What really makes something funny?

[mickill]

Mel Brooks once said that "Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die."

I think that's fairly apt.

[jabumbo]

its not always funny even if i laugh at it

[TurdBerglar]

the front wheel of my bike once got stuck in a sewer grate while i was traveling at full steam. you can imagine the rest. that's comedy too.

[boys_beastie]

someone laughing

[yeahwho]

Those glasses that have a big nose attached to them and a fuzzy moustache. They make somethings funny. Steve Martin became less funny the futher he got away from those glasses.

Those glasses are what make something funny.

[Sarky Devotchka]

the unexpected or the absurd makes me laugh.

and people bonking their heads on stuff.

[mickill]

the unexpected or the absurd makes me laugh.

and people bonking their heads on stuff.
Does the first one usually involve some kind of misfortune on somebody's part? Like are you laughing at someone's expense, to some degree? I'm not trying to be condescending or anything, just seriously wondering if humor can, for the most part, be summed up by something as simple as the quote I cited.

[bigblu89]

I would agree there, even the funniest comedians tend to be the ones that can either make fun of other people, or more so, themselves.

[Sarky Devotchka]

I don't think it has to do with misfortune on someone else's part. Once I fell flat on my ass down in the subway trying to catch a train and I laughed. I was embarassed, but it was really quite funny. I made the train. Maybe if I didn't make the train, I'd be mad.

[Bob]

the quote's true, yeah, but it doesn't cover all of comedy. people falling down sewers (or better yet getting hit in the groin with things) makes me laugh, sure (well, in a movie or something), but other things do too. take seinfeld, monty python, um, other comedies, how much of that relied on laughs at people's expense (this post needs more parentheses)? not the bulk of it, at least.

i think clever use of language is a big part of comedy too. not just puns (although i love puns), but other word-related jokes as well. situational things. observational humor. i don't know. if it's done right, nobody has to get hurt.

and it's not just limited to television or comedy clubs, it applies to real world funny things too. like you're at a party, or you're just hanging out with friends, and you make each other laugh. unless you're pushing each other down sewers, nobody's getting hurt.


if you're asking for some definitive objective quality that something has to have in order to be funny, i don't think you can give one. different people laugh at different things. some people don't like seinfeld.

oh, and fuzzy glasses

[voltanapricot]

I don’t appreciate any sort of humour based upon somebody else’s misfortune. Like when people fall over, I cannot see how anybody would find that funny.

Saying that, I find ironic things funny, like that quote, it made me chuckle, I can’t explain how, but it did. Maybe it’s because some people do take themselves quite seriously. Like cutting their finger and thinking it’s the worst thing. I never have taken myself seriously, and people find me funny, and I love people who can laugh at themselves too.

[mickill]

I don't think it has to do with misfortune on someone else's part. Once I fell flat on my ass down in the subway trying to catch a train and I laughed. I was embarassed, but it was really quite funny. I made the train. Maybe if I didn't make the train, I'd be mad.
I guess this brings us to a more complex area, with overlapping emotions and whatnot. But most people that saw you fall on your ass were probably a little amused, at your expense, once they were cetain that you were alright that is.

Maybe it's more to do with amusement than actual laughing. Like when we just need something interesting to happen, something bad usually.

[Bob]

I guess this brings us to a more complex area, with overlapping emotions and whatnot. But most people that saw you fall on your ass were probably a little amused, at your expense, once they were cetain that you were alright that is.

Maybe it's more to do with amusement than actual laughing. Like when we just need something interesting to happen, something bad usually.

i'm reminded of a time when there was a fire alarm in our dorm and we all had to go stand outside. there were some kids trying to show off on their bikes. one tried to ride it along the top of a guardrail, and he fell, right on his nuts. nobody waited to see if he got up to start laughing. he got up and rode away pretty quickly, but that's not the point, the point is i still laugh thinking about it

[mickill]

i think clever use of language is a big part of comedy too. not just puns (although i love puns), but other word-related jokes as well. situational things. observational humor. i don't know. if it's done right, nobody has to get hurt.


