 Comedy: April 09, 2008 Issue [#2325] |
  Comedy
This week: Edited by: Waltz Invictus  
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"I had thought — I had been told — that a 'funny' thing is a thing of a goodness. It isn't. Not ever is it funny to the person it happens to. Like that sheriff without his pants. The goodness is in the laughing itself. I grok it is a bravery... and a sharing... against pain and sorrow and defeat."
- Valentine Michael Smith
(Robert Heinlein,
Stranger in a Strange Land) |
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Serious as a Heart Attack?
It's commonly accepted that certain topics are Just Not Funny, like the coronary in the above title. Or cancer, or, well, death in general. We're just not supposed to laugh, you know? Too serious to joke about.
Well, to hell with that. Comedy is about shared experiences, and what experiences are more shared than illness and death?
Having recently experienced a death in the family, I know there's nothing funny about it when it happens. Even a clown's death is sort of sad. A mime's death may be cause for celebration, but it's still not usually funny - and when it is, you should laugh silently out of respect.
What can make a heart attack funny, then? Well, just like with most things in comedy, it mostly comes down to one thing:
Timing.
If you're lying in bed when the inevitable happens, it's just not funny. But if you're in the middle of, say, a long monologue about how healthy you've been, eating right, exercising every day, and so on, and then you suddenly keel over... well, that can be funny. Or like the bible salesman in Florida a few months ago who, while walking along under a clear blue sky, carrying his stack of bibles, got struck by a stray bolt of lightning.
No, really. It happened: http://www.poe-news.com/stories.php?poeurlid=71208
Okay, he didn't die (at least, not immediately), but one can easily see the humor in the situation. Well, as long as one didn't actually KNOW him.
So it's not just timing - it's also about the audience. While my father was enjoying all the benefits of Alzheimer's Disease, you couldn't tell me an Alzheimer's joke without getting one of my patented glares. I like to think I have a sense of humor and a thick skin about these sorts of things, but even the biggest joker sobers up quick when a joke hits too close to home.
Bottom line? Nothing is out of reach of a good sense of humor, not even the most serious topics. I'd even go so far as to say that it's the most sobering subjects - death, illness, infidelity, taxes and the prospect of eight more years of a Republican presidency - are the most ripe for comedy. But know your audience, and try not to get booed off the stage. Egg is notoriously difficult to remove from a good suit. |
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Last month's newsletter was about finding humor in the daily news found on the web, with a specific example being about a camera that can see through clothing.
katherine76: A brilliant edition of the comedy newsletter. I always wait to see what exciting things you have in store for us each week and I am never disappointed. I had to laugh at the camera seeing through clothes  an instant classic!
Oh, sure it's funny - until it happens to YOU.
andromeda  : interesting. i may have to look into this.
You mean like the aforementioned camera?
CHRISTMAS cub-BELLS  : I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting older or if there's way too much violence on TV, but I'm leaning more and more toward comedies than ever.  I want to feel good and smile.
~Good newsletter!
 Cubby ")
The cure there is to stay away from TV. Too many violins can be irritating, and when you add too much sax... whew!
A thinker never sleeps : Strip search camera? Lol, it says 'likely to increase fears that Britain has become a surveillance society.' We're caught on camera an estimated 300 times a day. Its not fear, its a fact!
Okay, but why Britain? Why not the French Riviera? That's a place I'd pay to see pictures from!
Anne Light : I like documentaries for fun. The commentator's voices are so overly serious, and they use strong adverbs to describe thrilling banalities. And sometimes they overdo it. This is a line from a German tabloid (another instructive source), a day after the body of an abducted child was found: Gruesome discovery after the autopsy: Tom is dead.
Which ties in nicely with this week's morbid theme!
billwilcox: Robert,
Just a quick thanks for yet another funny newsletter and for featuring "The Bob"
What can I say? I like stories with good names in the title! |
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