WHAT’S SO DARN FUNNY?

“The quality which appeals to the sense of the ludicrous or absurdly incongruous” (meaning: inconsistent within itself – I looked it up). That’s how Webster tells us what “humor” is. That in itself is funny, but in a rather boring kind of way; don’t you think?

As a species, and we are superior at that, we believe we are the only ones who can laugh, smile, blush, balance checkbooks and watch Dancing with the Stars without puking. The last bit was an attempt in “humor”, as it made the sentence inconsistent within itself and absurdly surprising. If it made you giggle, you are on track; if you didn’t giggle, you don’t have a sense of humor, or you are in a really crappy mood – (it is funny; just so you know).

But Jane Goodall, our ultimate gorilla researcher, fully believes that her furry friends also laugh. I can swing with that, because we share about 96% of the same DNA structure with monkeys; some of us share even more than that, which explains why I have a constant craving for bananas and like to swing from tree to tree. (The old Danish joke is: to swing from tree to four-thirty… maybe it works better in Denmark!) I’m positive that Laughing Birds (AKA: Laughing Kookaburras, just in case you meet one) are not telling each other jokes and then roll on the jungle floor laughing, as those bird’s DNA does not even get close to ours (I hope).

So what is so darn funny? It varies on many levels and is really hard to explain. Just ask somebody why a joke is funny, and you’ll no doubt get the standard answer: “Because…” And I think that’s fair enough. I’m intrigued that we for the most are on the same track understanding the thinking, meaning and direction, when somebody says or does something funny, and I’m also fascinated by the speed of that understanding; we “get it” really fast.  

I like most jokes and humorous remarks, but rarely find below-the-belt jokes, meaning jokes about the lower parts of our anatomy and bodily functions, funny at all. I despise derogatory and mean-spirited jokes, as they are ignorant, cheap, stupid and despicable; it tells me a lot about the person who blurbs out that kind of junk.

And speaking about ignorant: I know a bunch of “dumb blond” jokes, but I seldom bring them up. But since we are on the subject, here’s my favorite “dumb blond” joke: Q: Why are dumb blond jokes so short? A: So men can understand them. You were a bit confused until the punch-line, huh? I like this one as it spells payback to all the men who tell these derogatory jokes, because that’s what they are – if you agree or not.

At times I find myself laughing out loud when I “see” a new joke. I was in Southern California and saw a billboard with a surfer and Hang Ten written in big letters; I assumed “hang ten” was a surfer term, as in ten toes wrapped over the edge of the surf-board, hanging on. I thought: “there must be a joke in there somewhere”. So this is what I came up with: “After the knife accident in the kitchen, Steven, the surfer-dude, could only hang seven”. So I met all Webster’s demands, especially the “absurd” part also known as the punch-line, and that’s the part that makes us laugh (if you have a sense of humor).

I like making people laugh, I really do. Am I good at it? I don’t have many friends, so you figure it out. Nevertheless, my tombstone will say: If I made you laugh – I lived.

When I poke fun of people around me, it is 99% as terms of endearment, and the last percent is about specific (absurd) things they say or do. I really believe that it is so healthy and refreshing when we can see the silly things we do and say ourselves; when we can laugh about it, we are not bad off at all.

Some people are funny and quick and not much around them escape their wit. Some people don’t get it and do not have the capacity to see the funny stuff we are constantly surrounded by – and I really feel sorry for them, because it is healthy to laugh - very much so. My Mother cannot say anything funny, but at least she knows when something is funny – and I enjoy making her laugh, as she has a terrific laughter, and then she is momentarily very happy.

Victor Borge said that a smile is the shortest distance between two people; I fully agree. But that distance is even shorter with laughter – (as long as nobody is laughing at me or what I wear)…

Let’s finish with a few jokes I have “constructed” and some that makes me giggle:

*** What do you call a gorilla that is into martial-arts? King-Kong-Fu

*** I have a dog that really likes children – preferably in Hollandaise.

*** A young woman is desperately searching the backseat of her car:

“What are you looking for?”

“My virginity; I lost it last night.”

*** Why do politicians kiss so many babies? Shouldn’t we be a bit worried? Should we call the police?

*** After people blow their noses, have you noticed how they check the results? For their information, brain-matter is reddish.

I like that a deciding factor of humor is explained as absurdity; other important ones are surprise and non-expected turns of words. So keep being funny, keep looking around and we will all laugh a lot more, because so many things are really funny. Taking ourselves too serious is not the way to forge ahead – only if we can laugh about it, of course.

 See you next Monday – HA HA HA

PS. Laughing triggers the release of dopamine (our bodies’ version of morphine). That’s why we feel so cleansed and relaxed after a good laughter. It's legal to get high this way, so let's go for addiction – okay?

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