What Makes Something Funny?

[ImaginaryDay]

I've been told (yet again ) that my sense of humor is quite strange. Case in point, I wanted to rent 'Minions' on PPV last night. The ensuing discussion was quite fun. It ended with "That's okay, it costs six bucks to rent, I can just buy it for $10 at Wal-Mart sometime, and watch it when I want". The strange looks I got...

Here's another favorite of mine. It's also bordering on the absurd (no bad language this time... )

I guess I enjoy all of these classic moves because I grew up on this stuff. This was the typical Saturday afternoon T.V. I remember that my mom enjoyed watching these old Pink Panther movies, so I got a lot of my sense of what was 'comedy' from watching them with her. Compared to sit-com's and comedy cinema today, this stuff out-does all of it. It was classic 'character acting'.

 

[mkgal1]

I've been told (yet again ) that my sense of humor is quite strange. Case in point, I wanted to rent 'Minions' on PPV last night. The ensuing discussion was quite fun. It ended with "That's okay, it costs six bucks to rent, I can just buy it for $10 at Wal-Mart sometime, and watch it when I want". The strange looks I got...

Hmmmm....it seems as if you framed that to be about finances not humor---could that look not been about your sense of humor?

 

[ImaginaryDay]

Hmmmm....it seems as if you framed that to be about finances not humor---could that look not been about your sense of humor?

No, it was the humor. It was the same look I give VG when I hear the phrase "Let's watch 'Ann of Green Gables!'"

 

[DZoolander]

lol - I think there are different kinds of funny.

My wife, for example, always says that she loves to hear me randomly start to laugh, but that she's learned not to ask what I'm laughing about.

Like, for instance, I was watching this TV show the other day with our daughter...and this came on.

I wasn't expecting that - and when it happened I started laughing. Well, she got upset at me briefly for laughing about that in front of our daughter...haha

To that end - I think "funny" is a complicated thing. There's the easy-joke type of funny, there's the "that's so wrong" type of funny, there's irony, etc...and sometimes things are a mixture of all of those. Like, I can laugh at Chris Rock, and I can laugh at a video of some dog furiously humping a picachu doll. It's a hard thing to nail down!

AKMom had said this is another thread:



....and I don't know about that. As I get older, I do seem to find less things funny.....but I'd never really given thought to what actually makes things funny.

I don't think there's one answer---I think there's a few reasons why we laugh at things. I had to first think of some things that even make me laugh. These are a couple:

Any ideas?

 

[DZoolander]

Another example - and one of the funniest stories I have ever been told.

A friend of ours a number of years back was dating this girl. Her mom died. Her mom was a Disney fanatic and had always expressed an interest in being cremated and having her ashes spread over Walt Disney World (Magic Kingdom in specific). I don't know if Disney actually does that (but it wouldn't surprise me - everything has a price there...hahaha) - but regardless - even if they did I'm sure these friends of ours couldn't afford it.

So, they concocted this plan. They would go out to the Disney property at night - somehow sneak in with the urn - and spread her ashes "respectfully".

They get into the parking lot (I'm wondering if it was the Heroes or Villains parking lot right now) - and before they can put their plan into motion - off in the distance they see some lights coming their way. It's security.

In desperation - and wanting to fulfill the dead mother's wishes - somehow it dawns on them that the parking lot is still technically Disney property - and now's the only chance they're going to get. So as my friend is speeding around the parking lot attempting to put some distance between them and security, she starts fumbling with the window on his piece of crap car so that she can dump mom's remains out "at Disney"

Well, it rains a lot in Florida, and it was raining that night. She gets the window open as he's speeding along - opens the urn and dumps. Well, mom's ashes get plastered down the side of his wet car. They make their escape.

This guy didn't wash his car, like, ever. So for months - there's mom streaked down the side of his piece of junk mid 90's black cougar (yes, black car). hahahahaha

That's the kind of stuff I find hilarious.

 

[ValleyGal]

No, it was the humor. It was the same look I give VG when I hear the phrase "Let's watch 'Ann of Green Gables!'"

That's "Anne." With an "e".... lol

 

[ImaginaryDay]

I don't know if anyone saw this the last few days. Just wrong...

 

[mkgal1]

Oh.my.word, Ezoo. You're a great story teller, BTW. I don't know whether to laugh or cry about things like that. My mind goes in odd places when I hear those kind of stories (and my daughter says I "ruin" the joke). I'm more curious than anything. I wonder if the couple stayed together (dismissing the "joke" part of it all).

 

[mkgal1]

It's a hard thing to nail down!

Absolutely agree.

 

[DZoolander]

Nah - they didn't stay together. He's one of those people who's constantly "re-inventing himself" to get his stuff together... So he moved out of state (I've fallen out of touch with him since). She was kind of an odd bird - and had her own issues. They broke up shortly before he moved away.

The ashes incident was ... sheesh ... close to 10 years ago now.