... and says "Ow, That hurt!"

Humor can be dissected, as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind. -- E.B. White

Why did we evolve humor? 1) it's a psychological coping mechanism and 2) our brains like dopamine.

Apparently, I'm a misogynist because I thought the Titanic joke was amusing.

/tell me more about me, using fallacious false dichotomy!

"When you drive in New York, this is the only city in the world where you signal after you've already made it into the next lane,"

Ba dat Tschhhhhh

A joke, in other words, is like a little brain scan: When we laugh, we reveal what's inside us.

That's a scary thought when imagining Dane Cook's audience.

A horse walks into a bar. The bartender says, "Why the long face?" The horse says, "My wife died of cancer."

I don't know about all of that, but I recently saw Mike Birbiglia live and he was fantastic. His albums are great, but he's so fantastic live. I think he's seasoned and experienced enough now he knows how to relate to his audience and handle awkwardness, which is ironic because part of his schtick is being awkward.

A policeman walks past a bar. He sees two drunks in an alley. One of the drunks is passed out over the top of a garbage can with his pants down, and the other drunk is shoving his fingers into the other drunk's ass. The policeman hurries over and yells at the drunk with his fingers in the other guy's ass. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" The drunk says, "Hey, my friend here had too much to drink and he passed out. I'm trying to make him vomit." The policeman says, "Don't you realize if you want to make someone vomit, you have to stick your fingers down their throat?" And the drunk replies, "Yeah, I'm going to."

NIXON YOU DOLT!!!!!: Why did we evolve humor? 1) it's a psychological coping mechanism and 2) our brains like dopamine.

More like women will fark you if you can make them laugh. Mating ritual. She thinks you're funny, hit it dude.

One day my grandma said to me, "A rabbi and priest and a gorilla walk into a bar..." And I said, "What is this, Grandma? Some kinda joke?"

Laughter turns out to be very interesting from a scientific perspective. People in all cultures laugh; the instinct for humor seems built-in, like the potential for language or the ability to see.

American indians?

The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves: Almost as good as engineer jokes.

The Engineer's Guide to Cats is actually pretty darn funny.

Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: Mutt Farkinov: Apparently, I'm a misogynist because I thought the Titanic joke was amusing.

I didn't get that one, but I did like the Homo ergaster joke... and the date rape joke.

/I don't know what that says about me.

I didnt even understand the homo ergaster joke, where was the funny bit?

NIXON YOU DOLT!!!!!: Why did we evolve humor? 1) it's a psychological coping mechanism and 2) our brains like dopamine.

That's not very good. Try it this way:

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Why did we evolve humor?
Why did we evolve humor who?
1) it's a psychological coping mechanism and 2) our brains like dopamine.

Much better.

The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves: Almost as good as engineer jokes.

A doctor, a lawyer, and an engineer are in a car going down a hill, the brakes fail and the car goes into a tree.

The doctor says is anyone hurt?

The lawyer says we need to sue the car manufacturer for the failed brakes and the city for designing the road.

The engineer says we need to bring the car back to the top of the hill and see if we can make it do it again

Is there a list somewhere of the comedians considered proper to like by the Fark elitists? You bastards hate everything.

enik: A joke, in other words, is like a little brain scan: When we laugh, we reveal what's inside us.

That's a scary thought when imagining Dane Cook's audience.

It reveals that those in Dane Cook's audience don't have brains.

The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves: Almost as good as engineer jokes.

An optimist sees the glass as half full, the pessimist sees the glass as empty, an engineer sees the glass as twice as big as it need to be.

I can't say I found any of those jokes funny, although the Titanic one has potential. I can see maybe Lewis Black or Sam Kinison or some other angry comic delivering it in a way that would make me laugh.

Daddydarko: Is there a list somewhere of the comedians considered proper to like by the Fark elitists? You bastards hate everything.

So far the only "comedian" getting ripped on in this thread is Dane Cook. If you think Fark has a monopoly on hating that guy, you need to get out more.

An Anthropologist Walks Into A Bar And Asks, "Why Is This Joke Funny?"

Why is This Joke Funny WHO?

thatsthejoke.jpg

When I did stand-up back in the day there were always comedians who tried to take the scientific approach to their writing. Analyze humor, figure out why people laughed, and then structure jokes around those principles. It worked to a degree, I guess. I mean, they never really bombed, but they never killed, either. The best comics were always the ones that had material that everyone could relate to. They'd carry a small notebook around with them everywhere and when something struck them as funny, and everyone else around them was laughing too, they'd make a note of it and later build a story around it for use on stage.

The other problem with meticulously crafting every word you say is that you end up sounding rehearsed and the logical patterns of your jokes are picked up on more easily. A lot of what happens is subconscious; people laugh more when they're under the impression that the comedian is just sorta riffing, hanging out with them and being funny. Think about the times you've laughed the hardest. You were probably with some friends, someone says something funny, everyone else builds on it, and before you know it everyone is contributing and really laughing hard. You can't recreate that artificially. The best you can do is find a funny topic, and while on stage start interacting with the audience a little bit and just go where they take you. Spontaneity is an important part.

Just my observations... frankly, if I knew what I was talking about I'd be doing it full time still.

Summer before last, we were on the road and the local NPR affiliate was having a call-in joke show. No one was calling so I felt bad for them and called in. Rule #1 is, "Know your audience", so I opened with "Rene Descartes walks into a bar." The host stopped me there and asked who Rene Descartes was. Rule #2: If you have to explain it, it's not a good joke.

The quote about "look at things that I think are true, that people tend not to admit to, or maybe reluctant to admit to, including myself." is almost exactly what I heard a comic say was the advice Chis Rock told him when he was coming up. Considering some of Rock's best/funniest bits, that is dead on.

Well, comedy is kind of a hobby of mine. Well, actually, it's a little more than just a hobby, Reader's Digest is considering publishing two of my jokes.
Yeah. And perhaps some night we could maybe get together and swap humorous stories, for fun.

Suppose it's too late to say I'm not a Cook fan though I do like Buhr who is mentioned in the article. I was actually referring to this as well:

DoctorCal: Jimmy Failla sounds like a pathetic hack.

/backpedal

AlanSmithee: Douglas Hofstadter walks into a bar and says "This is not a joke".



Why do I feel like I'm in a strange loop?

So the next day I showed up, 8 a.m. sharp, ready to go. He's like, 'What are you doing here?' So I said, 'I'm sorry, I thought no meant yes.' "

Lynch believes your reaction to that joke not only says something about whether the joke worked, but something about you.

Yes, my pronounced lack of laughing says that I can spot a lazy punchline coming.

You come from Queens?

Your jokes are bad, and you should feel bad!

Heisenberg, Godel and Chomsky walk into a bar.

Heisenberg says; "Clearly this is a joke, but how can we tell if it's funny or not?"

So Godel says; "There's no way we can know, because we're inside the joke."

To which Chomsky replies; "Of course it's funny - you're just telling it wrong!"


=Smidge=