The Angry Joe Show



A gamer with an off-the-wall reviewing style and a mite too much energy, "Angry" Joe Vargas got his start by submitting a video review for Army of Two giving constructive criticism that was surprisingly what the developers really wanted to hear. Angry Joe now does reviews and other videos on his own website and is a major contributor for That Guy With The Glasses.

Back in November 2010, he and the other video games segments of TGWTG were spun off onto their own separate website, Blistered Thumbs, with Joe as the site's executive leader. Now, however, he has left Blistered Thumbs to create his own site located here. In addition, he is a member of The Game Station.

"Joe: What's that!? You think this is a game? This isn't a game! It's the way of life!"
 * Acting for Two: Used in many of his reviews, such as his Dragon Age: Origins review as Darkspawn!Joe and Warden!Joe. Also used heavily in his review of reasons why Empire Total War rocks, forming a two opposing regiments from just two people. He also plays Corporate Commander, though you wouldn't be able to tell ordinarily what with CC's mask.
 * Angry Fist Shake: "Damn you, Chick-Fil-A!"
 * Atomic F-Bomb: Near the end of his review for Mind Jack.
 * Cut Short: His video on the forthcoming 3D re-release of the Star Wars films begins with one.
 * Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: He hates Fable 3 because of most of the bullshit it has in the game (like Co-Op, easy, unbalanced battles, an Anticlimax Boss, etc) yet the 32nd reason why he hates it is
 * Author Appeal: For some unfathomable reason, and very unlike what you'd expect of him, Joe loves dancing games.

""FOUR HOURS?????""
 * Badass Mustache: Pointed out in his Final Fight review: Mike Haggar has a Badass Mustache, and so does he.
 * In "Hotel Awesome Season 2, Episode 4" we see that his mustache is so badass that if someone else tries to tear it off, he can magically grow a new one. It seems it's now made of Adamantium
 * Bad Bad Acting: Other Joe isn't really an actor, and doesn't try to be. It's pretty funny seeing him in contrast to the Large Ham of Angry Joe.
 * Berserk Button: Try to make Joe watch a movie in 3D. I dare you.
 * Or you can try to make him play Kane and Lynch any full-price game that can be beaten in under 12 hours.

"Joe: "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! Nooo! Nooo! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!""
 * SONIC FREE RIDERS! This game is the absolute worst game that Joe has ever reviewed. The entire review is one giant tangent about how horrible it is.
 * Mind Jack sure as hell came close to outsuckying SFR for him, and while SFR could be given a pass for being a bad implementation of new technology, Mindjack is in a firmly established genre, which has no excuse.
 * Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime made Joe so unbelievably mad that, instead of just doing a review, he first did a Let's Play to show just how bad the game is THEN did an angry review.
 * Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3's existence led Joe to do an Angry Rant that tore apart the lack of new features and price tag. He didn't even bother with a review.
 * Mass Effect 3 and its shoehorned conclusion. So bad, that Joe had to write a separate video, detailing the main reasons why he thinks it sucks so bad.
 * Big Bad: Corporate Commander.
 * Bigger Bad / The Man Behind the Man: The Overlord.
 * Big No:
 * In his UFO: Extraterrestrials review. Complete with slow motion.
 * After losing Marvel vs. Capcom 3 against The Nostalgia Critic.
 * Followed by a Big Yes from Joe and a Big No from The Critic when he beat him with his new controller/coffee table.
 * And then there's his reaction to realizing he's been set up in Suburban Knights;

