The fragile and transitory nature of humour

[Toxn]

This is funny.

 

This is the opposite of funny.

 

This is the forum to discuss funny, and the making thereof.

In a serious fashion.

[Sturgeon]

The latter sounds a lot like crocodile humor to me. Not sure if it quite qualifies, though.

[xthetenth]

For starters it would have to be the powerful punching down with their humor, which is a bit of an odd label for an article kvetching about the weird undemocratic forms of power one's political rivals have.

 

Also I find the third link the funniest. The first is good, but I think it relies a bit much on outside context that it falls flat if you don't view it exactly in its intended context. The second is meandering and is more about scoring political points and trying to make its audience feel smug than amused. The third is dead-on absurdism.

[Sturgeon]

[Toxn]

The third falls foul of the brevity rule somewhat, IMHO. 

I mean, absurdism is all well and good. But reading a novel to unpack it just leaves the punters confused.

[Toxn]

Engaging constructively for a moment: I think the second really was an attempt at humour, but falls completely flat because of how serious and un-contemplative it is. It really thinks that it has something to say, some message to impart to the ignorant masses. Which, of course, ruins the joke.

[Collimatrix]

I had briefly considered the possibility that all old comedy films were simply un-funny by modern standards.  Three Stooges and Abbott and Costello simply are not that funny.

 

Then I saw The Thin Man, and that's freaking hysterical.

 

So, clearly timeless humor is possible, but it does appear to be a rare bird.

[xthetenth]

I had briefly considered the possibility that all old comedy films were simply un-funny by modern standards.  Three Stooges and Abbott and Costello simply are not that funny.

 

Then I saw The Thin Man, and that's freaking hysterical.

 

So, clearly timeless humor is possible, but it does appear to be a rare bird.

 

Personally I consider a great deal of modern comedy to fall somewhere between unfunny and unwatchable. Most sitcoms bounce between character succumbs to flaws as character's life stays stagnant rather than engaging in self-improvement, laugh or character says absolutely horrifying thing because of flaws, laugh. There's a decent amount of old comedy that's just as banal and unamusing, but there's some delightful stuff to be had. There are a few moments in Some Like it Hot that are fantastic, and the entire situation gives an air of farce that's really great.

 

Also, there's the classic example of humor that is saying something without compromising the message, and that's America's finest news source the Onion. Its entire existence is poking at the absurdities in our daily lives and the world we pretend is fine just because it's normal. But it succeeds because the absurdism is the joke and the joke is the point, rather than being a somewhat tortured analogy framed as a joke, which is where the "let's use this joke to compare the republicans to the iranians" really falls on its face.

[Sturgeon]

Good humor.

[Toxn]

This highlights the point that good humour often has an element of subversion.

[Walter_Sobchak]

I think "The General" is still a funny film, as long as you are in the mood for something with no sound.  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncapCvkPgVw

[Donward]

Good deal Walter. I haven't had the time but when I saw this, the first I thought of was Buster Keaton.

[Donward]

Speaking of the fragile and transitory nature of humor, I just found out yesterday that Dugan Ashley of CarniK Con infamy announced a month ago that he would no longer be producing any new CarniK Con videos. 

 

Why this decision had to be made by Dugan  and why a loving God that supposedly cares for his Children allows this to be is outside of my ability to comprehend. Instead, all I can do is watch my favorite CarniK Con skits.

 

 

 

[Sturgeon]

Speaking of the fragile and transitory nature of humor, I just found out yesterday that Dugan Ashley of CarniK Con infamy announced a month ago that he would no longer be producing any new CarniK Con videos. 

 

Why this decision had to be made by Dugan  and why a loving God that supposedly cares for his Children allows this to be is outside of my ability to comprehend. Instead, all I can do is watch my favorite CarniK Con skits.

 

He announced it on March 27. That date is suspiciously close to April 1.

[Donward]

He announced it on March 27. That date is suspiciously close to April 1.

Perhaps. But March 27 is also World Theater Day, Burmese Armed Forces Day and the 17th anniversary of the FDA approving the drug Viagra.

 

One never knows what crazy ideas are going on beneath Dugan's wig.

[Sturgeon]

An example of Not Funny:
 

[xthetenth]

Yeah, Obama should stick to doing comedy himself, he is much better at it.

[Sturgeon]

I like the necessary conceit in that sketch that on the inside Obama is actually a raving, malt-liquor-chugging porch monkey.

[xthetenth]

I like the necessary conceit in that sketch that on the inside Obama is actually a raving, malt-liquor-chugging porch monkey.

 

Yeah, it's top to bottom just not good and painful to watch. When he was doing the comedy all on his own it was actually pretty solid and effectively done, but that's actually playing into bad dumb stereotypes and not even getting much humor.

[Sturgeon]

I can't say whether he's ever been funny. Literally everything I've ever seen from him has been awful. Like this one:

Hahahah, racism!

[xthetenth]

I meant Obama.

[Brick Fight]

Key & Peele have their moments:

 

 

I prefer character comedy over sketch comedy, myself.

[Donward]

Sometimes I enjoy reading a good restaurant review.

 

http://www.yelp.com/biz/washington-state-penitentiary-walla-walla

[Donward]

So it looks like they are making hip YouTube commercials for Meplat's demographic...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW3lei36D90

[Xlucine]

I don't want to know how you apply that stuff to the seals