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Annie Hall Scene 8 Summary

  • Alvy and Annie are arguing in his apartment. Annie's moving in, but Alvy wants her to keep her old place, too.
  • She takes that as a sign that he's not serious about her. He tells her to chill. Her old place is like a life raft: It's a way to prevent them from feeling like they're married.
  • The argument meanders, as arguments do: Annie thinks the fact that Alvy keeps pushing her to take college courses means he thinks she's dumb. He says that's not true; he just digs adult education.
  • Cut to Alvy and Annie speeding down a rural road in her Volkswagen convertible.
  • At the house on the water, Annie ponders signing up for some literature courses, and Alvy wants to have sex. Annie wants to get high first.
  • Alvy's not exactly thrilled. Annie thinks Alvy should smoke pot because it'll help with his anxiety.
  • In an attempt to "set the mood," Alvy sticks a red light bulb in the lamp and hops into bed with Annie. Annie's not exactly thrilled, and we see her leave her body, like a ghost.
  • Ghost Annie sits in a nearby chair, then asks Alvy where her drawing pad is. She wants to kill some time while Alvy and Real Annie are otherwise occupied.
  • Alvy addresses Ghost Annie, saying she feels distant.
  • Real Annie tells Alvy he has her body; she just needs marijuana. He's still not having it. Not with a Ghost Annie looming nearby, hungry for paper and 4B pencils.
  • Alvy likens Annie's smoking pot before sex to him getting laughs from people who are stoned: It's not real because they're always laughing anyway.
  • Real Annie asks Alvy if he was always funny, and we flash back to Alvy at a job interview. It's to write jokes for the host of a TV show, and the host himself gives Alvy an idea of what he wants by doing a little routine.
  • It's awful. It's cringe-worthy. We hear Alvy's inner monologue: He thinks it's horrible, too.
  • Alvy thinks he's in the wrong business and wishes he had the nerve to write jokes for himself.
  • Cut to an applauding audience at the University of Wisconsin. Alvy's doing stand-up comedy and absolutely destroying it. The audience loves him.
  • Backstage, Annie tells Alvy he was awesome. Oh, and she's starting to get more of the references in his jokes, too. Way to go, Annie.
  • Annie's excited for Alvy to meet her family tomorrow. She thinks they'll really like him. He thinks they'll hate him immediately.