 Comedy: April 30, 2014 Issue [#6294] |
  Comedy
This week: What Makes You Laugh? Edited by: Lornda~Thoughts with Bikerider  
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To write Comedy, do the research! Find out what makes a few people laugh around here, and then be inspired to write!
Quote of the Day:
"You can't deny laughter when it comes, it plops down in your favorite chair and stays as long as it wants!" ~ Stephen King
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What Makes You Laugh?
It's a known fact that everyone laughs at something -- what they laugh at is the big mystery to Comedy writers. One person might burst out laughing at a funny part in a book, TV show, a movie, or a YouTube video, but another person will roll their eyes and say, "What's so funny about that!"
Researching is part of being a good writer. Let's take to the halls of our Moderators and see what makes them laugh. Perhaps after reading the answers, it will help inspire writers to add humor to parts of their stories.
The following question was asked:
What tends to make you laugh the most? For example, is it a baby laughing, a crazy YouTube video about cats, or a Llama? It's fine to list a few of your top laughs! Also, do you have a quick story (a few sentences), a favorite joke, or a link of any recent or past laughs? A 'Funny' merit badge was dangled in front of them for any answer that made me laugh the most.
Responses:
This was the fastest response in the history of the universe! The email was sent at 10:30 AM and at 10:45 AM the hilarious answer arrived:
Waltz Invictus  : Horse masks. Every time I see a horse mask, I explode into uncontrollable laughter. Horse masks are never NOT funny. And this had me laughing for a week:
Horse Mask
 Winner of a 'Funny' merit badge 
🌖 HuntersMoon  : My answer is: people. We do so many things with our actions, our language, our reactions that there's never a day that passes that we don't do or say something that makes us go  . I'll admit, I'm also partial to terrible puns.  A perfect example of my own "the joke's on me" "Santa's Visit" . As Pogo said "We have met the enemy ... and they is us." On the "pun" front, this is the kind of terrible pun that makes me laugh "A Penny Saved ..." [E]
THANKFUL SONALI Library Class!  : I find that what really makes me laugh is subtle humour, the kind which takes a second to 'get' -- then when you get it you laugh out loud. (Almost conversely), I also like totally crazy stuff, which puts improbable things together in a seemingly probable fashion.
An example of the former, I think:
A Spontaneous Vacation
By Erma Bombeck
(In part:)
My husband looked up from his paper one evening. "I've got a tremendous idea. Lets take an instant vacation."
"A what?"
"An instant vacation. One that is spontaneous. No preparation, no planning. Just go. Free from all cares. Well get up tomorrow morning, throw a few clothes in a paper bag and a few goodies in the cooler, and take off. Would you all like that?"
"We'd love it," everyone shouted.
"Good, then its settled," he said, snuggling down with his paper.
"Oh, this is going to be so exciting," I said. "We've never done anything impulsive before. One of you kids get on the phone and call the vet. Tell him well drop the dogs off on our way tomorrow. Ill put a note in the mailbox to stop the mail and one in the milk-box to turn off the milk for a few days. Oh, and I better get hold of the egg man."
"Do you think Frank could take my paper route?" asked my son. "And maybe take care of the hamster and the gold-fish?"
"I suppose so," I mused. "Call him, and when you're through I have to call Elsa and tell her I won't be able to drop off those five hundred coat hangers for the scouts on Sunday. Maybe on the way out of town I'll drop them off at Susan's house. Oh, its such fun being impulsive," I grinned.
An example of the latter would be:
I once saw a play in which a postman goes back in time to deliver a letter. When he gets there, he finds himself in a fish-shop in the past. The fishmongers refuse to let him go because he looks like a salmon and would make a good window display. He keeps saying he has to deliver that letter.
I know it doesn't sound very funny written down like that, but in the play it was SO absurd it had us rolling in our seats. A postman with a letter to deliver winding up as a window display in a fish-shop because of his resemblance to a salmon! Hilarious.
warriormom : This story made me laugh so hard, it woke up my teenage daughter to find out who I was talking to on the phone. I laughed so hard I cried. It was written by one of the funniest people I know.
