Discussion: It's All Fun and Games Until...

[dinuriel]

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great May :)

And now, to kick off June '11...

The obvious discussion topic for this month's comedy theme would be the question of "What is funny?". But that seemed a little predictable and perhaps a little broad, so instead I'll invert the question: what isn't funny? How does a joke or gag fall flat? Is it obvious

Comments

[celebkiriedhel]

Something can be funny - but if the timing isn't right - it becomes unfunny too.

I listen to a lot of comedy on the radio - British, American, Australian. They all have different flavours. And what's really interesting to me is seeing how an idea in one culture is translated to another - and when the people who copy don't really understand the humour how a terrifically funny joke can fall flat and be boring.

Humour is about pointing out the out of place in the commonplace, the twist in the tale that incites laughter. That breaks the spell.

Is there any jokes that are taboo? It depends on who you're around. There are a lot of jokes that are bad taste - and if the bad taste outweighs the humour then they stop being funny. Of course different people are going to find different things in bad taste.

But yeah... there's humour that I fast forward through because it's not funny to me - just painful.

But thinking about taboo jokes - I was trying to think about what jokes I don't find funny because of the content - and realised I have laughed at jokes about cannibalism, homicide, incest, racism, religion, politics, and many many jokes about sex.

The ones I don't find funny are jokes about bodily fluids. Spit, faeces, urine, etc. Yet Peter Sellers does a skit on it in the Pink Panther about farting, a lot of guys love toilet humour. The Mighty Boosh have jokes about pissing on one another. And none of these I find funny.

So I don't know what's taboo. Maybe being specifically cutting about someone at their funeral or on their deathbed surrounded by people who loved them would be an offensive lack of tact. (Although my niece(5) cracked a joke at my mum's deathbed which once everyone realised it was a joke - gave people a laugh)

Sometimes it's just one of those things - you can't explain it, but you know it when it happens.

[dinuriel]

Oh yeah, timing is crucial. I've heard different people tell the same joke and some of them absolutely nailed it while others... not so much, all because of the timing.

Bad taste is a subjective thing, for sure. I love a good raunchy sex joke, for example, but some of my more conservative friends just find them vulgar. I'm with you on the toilet humor, though. Maybe that's just a gender thing? Sometimes me and my brother will be watching South Park (which I usually find funny--I like their "will joke about absolutely anything" approach) and they'll start making crap jokes and my brother will be laughing his ass off and I'll just be sitting back thinking "Okay... can we get back to the snide social commentaries now?"

I think you summed it up pretty well with your last sentence. You know it when it happens. It's an instinct thing; sometimes there isn't much logic as to what does or doesn't offend us.

Thanks for the insight, Kiri :)