Yeah, but most good humor is usually crude and offensive. And it usually pokes fun at somebody. Somebody is the subject of the humor, perhaps even the ridicule. The handicapped, fat people, blondes, different races etc.

[mickill]

I don’t appreciate any sort of humour based upon somebody else’s misfortune. Like when people fall over, I cannot see how anybody would find that funny.

Saying that, I find ironic things funny, like that quote, it made me chuckle, I can’t explain how, but it did. Maybe it’s because some people do take themselves quite seriously. Like cutting their finger and thinking it’s the worst thing. I never have taken myself seriously, and people find me funny, and I love people who can laugh at themselves too.
Self-deprecating humor is another big one. Okay, I'm starting to sense that it's not just about people getting hurt in some way, but more just misfortune, in general.

[Chicka B]

I find people getting hurt and perverted things funny, I'm a bad person. Haha things.

[voltanapricot]

it's not just about people getting hurt in some way, but more just misfortune, in general.
This reminds me of a coversation about a year ago. This lad was making a sick joke out of some one-legged man he had seen trying to go down a waterslide at a water park when he was on holiday. Aaaaanyway I wasn't amused and said "That's a bit sick innit? I mean that poor guy probably can't do much and he wanted to have a bit of fun on the slide and there's you laughing at his one leg."
I didn't mean to make it funny, but everybody laughed. People do laugh that sort of thing, I guess. Hrm.

[mickill]

This reminds me of a coversation about a year ago. This lad was making a sick joke out of some one-legged man he had seen trying to go down a waterslide at a water park when he was on holiday. Aaaaanyway I wasn't amused and said "That's a bit sick innit? I mean that poor guy probably can't do much and he wanted to have a bit of fun on the slide and there's you laughing at his one leg."
I didn't mean to make it funny, but everybody laughed. People do laugh that sort of thing, I guess. Hrm.
Yeah, see, your reaction kinda amused me there.

[voltanapricot]

That sounded kind of romantic there Skye.

*simper*

[voltanapricot]

Wrong thread, divvy!

[yeahwho]

You know whats funny, I just figured out your sig doesn't say "Oprah Wants You To Get Off My Jock".

[kll]

anything accompanied by a farting noise

[TurdBerglar]

I have a soft spot for Mike :o


is it wet too?

[TurdBerglar]

so your spot that is soft, is it wet as well? that's all i want to know

[TurdBerglar]

face clothes can be soft and wet

[Chicka B]

hahahaha that was perverted right?

[mickill]

hahahaha that was perverted right?

Yes, and it was at the expense of Skye's dignity. As a righteous babe.

[Documad]

Yeah, but most good humor is usually crude and offensive. And it usually pokes fun at somebody. Somebody is the subject of the humor, perhaps even the ridicule. The handicapped, fat people, blondes, different races etc.
Hmmm, I don't find that kind of stuff funny. I also don't like people who put themselves down a la old school Joan Rivers.

I tend to laugh at odd things that strike me funny. I enjoy trueisms of the Seinfeld variety, absurd things, dry humor (which sometimes is mixed up with ironic humor but I can enjoy irony too), and jokes that make me feel smart because 95% of the American population wouldn't get it.

I also enjoyed There's Something About Mary, Stuck on You, Austin Powers, etc., but if you're going to go for silly humor it has to be perfect or it's just lame. With There's Something About Mary--it wasn't funny because it was crude--it also earned its humor with the Jonathan Richman parts, the gay men frequent rest stops foreshadowing, etc.

I should disclose that I often see people just being people and laugh to myself, so I'm a bit odd I suppose.

[voltanapricot]

Hmmm, I don't find that kind of stuff funny. I also don't like people who put themselves down a la old school Joan Rivers.
See, I do like Joan Rivers. She made me feel guilty for laughing when I read a quote from some show she done after her husband's suicide:

"My husband commited suicide recently, it's my fault, I took the bag off my head when we were making love."

I sometimes think comedians have a harder time handling their art than say, dramatic actors, like you said it has to be perfect.

[kll]

did i mention fart noises?