Winnie Kay  makes me laugh all the time. She has a quick wit and a great sense of humor. She weaves little jokes and funny things into all of student letters and even in e-mails to me. She has a cartoon figure of an old school marm (teacher) with a ruler in her hand. Often she'll say to students who are late turning in their assignments, "Don't make me get my ruler out." She also has an assistant named George, who is a gopher. She'll add him to her group e-mails sometimes and tell something funny he did or something funny about him. I wish my letters were as much fun to read as hers are.
Missy ~ EnjoyingBeingAMommy  : has a way of cheering me up with her e-mails. She can even take a somewhat bad situation and make a joke about it to lift my spirits. She has a very natural sense of humor that just flows from her, seemingly without effort.
I guess the best comedy is comedy that hits close to home. It's something we can relate to, something we've experienced (or experienced something like that).
Two of the funniest shows I know of are the old episodes of The Cosby Show and Everybody Loves Raymond.. They both depicted couples who dealt with the normal struggles of family life. With Everybody Loves Raymond, the mother-in-law hit a little too close to home for me. My mother-in-law is a lovely person, but at that time she did live across the street, and she did intrude in our lives more often than I preferred.
hbar : always made me laugh. He found a silver lining in every cloud. You couldn't come away from reading his e-mail without smiling or even laughing. He picked at himself more than anyone else. He laughed at his shortcomings and was a wonderful story teller.
ember_rain : Once upon a time what made me laugh was my father. He is no longer with us, but his preacher jokes never got old. I still tell them when I get the chance. They are too long to tell here. For a couple of years after he died, I really just didn't laugh. Now though, my youngest son is the funniest thing I have ever seen, even next to my father. He's only 12 but he has a quick whit, and a knack for situational and physical comedy. He and his older brother, wolf knight are constantly having break fall competitions to see who can do it the funniest. Or rather, Tristain does it to look funny. wolf knight then has to show him the "right" way to do it and Tristian proceeds to frustrate his brother to no need by deliberately doing it wrong. Of course, wolf knight use to beat himself up too. He likes to say he took shadow boxing to a whole new level. The competition between those two on who can be the funniest keeps me rolling all day long.
I don't know why I find them funny, but I do. The sound of a child laughing is the most beautiful sound in the world. Its only beaten by the sound of my youngest son getting one over on my oldest.
Sum1's Home!  : Hmmmmm, what makes me laugh. Some of the oddest things. But animal video's aren't one really. I used to have a really loud laugh, a belly busting one, but rarely let go anymore. I chuckle some, but laugh very little. I've always loved the sudden, innocent joke on someone, even if on me. No one is hurt, but maybe your pride feels a bit dented for a short while. As for past laughs, written or otherwise, here's a link to three items.
"What I Did" [E] ( this is hilarious) "Invalid Item" "Playing With Hot Dogs" [13+]
LJPC - the tortoise : Like the adage about the apple-a-day, I think laughter is necessary to everyone's mental health. We need the release of tension from our modern pressure-filled existence. But everyone has a different way to do it. My husband will watch any comedy on TV, even if he's seen it multiple times. I usually go to Facebook, where I have great writer friends. I don't think any group is as witty and entertaining as the writing community! Occasionally, I stumble across blog posts that are very funny - so here's the funniest post I've come across in the past month. It's full of the silliest .gifs and 'LoLCats' ever!
LoL Cat Pics
Ẃeβ࿚ẂỉԎḈĥmas  : For me, comedy is situation driven. For example, I walk in the malls and watch people. I especially like reading T-Shirts. You know the ones, "I'm Stupid" and he's walking with his wife who wears one saying, "I'm With Stupid." That sets my mind to thinking about their life together. I have a very vivid imagination and create a scenario about the couple. I know, way too much time on my hands. One of my favorite shirts, is one WL wears. It says, "Cooperstown, A Drinking Town with a Baseball Problem." (Baseball Hall of Fame, town.)
Joke: A piece of string walks into a bar and orders a drink. The bartender throws him out, saying, "we don't serve string!"
The string goes into a second bar, and the same thing happens.
Frustrated with this treatment, the piece of string shakes, twists, jumps and spins wildly. When he's done, he goes into the third bar. The bartender looks at him suspiciously and then asks, " Aren't you a piece of string?"