"Joe: I'm going home! Oh, I am home... Well, I'm gonna play my (board) game! Computer: By yourself, Joe? LOL!"
 * Realizing it's Sunday, so Chick-Fil-A is closed.
 * He lets out the Darth Vader one when seeing the dance mode in Kinect Star Wars. It even blows up Admiral Ackbar's ship.
 * Big Word Shout: "GOOOOOOOOOOOO!" in The Stinger.
 * Boisterous Bruiser: Especially in crossovers with other TGWTG contributors.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Joe may be hammy, crazy, and more energetic then a room full of five-year-olds, but he's great at analyzing games and movies and providing insightful criticism.
 * Butt Monkey: Other Joe.
 * The Cameo: He's the only person who can give Linkara a run for his money in terms of appearing in other people's videos.
 * Captain Ersatz: As yet another obvious (but welcomed) Shout-Out to G.I. Joe, Corporate Commander is basically Cobra Commander if he was a Corrupt Corporate Executive.
 * The "new" series has The Overlord (essentially Doctor Claw with a teddy bear instead of the Mad Cat) as Corporate Commander's superior.
 * Caption Humor: Sometimes employed on the right-side caption.
 * Casanova Wannabe: In one of the 1-year anniversary crossover videos, he goes around delivering horrendous pick-up lines to all the women on the site.
 * Caustic Critic: Despite the name, he's usually pretty nice. Nowhere did this become more apparent than when he teamed up with Spoony at E3 2010, where the two practically became a Good Cop, Bad Cop comedy duo. When Joe does lose his temper, it's usually over something most people would be frustrated about, and he manages to get control of himself quite quickly. He even always takes the time to point out things he likes in games he doesn't like, and makes the reviews funny whether or not he makes fun of the game.
 * Chewing the Scenery: UNLIMITED POWAAAAAH!!!
 * Cluster F-Bomb: Weaponized as the cuss cannon.
 * Cosplay: Joe sure likes to dress up whenever a game might call for it (even as a geisha...).
 * Did Not Do the Research: Often a factor in his videos.
 * In his Red Dead Redemption review, Joe lauded the game for being an original game in a market saturated with sequels. Although he is justified in this point of view given that "Westerns are an unproven genre in the games market", Redemption itself is a sequel.
 * In more recent videos, he has referred to Redemption as a sequel, but he has not stated that his initial comments were incorrect.
 * It is a sequel in name only, though; there are no characters in common and the play style is totally different.
 * In a D&D session with Spoony and on Twitter he mentioned he finally watched the series and loved it (though he was distressed by the lack of guns), which made him only hate the movie even more.
 * Distracted by the Sexy: His initial reaction to Bayonetta, getting himself some "Private Time" near the end.
 * When Lisa Foiles complains about the Iron Man 2 video game, and gradually loses clothing as she gets angrier, Joe forgets that he was supposed to be reviewing the game becomes fixated on Lisa, even remarking "I think I'm in love!"
 * The Ditz/Malaproper: While he's not excessively dim, Joe's limited vernacular is treated as a running joke by his peers on the Channel Awesome podcast.

