-2006
I speak English secondarily to my primary tongue, but I am finding his performing to be of the humorous order of one. I am not knowing why he is fired for this comedic standing up routine. I am laughing until I hurt my stomach.
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Justin said 6:57PM on 3-19-2006
P.S. What a country!!
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glad said 7:22PM on 3-19-2006
He was funny but I guess his intended day job is really the stand up poetry and the fact that Apple VP had him sacked can go on his CV, best of luck to him. Actually when he slated the rude american customers the whole Apple audience laughed. Anyway if was a joke so please someone explain that to the VP.
I was very suprised to see that Apple actually employed African-Americans (ok I saw one guy).
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Jadey B said 7:40PM on 3-19-2006
Confirms what I expected after time on hold with smug phone support.
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Jon said 8:00PM on 3-19-2006
i didn't find him to be very funny...but definitely didn't warrant losing his job for. I highly doubt it was for this though. I bet you he was just lazy or something.
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Donn said 8:33PM on 3-19-2006
I just saw this movie, and no wonder this guy got fired! He's bragging about putting people on hold unnecessarily, and saying how stupid customers are, all while he is recorded on videotape! What's not to understand? It was funny and well presented, but come on, it takes some real creativity to get the point across and not to simply insult customers and saying it's okay for tech reps to put customers on hold when he gets upset with them. That's totally not dealing with the problem of a bad customer, folks. By the way, I used to work for Apple in the education channel. This guy blew a great chance to talk about his experience, but he went too far, no question.
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Nate MC said 8:49PM on 3-19-2006
If it's true then Apple's VP needs a stick-ectomy to remove the one thats lodged up his/her lower end.
I love that routine though, amazing! Once had a similar experience with the RCA eBook tech support woman, she said "bee's knees" and I swooned.
Uhm yeah.. but uhhh... That can't be why this guy was fired, it just doesn't add up. Now making the video poking fun at fellow employees is unprofessional but his performance wasn't in my book.
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Mac Diva said 9:20PM on 3-19-2006
Nate MC said: "Now making the video poking fun at fellow employees. . . ."
You really don't get it? CUSTOMERS are more important than employees, actually. Without customers, a businesss does not even need employees. The problem with this employee's attitude (perhaps common among telephone support people) is that it can cost the company customers. Everyone who has ever had a bad phone support experience with Apple and sees the video will have their suspicion that phone support employees are arrogant arses who consider customers idiots confirmed.
This is not the worst sort of ignorant enough to be a danger to himself fired employee griping I've seen lately. I would give that laurel to the Delaware reporter who griped about being fired for having a blog full of racial slurs, misogyny and disdainful remarks about the handicapped.
What can people do to protect themselves? Learn what it means to be an 'employee at will.'
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Exidor said 9:21PM on 3-19-2006
If you leave me
on hold
for five minutes
while you write
your pretentious,
jack-ass poetry
then I'm not going
to give your company
any more
of my money.
Guy got what he deserved.
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Chris said 10:54PM on 3-19-2006
That wasn't even funny... glad to hear he got fired
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Brendan said 11:31PM on 3-19-2006
I bet each of you gripe about your day jobs in public, maybe even make up exagerated stories. We don't know that he acted inappropriately in real life, just that he wrote a poem about leaving a rude customer on hold (presumably while he arranged shipping with FedEx).
Apple is throwing out a talented, creative employee, who's sense of humour would have been an asset in a very challenging job (telephone support).
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