Difference between revisions of "Humor"

Revision as of 04:44, June 25, 2007

Humor is difficult to define. Everyone finds differing things funny; no two people can agree on what makes something funny.

There are many kinds of humor. There are jokes, which can be further broken down by kind of joke (knock-knock, one-liner, etc.); physical humor (slapstick, spit-takes); puns, limericks, and Spoonerisms; irony; and others.

Jokes

A joke can be elaborate or simple. The simplest jokes consist of the "setup", usually a question, followed by the answer or "punchline". The punchline may be a pun, or it may not bear too much relation to the setup. A perfect example of this is the following joke:

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road? A: To get to the other side!

This most likely does not strike you as funny (five-year-olds seem to respond best to this one), because the punchline does not seem to have too much to do with the setup. Consider, however, the progression of this joke:

Q: Why did the hippopotomus cross the road?
A: Because it was glued to the chicken!

You can continue in this vein until you're sick of the whole thing or your audience needs a nap, whichever comes first.

Also in the simple-joke category are knock-knock jokes. These usually consist of five lines and involve a Pun. An oldie but goodie goes like this:

Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 2: Who's there?
1: Annapolis.
2: Annapolis who?
1: Annapolis a fruit!

Then there is the infamous Banana Knock-Knock Joke:

Person 1: Knock-knock.
Person 2: Who's there?
1: Banana.
2: Banana who?
1: Knock-knock
2: Who's there?
1: Banana.
2: Banana who?
1: Knock-knock
2: Who's there?
1: Banana.
2: Banana who?
1: Knock-knock
2: Who's there?
1: Banana.
2: Banana who?
1: Knock-knock
2: Who's there?
1: Orange.
2: Orange who?
1: Orange you glad I didn't say 'banana'?

It is recommended that you only tell this joke once or twice in your life (and never tell it to the same person twice, unless they have very very short memories.)

Physical Humor

Physical humor is humor that stems from things happening to a person. The most common example of physical humor the nearly-ubiquitous Object Hitting Man In Crotch. Other common examples include but are not limited to Spilling Food Or Beverage On Person, Small Dog Clinging To Toy While Being Lifted Into The Air, and the classic Slipping On Stuff.

The U.S. cable television show 'Jackass' has elevated physical humor of the painful type into a successful show and two movies. For whatever reason, young men in the coveted 18-25 demographic find this to be the pinnacle of humor and often never grow out of it.

Puns, Limericks, And Spoonerisms

Puns are plays on words, normally involving homonyms or similar-sounding phrases. "Annapolis a fruit!" is a perfect example of a pun.

A limerick is a short poem consisting of five lines of varying length. Generally speaking, the last line of the limerick should reprise the first part of the limerick. Most limericks are ribald in nature, but there are plenty of perfectly tame limericks.

An example:

There once was a man from Nantucket Who kept all his cash in a bucket he had a daughter named Nan who ran off with a man and as for the bucket, Nan took it.

A Spoonerism is created by swapping the first letters of two words, named after Edwin Spooner who often switched letters by accident. (It is suspected that Spooner had a brain tumor.)