""It's the best part of the movie, and it isn't even in the actual movie!""
 * Drugs Are Bad: And so is chewing Cat Butt Gum. "It will take over your life!"
 * Evil Counterpart/Demonic Possession: Darkspawn Joe
 * Follow the Leader: His style obviously shows some inspiration from The Angry Video Game Nerd. This was parodied in one of the Brawl crossover videos in which Joe gushes about meeting his chief inspiration and idol...only for it to turn out to be Benzaie's sidekick Beary.
 * Ironically, you rarely see Angry Joe actually being angry. Even when he did, it's not nearly as angry as AVGN; a more appropriate nickname for him might be "Crazy Joe," because most often he's grinning like a maniac. Sometimes even when he is showing displeasure.
 * His first review of The Last Airbender had genuine anger, but he forgot to turn on the mic.
 * He certainly didn't make that mistake in his review of Sonic Free Riders...let's just say that, apparently, the entire game is his Berserk Button.
 * Four Point Scale: Heavily averted, and he's basically stated in this video that it's a Pet Peeve Trope of his. Instead he uses just about every number on his 1-10 scale and always qualifies it. 5 is flat average, 3 (like Risen) has nice points but is not worth recommending and so on.
 * And while 7 would be a weak score on that scale, Joe considered that the best score he could give Dance Central, even though he thought the game was still awesome, and named it one of his top games of the year.
 * Although, 7 would still be considered good, as he said Two Worlds II was a 'great' game, yet gave it a 7. The Gunstringer got a 7, yet he said it was a must buy for Xbox 360 owners. 7 would be considered highly above average.
 * Similarly, he gave Asura's Wrath as 6 out 10, but gave it his Badass Seal of Approval because he was in sheer awe of the game the whole time playing.
 * Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: His subtitle monitor asks this in the Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters review.
 * Gilligan Cut: After vowing to take down Chick-Fil-A unless they start opening on Sundays, he's shown on Monday enjoying one of their chicken sandwiches instead.
 * Greek Chorus: The background screen in Joe's new base of operations on his show. Sometimes it seems to have a personality, such as in the review of Risen, where it wakes him up after sleeping standing up.
 * Hell-Bent for Leather
 * Heroic BSOD: Invoked by Sonic Free Riders.
 * And even more so in his review of Mindjack, Stephen Hawking style.
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Is that the same Lisa Foiles from All That?
 * Hong Kong Dub: Parodied in his Fruit Ninja Kinect review.
 * Hot-Blooded: Joe's blood is ON FIRE. Fortunately, he's not totally kneejerk and will usually justify his reactions to things. Sometimes, his passionate style backfires on him (see Creator Backlash or Internet Backdraft) but he hits more often than he misses. Even if you disagree with his opinions, odds are good that you'll still be entertained by his reviews.
 * Hostile Show Takeover: For the 2011 April Fool's video, Corporate Commander briefly commandeers the Resistance Base and attempts to provide a "professional, coolheaded counterbalance" to Joe. To say he fails is an understatement.
 * The Jimmy Hart Version: The new show's intro is the G.I. Joe opening theme (with repurposed lyrics).
 * It's Short, So It Sucks: A common complaint.
 * Keet: The real life Joe has a hell of a lot of energy.
 * If You Know What I Mean: Parodied in the Resident Evil: Afterlife.
 * Large Ham: Particularly bombastic; makes some of the others look like Deadpan Snarkers in comparison.
 * Particularly in his Dragon Age review, where he hams up both Abomination Joe and Warden Joe - especially after Warden Joe slays the Abomination.
 * Hell, he could give Brian Blessed a run for his money. This is barely hyperbole: just look at the opening to his UFO: Extraterrestrials review where he gives a slow-mo Big No followed by a stentorian "I WILL AVENGE YOU ALLLLLLLLLL!"
 * La Résistance: The Angry Joe Army.
 * Licking the Blade: Parodied by licking melon juice.
 * Limited Wardrobe: His characters tend to wear just one outfit. Joe himself almost always wears the same black Superboy t-shirt, with exceptions for certain reviews.
 * He wore a hoodie and jacket over it to Cosplay as Alex Mercer during his Prototype review; this seemed more bizarre when a JMS-written Superman Graphic Novel featured the Man of Steel bearing more than a passing resemblance to Alex Mercer.
 * Meganekko: In his 'Harry Potter'' reviews.
 * Movie Superheroes Wear Black: He points out this at the end of his G.I. Joe review, while he's playing with his action figures.
 * My God, What Have I Done?: Says this at the end of his movie review of The Last Airbender, realizing that by repeatedly saying just how bad this movie is, people are going to want to see it just to see how bad it really is. He repeatedly tells them to seriously not waste their money, but knows people are going to go see it anyway.
 * Ms. Fanservice: Lisa Foiles of All That as the Bridge Bunny of the New Angry Joe Show.
 * Never Trust a Trailer: Or on the case of The Last Airbender, it's a trailer being better than the movie.