String replies, "No, I'm a frayed knot!" 
Maryann  : I love funny youtube videos. I can never get enough of them.
Here are some of my favorites:
Dog in Trouble
'The Saga Begins' by: Weird AL
More of Maryann's Favorites ▼
billwilcox : I did get a kick out of the You-Tube video 'llama's with hats'. 'Old Greg' was another that made me spit coffee on my keyboard. There are sooo many out there.
A funny thing did happen to me once at the grocery store. You see, all my kiddies are very close in age, so one time at Safeway I went to buy diapers (cos I'm a responsible parent like that) anyhoot, I collected my cases of diapers and took them up to the checkout stand. The clerk rang-up a box of 'newborns', a box of 'infant', a box of 'mediums', and a box of 'toddlers'. He gives me an sympathizing look and says, "Whatsa matter? You don't know which size to get?"
I said, "No, I need them all."
Thanks for all of the humorous answers! There's enough material to write a novel or create a few funny character traits. Some other ideas according to the answers are to use puns, subtle humor, people watch, and maybe find a spot in a scene for a horse mask gone wrong. Not to mention some funny facts about kids, dogs, cats, friends, and a dad who buys umpteen diapers!
One laugh at an image inspired me to write my latest children's book about Kato the cat who plays nasty jokes on Sammy the dog. Stay tuned!
Click here to view the image!  Open at your own risk ▼
Get inspired and join us Comedy writers! Remember, come on over to the Comedy side, we have horse masks cookies!
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The winner of my last challenge from "When Drama Meets Comedy" is:
Ẃeβ࿚ẂỉԎḈĥmas for her Dramedy entry. Congrats! She wins a Comedy and Drama MB! Thanks for participating. 
Ẃeβ࿚ẂỉԎḈĥmas 's Entry:
"Steel Magnolias": "A lot she cares. Ousier's never done a religious thing in her life."
"Now that is not true. When I was in school, a bunch of my friends and I would dress up as nuns and go bar-hoppin'." 
Thanks to BIG BAD WOLF is Merry for his entry. He sent in a couple from the same movie and will win an Honorable Mention prize! Here's one of his entries:
"The Last Stand" staring everyone's favorite Govinator , Arnold Swarzenagger.
Opening Scene: (Deputy sitting in his car, enjoying a doughnut. In the rear-view mirror, a set of headlights turn off, and something zooms past the car at extremely high speeds (197MPH), shaking the windows. The deputy rolls down the window, and takes a look around. He then gets his Radio.)
Deputy: "Dispatch. Contact the FFA. Tell them some smart alec is out here flying a plane without any lights on."
Comments:
Ẃeβ࿚ẂỉԎḈĥmas : Great NL, Lornda! Thanks for the highlight, too. 
You're welcome! Keep writing the funny stuff.
eyestar~* : This was awesome and I so enjoyed your Life of Lornda. You had me wondering what the movie was! LOL and darn typos!! Do make life a laugh! Entertaining selection as well. Thanks for the comic relief!
I'm glad you enjoyed the newsletter and that you got a laugh out of the 'Life of Lornda'! The funny thing about the typo was that my son just played along. After asking for a phone number, his text said this: Thx mom, I'm glad you could help me with this last thing before you die. Lol!
A*Monaing*Faith  : I LOVE Up In The Air! Clooney and ...that girl...dang can't remember her name but she's AWESOME! Dramas have to be funny to me, otherwise I almost never watch them on my own. Black comedies are the best for this type of humor. Donny Darko and The Secretary of course are classics in this genre (those Gyllenhaal kids are somethin' else...).
I gotta watch that Lornda movie, sounds good.
Thanks for the comments! The actress that played along with Clooney was Anna Kendrick. She played Natalie Keener. Those movies are also good choices of a Dramedy! Yes, part two of the 'Lornda' movie will be hitting theatres real soon! 
LJPC - the tortoise : Great NL, Lornda! I'm a big fan of dramedy in TV series, like Grey's Anatomy, Boston Legal, and M*A*S*H. ~ Laura
Yes, those are classic ones. Right now, I've been watching the new Hawaii Five-O and the Sherlock based TV show, Elementary. They're both good for some laughs along the 'Drama' road!
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