I think we all know humor is
objective. What I think is funny, you may find utterly stupid. According to
Wikipedia—and we know they are the experts in all things—humor is based on a number of variables such as age,
geographical location, intelligence and possibly gender. I would amend that to
say absolutely gender, since my
husband enjoys physical humor (slapstick, pratfalls, etc.) while I crack up at
satire.
Here’s an example: I just read a hilarious
book by Dave Barry titled Insane City. The
loony plot involves a destination wedding in Miami, Florida. The groom, Seth,
and his Groom Posse get wasted and Seth somehow ends up with a Cuban girl and
her friend, Duane, who has a eleven foot albino python named Blossom. When they
attempt to get into a taxi, the driver says, “No snakes!” to which Duane
replies, “But she’s a service snake.” This struck me as hilariously funny. In fact,
days later, it still makes me giggle. But when I related it to my husband, he
gave the obligatory chuckle, “Heh, heh, heh.” This alerted me to the fact that,
to him, it was only mildly humorous. What?
How could he not think that was funny? That thought remained unspoken.
Then, I remembered the last
time he laughed his cute little buns off. It was a Cheech and Chong movie. The
two were in Mexico and Cheech ate tacos made with an unidentifiable meat
source. You already know the result. In order to counteract the inevitable
Montezuma’s Revenge, he slurps up an ice cream cone. The part that made hubby
roll on the floor? Cheech, butt cheeks clenched, running for a bathroom and
yelling, “Come on, ice cream!”
Okay, kind of funny, but not service snake funny. Maybe that’s why I
almost cried when Gary Larson quit drawing The
Far Side. I own all his books, every sketch he ever made and still enjoy
them. Yet, I know people who shrug their shoulders and say, “I don’t get it.” I
don’t hang out with those people. Life’s too short.
So, what makes you laugh?
I agree on the absolutely gender issue. It starts with potty humor and just gets worse. Agree on Far Side, too. I know I'm dating myself here, but I love M.A.S.H. and will never tire of the reruns. As for comics, Dennis the Menace and Calvin and Hobbes are my favorites. Well dressed church lady comes to visit and Dennis pipes up, "Dad! She looked right at the clock and it didn't break." Smith Family was pretty amusing too. Maybe it's something with me and little boys - when the youngest of the smith kids, the only boy runs from his mother's bedroom (Mom is as skinny as a rail) yelling, "Look out! We're going to be flabbed to death."
ReplyDeleteI loved MASH too. Wonderful characters and, of course, excellent writers.
DeleteMarilee, great post and so subjective! I hate, hate, hate The Three Stooges, DH loves them, that and Impractical Jokers, a really crude, Candid Camera knock off,which I keep saying is going to get those guys serious injured. I suspect I would have laughed at the Service Snake because it's pure wit. It doesn't take much to spoof people and put them into embarrassing situations or take a frying pad and hit someone -- really? How much thought goes into that.
ReplyDeleteBut, movies like Overboard, where Goldie Hawn is taken from her rich life aboard a yacht and convinced that she's Kurt Russell's once fat, dumpy wife who lost a lot of weight and grew, make me laugh and smile and watch over and over. Lines like, "I didn't marry well, did I?" I never forget.
I think women are more tactile, looking for more wit and dry humor -- I don't like to see people get hurt. In fact it bothers me. So, Curly, Mo and that other guy have at it, and give me shows like An American President where Annette Benning insults the president of the United States while he's standing behind her, and Michael Douglas replies with, "Let's take the guy out and string him up." That takes some work, some effort. Humor is darn hard :)
I agree, Overboard is hilarious. I hate to mention any TV shows because usually the ones I get attached to are cancelled. Guess I'm not in the mainstream or target audience for television. I did watch an old re-run of Frasier the other day and laughed out loud.
DeleteWhat make sme laugh is an "after-the-fact" incident. Something that's not at all funny when it happens, but looking back on it is hysterical. Case in point: I was saying goodbye to a friend in a public parking lot and felt something strange on my bare legs. When I looked down, I saw my slip laying in a puddle around my feet. Humiliating then, but funny as we related it later. Another thing that tickles my funny bone is a ditzy character such as Rose on The Golden Girls. The funniest books I've ever read are Dolores J Wilson's BIG HAIR AND FLYING COWS, JAIL BERDIE AND THE PEANUT LADIES, and BARKING GOATS AND THE REDNECK MAFIA.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to the slip incident. When I was a skinny young lass many years ago, I was walking my bike along the sidewalk of a busy street and my shorts fell to my ankles. Try holding onto a bike with one hand while pulling up your pants with the other- not easy. As you said, not funny at the time but time seem to heal all embarrassing traumatic experiences.
ReplyDelete