How do you type with boxing gloves on?
From Homestar Runner Wiki
From a 2003 interview with Run Devil Run:
C. NEUTRON: What are [Strong Bad Emails] like on the whole?
MATT CHAPMAN: There's a lot of repetition. People can't seem to get over how Strong Bad types with boxing gloves on.
MIKE CHAPMAN: For the most part they are not very interesting. About 80% of them ask how he can type so fast with boxing gloves on.
"How do you type with boxing gloves on?" and its variants are questions that Strong Bad is asked on a regular basis in his emails. The Brothers Chaps have made its repetition into a running gag: Strong Bad hates this question, and it is often DELETED.
An Easter egg in Hremail 7 showed the first time Strong Bad had to type, asking himself this question. The Cheat cuts him off with some "smart thinking", suggesting that he is responsible for coming up with Strong Bad's mysterious typing method.
From what little that has been seen, it seems Strong Bad merely presses his gloved hands upon the keyboard just as any typist would, and the appropriate keys are pressed and depressed without interference. Interestingly, dullard shows that Strong Bad types with his thumbs facing up, as if he were touching the keys with the bottoms of his fists. He is similarly shown to be able to play a piano, in rock opera. Indeed, Strong Bad is capable of typing precisely by striking the keyboard with any part of his body. In sisters, he types "head—hit—keyboard" by striking the keyboard with his head, and in funny, he types "WOAH!! I CAN TYPE WITH ONE FOOT!" by hitting the keyboard with his foot. In tape-leg and crying he is able to type complete sentences with only one hand. At one point, Strong Bad tried using prosthetic fingers (made of various items such as prawns and action figure limbs) which had a disastrous effect on his typing skills. However, in morning routine, he was able to type successfully with a Potate bag covering his right hand.
This running gag extends to variations of Strong Bad. Old-Timey Strong Bad is frequently asked the similar question, "How do you manage the telegramophone whilst wearing gentleman's sport gloves?" In the email high school, Teenage Strong Bad plays the keyboard in The Homestar Runner Mysfit-steries, even though he doesn't have fingers.
A similar question that gets asked often is how characters like Homestar Runner are able to pick things up without having any arms.
This question has been addressed a few times directly by the Brothers Chaps. In the DVD commentary for the email video games, they consider the possibility of coming up with a good answer to the question. During public appearances in 2005 and 2008, Matt (in character as Strong Bad) jokingly threatened to kill fans who asked how he typed with boxing gloves. In February 2006, the brothers included this question as one of five topics which will likely never be addressed in a Strong Bad Email.
[edit] Appearances
- Email spring cleaning
- Email 50 emails — Homestar tries to delete the email.
- Email huttah!
- Email fingers — The entirety of the email, especially the introduction, is about this very question.
- Email virus — Strong Bad cries "How do you text with boxing gloves on?" while distraught about the destruction of the Compy 386.
- Email pop-up — The Tandy 400 is featured in the book asking "HOW TYPE BOX GLOVES?" Strong Bad describes this as "his crappy old computer, asking the same crappy old questions."
- Sbemail 150?!?
- Email your funeral
- Email email thunder (DVD commentary) — Matt Chapman asks, "How does Homestar type with no gloves of any kind on?"
- Hremail 7 — Strong Bad starts to ask "How am I supposed to type with—" before The Cheat cuts him off with a reply.
- Email independent — Strong Bad's intro rap is about how he prefers to click prompts, and typing them "made [his] boxing gloves sick".
- Email videography — Strong Bad refers to checking emails with boxing gloves on as "the sweet computer science."
- PAX East - 8 Apr 2018 — The question was asked during the Q&A section. Puppet Strong Bad complained that his rider forbade asking about his boxing gloves, but demonstrated his ability by flailing around Matt's keyboard.
- Fangamer — The DELETED!! Lenticular Pin depicts Strong Bad deleting an email asking this question from the Tandy.
[edit] Variations
- Email some kinda robot — Strong Bad is asked if he takes off his boxing gloves before going to bed, to which he replies by asking the sender, "Do you remove your face and hands before you go to bed?"
- Email the bird — Strong Bad is asked if it is hard to flip someone off with boxing gloves on.
- Email vacation — Strong Bad mocks multiple stereotypical emails by asking "How does Homestar pick stuff up if he's not wearing any Marzipants?"
- Fan Costume Commentary — Strong Bad comments, "Dear Strong Bad, how do you type with pieces of crappy red foam taped around your hands?" on the first costume.
- Nintendo Power Interview - July 2008 — Strong Bad is asked, "How hard is it to play Wii with your boxing gloves on?" In response, he asks the Nintendo Power staff, "How hard is it for you to play Wii with your Power Glove on?"
- Strong Badia the Free — Strong Bad complains that he can't make template emails on the Snacky 186 with boxing gloves on, and says that "Typing I can handle; don't ask me how."
- Doomy Tales of the Macabre — Strong Bad's fate is having his gloves replaced with human hands. He then claims that he's hideous and asks how he will ever type with waggly knuckled monstrosities.
- Poker Night at the Inventory — Tycho asks Strong Bad how he does "anything even remotely interesting with hands like that".
- @StrongBadActual tweet (15 Oct 2014) — "Too many 'How do you tweet with boxing gloves on' tweets! Must... drop... train on em!!"
- Email sbemail 206 — Strong Bad says, "All right, boxing gloves. Get ready to work your inexplicable magic!"
- Marzipan's Answering Machine Version 17.2 — Strong Bad gets stumped when trying to type in a phone number and passes it on to The Cheat.
- Kick The Cheat Voicebox Replacement Surgery — When the "surgeon" takes his gloves off, Strong Bad notes that he doesn't have such an option.
- Strong-Play: Marzipan Beef Reverser — Strong Bad says that he'll beat the game with boxing gloves on.
- Decemberweenvent Calendar (Day 3) — The instructions show how to play piano with boxing gloves on.
- Dangeresque Roomisode 2: The Intersection of Doom & Boom — Dangeresque informs the player that while he can type with boxing gloves, he can't rewind cassette tapes with them.