""There is no way the cartoon is this bad! There is no way a series this popular can be like this!""
 * Nice Guy: Underneath the bluster, he's a very sweet guy.
 * Non-Indicative Name: He really isn't that angry at all, and has actually said that he hates giving negative reviews. If anything he's Vitriolically Enthusiastic Joe.
 * Once an Episode: "I'll see you guys on the next Angry Joe Show!"
 * One of Us: He mentions Fake Difficulty in his Comic Jumper review.
 * One Steve Limit: Averted: One of his real-life friends is also named Joe. Other Joe helps out with LPs and is a background character in some video reviews.
 * Our Presidents Are Different: According to The Nostalgia Critic's It's a Wonderful Plot Christmas Special, had the Nostalgia Critic never existed, Angry Joe would've become a power president of the USA, who has people publicly executed and blows up Canada. And the people love him for it. (Although the public execution was for Tom Green and that Canada was, according to him, an evil empire in this alternate reality. Possibly ruled by Sea Horses.)
 * Praising Shows You Don't Watch: A variation. In his review of The Last Airbender, he said he hadn't watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, but insisted it couldn't be as bad as the movie, considering the fanbase and adoration for it.

""Assault in the First Degree: To knowingly inflict bodily harm""
 * He soon had it recommended by his fans. He approves of the show.
 * Precision F-Strike: "Fuck 3-D!"
 * Real Life Relative: He has featured his younger brothers in a few reviews.
 * Real Men Wear Pink: Donned a pink tutu and boa (plus a military helmet) for an interpretive dance at the end of his Battlefield 3 review.
 * Retool: The show retooled itself sometime after Kickassia, and is easily the best produced show on Channel Awesome, as far as visuals and backdrops go.
 * Skyward Scream: During his Chick-Fil-A video when he realizes they're closed on Sundays.
 * Serious Business: "Sonic Free Riders has ruined my life. That's it. This is the absolute worst game I have ever played in my life. Nothing in my life is the same is the same anymore! Music doesn't sound the same. Food, food doesn't taste like anything anymore!"
 * Silent Snarker: The Moniter.
 * Sincerity Mode: His review on why the Mass Effect 3 endings suck has him review it in a quiet and understated manner.
 * Sound Effect Bleep: Sometimes when Joe swears, it's bleeped out, and sometimes, it's not, seemingly at random. There's no real reason for this other than Joe being silly. He claims he does this just to see if anyone points it out. That's it.
 * Space Station: The Resistance Base.
 * The Stinger: Directing people to his website, for those who watch his videos elsewhere.
 * Stunned Silence: His review of Starcraft II begins with him staring blankly into the camera for about a minute, swaying slightly before falling over. Yes, he likes the game.
 * Stylistic Suck: Parodied in the review for Kane and Lynch: Dog Days. Corporate Commander tells his employees to just take the first game and add tons of terrible YouTube video filter effects to screw it up and add Shaky Cam until nothing is visible. "Yes! More! Excellent!"
 * Suckiness Is Painful: Sonic Free Riders is the absolute worst game that Joe has ever had the displeasure of paying for and playing. His absolute first 1/10 review. The game's Suckiness Is Painful index is so bad that Joe says he's going to sue Sega for Assault in the First Degree after revealing that the Kinect motion controls, combined with the overly loud soundtrack and horrible course designs filled with sudden 90 turns, WILL actually hurt you. It's so horrible that Joe returns it to Game Stop claiming that the game is broken. He gets a full refund and gets the Kinect Sports game that he made the mistake of passing up in the first place.

""Don't need it!""
 * The only other game he's given a 1/10 to, Mind Jack, was so bad it left him a Stephen-Hawking-like shell unable to speak or move without mechanical assistance; it probably would have been a lot less offensive if the game hadn't had such a cool initial concept married to such a broken execution. Its one good point? Monkeys.
 * They Just Didn't Care: Corporate Commander's Raison D'etre.


 * This is also a major Pet Peeve Trope for Joe, whether it's an original game, or especially a licensed game.
 * Top Ten List
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Chik-Fil-A products.
 * Unstoppable Rage: Even worse when he becomes a Red Lantern
 * Verbal Tic: Likes to pronounce "especially" as "ex-specially". He even made fun of it himself at some points.
 * Video Review Show

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!