What is humor?

The was a sad little movie about struggling comedians. One pointer to the group was: falling down is funny only when you keep one leg raised up. Like I said, a sad little movie.

I think that in general, humans aren't really cut out for, "There but for the grace of God go I." I think we tend more towards, "I'm sooooo much smarter/ more coordinated/ prettier" or for that matter "blessed by God than that incompetent schmuck. Ha! Ha ha!" There's a certain distancing element to it, I think.

Not to say I wouldn't laugh like an idiot if I saw someone run into a wall.

open sewer would be funny. Because it is so horrible, it would be shocking (and also not me.) But I never found those violence cartoons funny, like tom and jerry or the three stoges - I never got those, or how people could like them.

I think to be funny you need a certain amount of humility, or to be pompous and have terrible things happen to you. I think Eddie Izzard is funny, and Bill Cosby. Eddie Murphey and Robin williams used to be funny, that sketch where he was talking to the bubbles cracked me up. And of course, Mel Brooks movies, bless his soul. I think monty python is funny but I can't watch them over and over again like I can Mel's endeavors.

I don't like how dependent many modern comedians are on two and a half:
1. sex
2. black vs. white skin (and sometimes other races)
1/2. fart jokes

I really respect a comedian who can make me laugh without blatant dependence on them.

I enjoy the America's Funniest Home Video programs.

But one thing surprises me each time I watch an episode:

In each episode there will be at least a half dozen shots of men getting hit in the balls -- and everyone will be laughing at it.


Wonder why that is?

I completely agree, Portal Star. The main way I've seen comedians become successful is by your stated 2 1/2. Sadly, I don't know what else to add. This topic can't really go in any other direction (as far as I can see). But this has forever been on my mind. Why do I laugh? Why can I find myself passing out on the floor from lack of oxygen after someone mutters a disgusting comment? Why do one-month-old babies giggle when their daddy gets smacked in the head? What is the connection?

BTW, those Tom & Jerry episodes made me cry... from laughter of course. Although I, too, never quite understood why I found it so funny when Tom was crushed by a two-ton anvil and fell 5 stories to end one of his many 9 lives, it never failed to amuse me. But there is a point at which humor is overdone and I begin to crawl on the floor with not laughter but pain. I feel connected with each unfortunate man who gets hit in the balls. I mean, I feel the pain as well. :wink: