BS: A sense of humor

Subject: BS: A sense of humor
From: kendall
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 09:06 AM

What makes people laugh? and why?

I laugh at jokes, stories or anything that strikes me as funny, but I've met a very few people who obviously have no sense of humor that seem to go looking for things to piss and moan about.
If you get it, it's funny. If you don't get it, it's not funny. So, whose problem is it?
It's like, if someone is mad at me, whose problem is that? A wise person once said, "Your opinion of me is none of my business."

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 10:27 AM

Non PC jokes are even funnier than they used to be.
That little soupcon of passing guilt, just adds to my enjoyment.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Jeri
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 10:34 AM

Sometimes the people without a sense of humor are funnier than the jokes. I get that knowledge from my father, who must have had that pain-in-the-ass humor gene in common with Spaw. My dad found what sort of 'funny' a person hated and then pushed, and pushed. I'd get royally pissed at him, and he'd push some more.

Maybe we'd be better off with even more inappropriate (or not) humor than arguing with some of these people.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Amos
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 10:59 AM

IT takes a minimum allocation of free attention and intelligence to see humor. That's why some folks can only laugh at the very grossest forms of humor--it's as much as they can process. You have to be able to see and therefore reject the illogicalness in the joke or it won't seem funny. Literal minded people have the same problem--they can't discriminate the nuances and it all falls flat from a lack of perception.

I am constantly finding humor in the most ordinary kinds of mindless routine. AS a species we are much more of a lot of blundering nincompoops than we would like to admit, me included. At least humor makes our own stupidnesses a bit more tolerable.


A

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 11:11 AM

There is nothing like a good joke..... and most of the ones I hear these days are nothing like a good joke. A sense of humour to my mind is understanding that everyday events.. even when perhaps considered serious at the time.. may ( and I say MAY and mean it) may have a funny side..... I enjoy jokes which use innuendo or double meaning... and not necessarily having sexual connotations. A good joke to me is one I understand and appreciate.... you may not understand and appreciate the same jokes or humour as me but that just makes us different............

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: KT
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 11:13 AM

Interesting thread....    I think sometimes people are not emotionally free enough to allow themselves to see the humor in things, and then let go with a big ol' belly laugh.

Nothing like a good guffaw, I say! I have a card on my refrigerator that says, "If you're not going to snort, why even laugh?"

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Acorn4
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 11:21 AM

What alarms me is the number of young people who seem to have no sense of humour - or is it just something that develops with age?

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Amos
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 11:23 AM

I think humor dies when one gets tangled up with taking oneself or some situation in one's world too seriously.

A

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: GUEST,KT not logged in
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 11:32 AM

Acorn, I do think a sense of humor develops with experience.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Jeri
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 11:33 AM

A lot of people don't get irony. I get it but it is sort of like an inside joke between those who get it and those who don't.

I had a friend who would tell jokes and sit back and get a kick out of the reaction. They were simply NOT FUNNY. That was the point. What can I say--he liked Andy Kaufman too.

People can get offended because they don't get irony and feel left out, or they can be offended because somebody took up their time telling a joke that wasn't even supposed to be funny. And you could get offended at Andy Kaufman PERIOD.

If you get offended because someone's telling offensive jokes, it's not usually a good idea to announce, on the internet, what trolls should use to bait the hook. They will do it, perhaps only because they think someone getting extremely offended is funny. It's a sad statement about humanity, and I think it damns us with cultural Darwinianism, but I guess life is a lot like a box of chocolates, and the ones with soft, gooey centers go down the gullet of society first.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: CarolC
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 11:34 AM

Sometimes it's a lack of a sense of humor that causes the person to not find the joke funny, and sometimes what is being passed off as a joke is really just thinly disguised bigotry, intolerance, or aggression.

Sometimes it's different strokes for different folks. I find the humor of the Firesign Theater to be very funny, but I'm guessing that you wouldn't find it so, Kendall.

And sometimes the joke just isn't funny.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: GUEST,Kt not logged in
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 11:34 AM

I wonder how funny I'll think it is when I'm in trouble for being late to work because I've been hanging around here instead of getting ready to go? Bye!

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: CarolC
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 11:48 AM

By the way, my son is one of the funniest people I know, and he has always had a great (and wicked) sense of humor, even when he was a little kid.

One time when he was about 3 or 4 years old, I was tormenting him a bit by pretending my fingers were "wiggly worms" and I was tickling him with the wiggly worms. When he had enough, he grabbed my fingers, nailed them with a piercing look, and said loudly, "Wiggly worms, WE'RE GOING FISHING!"

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Art Thieme
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 11:52 AM

Kendall, hello!!

As I'm fond of saying, "If ya don't have a sense o' humor --- it isn't funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Art

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Mrrzy
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 11:53 AM

It's just as well my Mom has a sense of humor, what with everything going wrong with her health... I sometimes find things funny that others might find sad, or annoying, but I find that finding it funny is better for everyone.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 12:03 PM

I like most kinds of humour - stoopid/daft, surreal/abstract, elegant/witty, dry, observational, slapstick and so-on.

I think the stuff I have the least interest in is loud and predictable 'boom boom' jokes where you're all expected to guffaw at something bog-obvious/banal/crude. Yawn. That kind of thing makes me quietly grumpy.

Another thing I can sometimes have trouble with is overt 'minority' humour - the kind of defiantly political stuff where you're expected to laugh however crap the jokes actually are, because it's some kind of reclaiming power stylee ironic political statement or something. I'm not going to laugh at your jokes *just because* you're an Asian woman, or in a wheelchair, or a lesbian, or obese, or whatever - because that would be patronising to both of us.
That's not to say good humour cannot be made out of such material (in fact it shouldn't be an issue *if* you're also actually a funny person!), but too often for my taste it can be crap, lazy & tasteless (I'm not a fan of psuedo-feminist 'man bashing' for e.g.) - possibly because it's too awkwardly self-conscious?
Jewish humour can be brilliant, so I don't think it's me just disliking 'minority' stuff as such, it's just when the overt 'political statement' thing undermines the 'funny'. Though I haven't actually quite got my head around it yet. Maybe I'm just a closest minorityist..

Fortunately as I find a loads of other stuff funny, I generally laugh loads every day. Which is a good thing.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: frogprince
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 12:59 PM

A "coffee crowd" friend has an adult son, about 30, with Downes syndrome. We've met the son a few times, and while he definitely has developmental limitations, I've been pleasantly surprised by his infectuous sense of humor. I don't know, though, if something he did this weekend was intended as a joke, or if it was just a reflection of his lack of "normal" adult inhibitions. His father told us that relatives took "Mike" along to church on Sunday. The church had a guest speaker, who launched into a long, loud "Bible thumping" sermon which wasn't typical for the setting. It continued as the congregation got increasingly fed up. Then "Mike" stood up and called out "Amen, Brother; but get on with it!" The congregation responded with a hearty round of applause; the speaker apologized and wrapped up the sernon.
Would that I had had the nerve on a number of occasions.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: kendall
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 01:00 PM

Carol C I don't understand...what is this "Firesign theater" thing you mentioned?

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 01:10 PM

The inability to laugh at one's self is more common in some countries than in others.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: jacqui.c
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 01:13 PM

Now, that made me laugh Frogprince.

Spaw can me make almost weep with laughter - I just love that sort of humour.

Kendall tells some terrific stories that make me laugh even after hearing them a number of times.

On the other hand, Benny Hill's shows left me totally cold - I just didn't find that sort of humour tickled my funny bone. I don't like the majority of modern situation comedies that telegraph the laugh before it gets there.

I think, for me, humour has to have an element of intelligence, something that goes beyond the obvious of the banana skin trip.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: GUEST, heric
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 01:37 PM

Noticing and remembering that something wasn't funny seems a glass-half-empty sort of trait.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: GUEST, heric
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 01:39 PM

(Unless of course you've invested a half hour or more in something like "Friends.")

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: SINSULL
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 01:41 PM

I can find humor in almost anything. It is, I believe, a survival instinct. When given a choice between laughing or crying, I choose to laugh. Dinner disasters, funerals, shopping, - it all amuses me.

I find Andy Rooney annoying - the voice, the dress, the whine, etc. Go figure.

Today a friend sent me a group of animal photos. I laughed out loud at one of a large hen nesting on a larger puppy who was contendedly asleep while one of her chicks stood by looking genuinely pissed. The illogicalness.

I have a few friends with little or no sense of humor - at least not my sense of humor. There is no point in trying to explain the joke - it falls apart in the explanation.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: CarolC
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 01:52 PM

Firesign Theatre

More here

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Alice
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 01:58 PM

My son had a sense of humor that showed up even before he could talk.
He made his first joke standing in his crib, holding his bottle to his mouth and making a sucking sound, then holding the nipple up at my lips and making the sucking sound, then bursting into a huge belly laugh at me. I was amazed.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: gnu
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 02:17 PM

Froggy reminded me of sommat similar.

My great nephew is autistic. His gramma can be a tad nasty depending on her mood. Many of you know I find her culinary skills, ah, er, lacking good judgement at times.

The lad was not "eating up" at a Bday supper and she announced, out of the blue and loudly, "No cake for ****!" (She has done so on a number of occasions, even well before supper is served... depending on her mood.)

Of course, the shocked young lad asks why. On this occasion, the reply was, "Not if you don't eat everything on your plate!"

I could see the lad struggling for a way out for maybe five seconds. "I'm not hungry."

"Well then... you don't need any cake."

He was caught by logic and this time, the struggle was about ten seconds long and I am sure you can imagine the uncomfortable silence at the table.

Then, I saw the idea churned out in the way he cocked his head, scrunched his eyelids tight and then opened his eyes wide.

"I am sorry. I lied about not being hungry. I know it's wrong to lie, but I really really want cake. And I need cake because I can't eat this because it tastes bad."

He was NOT lying.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: gnu
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 02:18 PM

Alice... awwwww. Some cute!

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 02:20 PM

There is a kind of "humour" which is genuinely cruel to people who don't deserve it. And anyone who objects is likely to be accused of not having a sense of humour.

Just because something is in some way shocking is no reason it might not be funny - but just because something is in some way shocking doesn't in itself make it funny.

A sense of humour is important - but I think a sense of fun is even more important. I find that humour - or maybe the right word here is "wit" - that doesn't involve fun palls rapidly.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: gnu
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 02:35 PM

Yes, McGrath.... well said.

A case in point is an ex boss of mine. When we would get together for telling jokes and such, the atmosphere was already set, thereby multiplying the "wit" with the anticipation of "fun". If you are keen for the upcoming fun, it seems to heighten the works of it.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: SINSULL
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 02:53 PM

"And I need cake because I can't eat this because it tastes bad."
I love it.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Ebbie
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 05:17 PM

My 5 year old niece was told by her mother before they sat down at my mother's table to simply pass on a dish if she doesn't like it, and not make a scene.

'The first dish that came 'round looked iffy to her so she passed it on without comment. The next dish looked promising and she ladled some on her plate.

She took one bite and then said, in great surprise and loudly: Well, what in the world- I don't like this either!

However, this whole thread seems on the futile side to me- who of us is going to admit that we don't have a sense of humo(u)r? If we even recognize the fact?

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Jeri
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 06:34 PM

I often joke to lighten a scary-serious mood.
When I was 10, I was sliding down a neighbor's hill in winter.
Due to melting and freezing again, it was mostly ice and only a little snow. Kids would push other kids on sleds to get them started, and I just held on and 'skated' down the hill on my stomach. The last time, something went wrong and I broke my leg in the post-push slip (as opposed to the dive.)

Nobody knows what to say when something like that happens--not even 10 year old kids I couldn't stand the tension in the air. I told my friends, as we waited for my parents to show up, that I hoped it WAS broken, because then I'd have a cast and they wouldn't, and casts were COOL. One of them who hit me after I'd stopped moving thought he'd done it. I told him he hadn't done it, and I joked that he'd hit me with his sled, but I'd done it to myself first because I was such a klutz. I WANTED them to laugh at me because it was a whole lot better than having a bunch of kids staring at me in shock.

I would never have thought any of the kids who laughed were cruel. Even if another kid made the joke first, it would have made me feel better to hear them laugh, because every last one of those kids stayed on the ice at the bottom of the hill with me until my dad showed up.

I know other people would have blown a fuse if anybody had laughed at their pain. I really IS self defense, or at least a way to cope. There's a difference between feeling laughed with and laughed at, but which is which can be hard to figure out.

As to Firesign Theater, I remember them. Kendall was IN the 70s though, and is one of those who remember the 70s, which is why he doesn't know Firesign Theater. (There was an airline pilot/co-pilot skit, I believe...)

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 06:39 PM

There are some jokes at most funerals.

A friend of mine arranged for "Always look on the bright side" to be played at the end of her funeral service.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Bill D
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 07:28 PM

"What makes people laugh? and why?"

Well, it is obvious that there is a wide variety of notions of 'humor'.

I love offbeat humor, as well as **well done** regular 'jokes'.

I think the hardest and longest I ever laughed was at a little 'filler' article in newspaper many years ago....
It was titled "Elephant Goes Wild"

It said in entirety:
"An elephant hauling logs on the Nangapartam River (in India) went wild yesterday and trampled a man to death. Then it returned to its work."

Now...why is that funny? I cut it out and drove around to friends houses, giggling... I still have it.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: frogprince
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 09:31 PM

I truly wish I could post a sound clip, now, so you would hear this in the deep, measured voice of Leonard Nimoy as Spock:

      Bill D.,... that is not logical.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Amos
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 09:33 PM

In your heart, you have always yearned to go wild and trample others to death before returning to your work. That is why. Believe me.


A

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Janie
Date: 30 Nov 09 - 09:57 PM

But the ancient Greeks, Shakespeare, and other dramatists took their comedy more seriously than that. They realized that comedy is not "time out" from the real world; rather it provides another perspective on that world. And that other perspective is no less valuable than the tragic perspective. As Conrad Hyers has suggested, comedy expresses a "stubborn refusal to give tragedy . . . the final say."1 (John Morreal, PhD)

The entire paper is a good and thoughtful read and is athttp://www.holocaust-trc.org/holocaust_humor.htm.

Many, Many moons ago I watched a Robin Williams HBO special that he closed with words expressing similar ideas.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Acorn4
Date: 01 Dec 09 - 03:32 AM

I think that there are tastes in humour just like tastes in food. Personally I never found the Marx Brothers funny. I thought I didn't like American humour at all, but fell in love with "Cheers" - perhaps Boston's Irish heritage was the factor there. And there again, us Brits were responsible for "Terry and June"!

Someone once described Cannon and Ball as "the only comedy duo with two straight men".

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 01 Dec 09 - 04:51 AM

I think private and public sector employers ought to set up some sort of silliness to get employees laughing at the start of each work day (shift). It could be done via email jokes and funny videos or even a pop up as soon as you log onto your computer. For non computer based workers every shift could start with stand up comedy session or jokes/comic strips inserted into time card slots.

There are loads of means by which to get the funny across. Texts, emails, printed material and face to face. Some may find what they receive funny, some may not. Can't please everyone, but I think the practice could go a long way to better worker/employer relations.

Isn't there a company in the Silicon Valley where all employees must learn to juggle and take timed juggle breaks for stress busting and mind clearing?

I also think that morning news should only be of the non-disaster variety. Nothing blackens my day like bad news. I need the bad news to be told later when I am more able to cope with it. Fretting over the people suffering natural or manmade disaster, puts me right off work. I need to talk about it, rant and rage and get it out of my system before I can settle into work.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 01 Dec 09 - 05:11 AM

If I couldn't laugh at myself I'd never laugh, because nobody else is funny. (Just joking)

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 01 Dec 09 - 05:34 AM

I'll laugh at you too, if that helps, Dave!

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: JennieG
Date: 01 Dec 09 - 06:09 AM

A sense of humour seems to be quite a personal thing....what I find hilarious the person next to me may not, and vice versa. Yet we could have come from the same background and had a similar upbringing.

For instance.....on our trip to Toronto, Canada, recently we passed a motel called "Have A Nap", across the road from which is a large cemetery. We thought that was side-splittingly funny - but some people we have told don't see the humour in it that we saw.

I bet some of you reading this will laugh, and some will say "huh? that's not funny."

Cheers
JennieG

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: kendall
Date: 01 Dec 09 - 07:45 AM

A Police officer was checking out a complaint from someone who lived by the graveyard. As he approached he saw a young couple who were quite fond of each other, and he said to the boy, "Don't you see that sign that says No Parking"?
Boy replied, "No, but I saw that one that says, 'Get a lot while you're young."

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 01 Dec 09 - 11:29 AM

Now here's a funny bone tester.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Dave MacKenzie
Date: 01 Dec 09 - 11:40 AM

'"You know what's funny? In Belgium, 'douche' means shower". Forgive motorcross imp Ashley Fiolek. She's only 19 and toilet humour rules at that age (and every other age, before or after, for that matter).'

The Red Bulletin in today's Independent.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Donuel
Date: 01 Dec 09 - 01:38 PM

Many a misunderstanding arises from people when they do not sense humor.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Bill D
Date: 01 Dec 09 - 02:23 PM

re: "Elephant goes wild"

What really got me was....they didn't say anything about the victim, or why the elephant chose him, or what happened TO the elephant...if anything. It was as much the construction of the article and the surrealistic images. ...and why 'wild'? why not just 'angry'?

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Amos
Date: 01 Dec 09 - 02:43 PM

private and public sector employers ought to set up some sort of silliness to get employees laughing at the start of each work day

Positively brilliant idea.


A

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: Bill D
Date: 01 Dec 09 - 02:49 PM

I had a boss once I used to laugh AT. He was not aware of how useful he was in that respect.

Subject: RE: BS: A sense of humor
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 01 Dec 09 - 02:53 PM

I worked for myself most of my working life, always did laugh at the boss.