Funny Thing
I’ve been thinking a lot about humor lately.
Mostly because people keep accusing me of being funny.
I just got money for being funny. (Wooot!)
I don’t necessarily think of myself as funny. I know I’m a smart ass, because I’ve been called some variation of “smart ass” since I learned to talk. My father is a smart ass. My mother, though she’s loathe to admit it, is also a smart ass.
I called my mom on it for the first time during one of those “everything that’s wrong with you I’m blaming on your father” conversations. There were several variations on that one. “You’re sneaky just like your father.” “You’re a slob just like your father.” And, most frequently, “You’re sarcastic just like your father.” One day she went into “just like Randall” mode right after a well-worn story called, “Your father was never around, and I have walked a weary mile putting up with the products of his gene pool.” I asked, “Well, Ma, when was he here to teach us his sense of humor? You sure it wasn’t you we learned it from? I don’t think sarcasm is genetic.”
So, yeah. I’m a smart ass, and I come by it legitimately. But, smart ass isn’t always funny.
Funny is something you have to find.
And, of course, you need a reason to find it.
That’s how you end up with the kids that decide to be “the funny one.” The class clowns. They want attention. They want to be primarily known as “funny” instead of “fat” or “ugly” or “dorky.” Those are the kids that turn into the physical comedians, the people that ‘do voices’ and magic tricks and skits.
And, that’s how you end up with wicked humor—the people that have to be able to find the funny in bad things and dark places, or they’re going to fucking die. Those are the people that told a lot of unfunny stories with a smirk, before they figured out what works, and what’s too much.
That’s where satirists come from; if it wasn’t funny, there’d be no hope society as a whole. If we can’t at least think our way above it all for a couple of minutes, then we’re all doomed.
Funny is reactionary. Funny happens out of necessity. Funny is serious, serious business.
tags: funny, writing
SMARTASS = You’re smart, and dumb people can be so funny sometimes. Jokes . . . impossible . . .to . . . resist . . .
— Hedonistic Mar 12, 08:23 AM #
funny is painful sometimes and some people don’t quite get that or understand that. they’re the fortunate ones who have no reference point for it. that’s not a bad thing.
— patricia Mar 12, 11:07 AM #
Wow you are just like your Mother?:).... she must be one great person… because I think very highly of you.
— Tamara Mar 12, 01:21 PM #
Bahahaha
— Sam Mar 12, 01:43 PM #
indeed…some of the funniest stories i have are the saddest, too.
— SlyCivilian Mar 12, 11:36 PM #
There’s a great passage in Richard Russo’s “Straight Man” (my favorite novel) where the protagonist’s mother accuses him of becoming a “clever man.” She means it in a derogatory sense; her son—a college professor—has become clever (always with the quips) instead of thoughtful, compassionate, or insightful.
I’ve always thought that was a worthwhile notion to keep in mind. There’s a difference in being funny and going out of your way to be “the funny one.” I prefer the former.
— Jess Mar 13, 10:49 PM #
Isn’t there a discussion of “clever” in Fight Club?
— Veronica Mar 14, 02:29 PM #