  Comedy
This week: Edited by: Robert Waltz  
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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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DANGER!
A couple months back, in "Comedy Newsletter (June 4, 2008)" , I talked about the perils of being Just Not Funny.
Well, it turns out the peril is worse than I ever imagined:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FAILED_HUMOR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLAT...
Study: A bad joke might endanger the teller
MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) -- There's a reason comedians call it "dying on stage."
Research by a Washington State University linguist found that people who tell bad jokes often endure an astonishing outpouring of hostility from the listeners....
Wow!
..."The predominant verbal reaction to failed humor in our study was oriented exclusively toward attacking the speaker," Bell said....
Uh-oh...
Obviously, humor is serious business. Failure to take it seriously could cause injury.
So, how do you tell jokes with some degree of safety? Well, obviously, a complete set of riot gear would help - though unless you fall down in it or it has a drawing of a duck on it, it won't be inherently funny.
Failing that, you could always limit your humor to online and print media. After all, while internet posters are world-renowned for telling it like they see it, it's rare that someone will be able to track you down and punch you. More likely, they'll just leave asshat comments in your blog, which you can then cheerfully ignore.
Or, of course, you could tell nothing but good jokes. But how do you do that? The joke used in the survey above - "What did the big chimney say to the little chimney?" / "Nothing, chimneys can't talk." - is obviously stupid, but how about the great little turn of phrase you just came up with? You're pretty sure it'll go over well with your audience, but what if it doesn't?
Well, no one ever said being funny was without hazards. Sometimes you just gotta take your lumps and move on. Consider it natural selection - joke evolution, if you will. The bad ones are negatively reinforced, while the good ones are positively reinforced with laughter.
But, if you know your audience - if you're in a gay bar, it's probably best not to tell homophobic jokes, but that's pretty obvious - you should be able to minimize the damage. Tell Democrat jokes to Republicans; tell lawyer jokes to accountants; tell puns to people who aren't visibly armed.
And if you get punched anyway, you can always tell the next audience that you slipped on a banana peel and tripped over a duck.
BONUS: At the end of the story above is a link to a Bad Jokes page. You know, just in case you needed some negative examples. |
Please don't do the authors of these comedy pieces any physical harm. Or me either!
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Last month's newsletter was about comedy's relationship with romance - a match, it seems, made in heaven. Sometimes.
Joshiahis  : Very entertaining newsletter. So- who's Sarah Silverman?
Some chick who's supposed to be funny.
Mavis Moog : While men like dumb women, the reverse is seldom true. Good comedy takes intelligence, that is why GSOH is so attractive and why Jim Davidson is not funny. A funny man is attractive because he is likely to provide good genetic topical material. 
I get my topical material from the local drugstore...
PuppyTales : "Even though I'm not very good at this stuff".
Cute, Waltzy, cute.  I'm overwhelmed by your huge sense of self-humility (as opposed to self-righteousness).
Well, thanks for the laugh and the science lesson. Or should I thank the Daily Fail for that last part?
-Puppy
Hey, thank them for the laugh too, Pups. I just call 'em as I see 'em!
Acme : Thanks for another ace newsletter, Mr Waltz. Love the pop notes
Yep, popnotes can provide hours of comedy gold. Be sure you brush up on your WritingML so you, too, can be hip and obscure!
And that's it for this week - be sure to tune in next time for more great comedy! Until then,
LAUGH ON! |
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Comedy: August 27, 2008 Issue [#2576]
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