[mickill]

Hmmm, I don't find that kind of stuff funny. I also don't like people who put themselves down a la old school Joan Rivers.

I tend to laugh at odd things that strike me funny. I enjoy trueisms of the Seinfeld variety, absurd things, dry humor (which sometimes is mixed up with ironic humor but I can enjoy irony too), and jokes that make me feel smart because 95% of the American population wouldn't get it.

I also enjoyed There's Something About Mary, Stuck on You, Austin Powers, etc., but if you're going to go for silly humor it has to be perfect or it's just lame. With There's Something About Mary--it wasn't funny because it was crude--it also earned its humor with the Jonathan Richman parts, the gay men frequent rest stops foreshadowing, etc.

I should disclose that I often see people just being people and laugh to myself, so I'm a bit odd I suppose.

There's Something About Mary has that thing with the mentally retarded people; Stuck On You is basically about conjoined twins, which in the "real world" is not something people generally laugh at; with Austin Powers, we laugh more at him than with him. I know I have a point here. I'm just getting to it very slowly.

[zippo]

slapstick humor i cant bring myself to laugh at usually, the same with when mentally retarded people are the butt of a joke in a movie, like the farrelly brothers ones. not to say that some of their movies arent funny.

going back to slapstick, the funny exceptions always rely on the talent of the actors mostly i think, not anyone can get away with it even if its a good scene. like in the monty python ones, or well, buster keaton. but i think laughing at slapstick in modern made movies is maybe a bit like being amazed with planet earth being made out of styrofoam in a scene, youre not.

but like mickill said, its misfortune that makes something funny, thats been said in some kind of text or analysis about comedy already, its been analyzed. cant remember where.

i laugh when someone else falls but only if they also laugh at me when i do

[cosmo105]

i don't find stereotype-based comedy (especially racial comedy) anything but offensive. it really pisses me off.

i, too, enjoy the absurd and unexpected. the unusual. the unconventional.

what i like most is making fun of social conventions - the ridiculous rules and values we have.

[mickill]

Ava laughs when you make funny faces and say "Kaboom!"

I think it's pretty safe to say that her sense of humor is a bit underdeveloped, though.

[Documad]

This show I saw on PBS said that babies don't smile because they're happy or because they think things are funny. Babies smile because they learn that the people who are important to them like it when they smile. Babies like the attention.

[Bob]

i don't find stereotype-based comedy (especially racial comedy) anything but offensive. it really pisses me off.

i, too, enjoy the absurd and unexpected. the unusual. the unconventional.

what i like most is making fun of social conventions - the ridiculous rules and values we have.

you mean you dont think carlos mencia is a comedy god? outrageous!

did you know he's not even actually mexican? he's apparently half honduran half german. maybe he was raised in mexico or something but still, for a guy who says "wetback" and "beaner" as much as he does, and considering his whole schtick is based on being mexican, that's a little fucked up. apparently he steals a lot of jokes, too. what a jerk. and his show lasted longer than stella :rolleyes:

[cosmo105]

yeah, his first name is actually Ned.

come on, Bob. Stella was unwatchable and you know it.

[Bob]

yeah, his first name is actually Ned.

come on, Bob. Stella was unwatchable and you know it.

i'm going to pretend i didn't hear that

[cosmo105]

yeah, because you didn't hear it, you read it

HEY BOB WASN'T STELLA PRETTY AWFUL? I THINK SO TOO, GOOD THING IT WAS CANCELLED

[fucktopgirl]

sarcasm and ironical situation is the funny shit!!

laughing at one expend,misfortune is funny,but if they are dying,you stop for a couples of minutes,,gotta have respect!

i was 14 years old,take the greyhound bus,so i get in,look at the drivers,smile and then paf,,my string from my bagpack was stuck in the door,so i just fell,face first in the stairs of the bus.Look up to the driver,he was kinda struggling not to laught in my face,cuz it did hurt.
go sit on the bus and laugh at myself for quite a while!

[fucktopgirl]

we should not let die this post!

beein lick in the face by a nice puppie
then realising that he just eat some shi...

[ToucanSpam]

Delivery and circumstance.