Quote of the Day: Jokes and Appropriate Behavior

 

The best joke-tellers are those who have the patience to wait for conversation to come around to the point where the jokes in their repertoire have application. — Joseph Epstein, Familiar Territory

At first glance, one might be inclined to deem our current epoch humorless. Perhaps it is a feature of humorless humans that they make up societies that are abundant with comedic material. It is, in fact, downright difficult to conceive of a world without plenty to laugh at. Our species appears to be unique in its sense of, and appetite for, comedy. Being funny and having a sense of humor are undoubtedly essential biological attributes — the spiritual and psychological benefits of laughter are also virtually undisputed.

So if we live in an unfunny world, it must be that people have lost their funny bone. That, or the true jokers have ceased to bring the comedy to our attention.

Apparently this is what we get when that happens:

It is the lack of funny that I find offensive here. When I say offensive, I simply mean it repulses me. It should be locked away in a YouTube cringe compilation where decent folk can be spared its contents.

I’m not sure how much of an issue this has become. I’ve been blissfully ignorant of the news these past couple weeks — and, naturally, all the smarter for it — I know it’s been used in a couple of Trump ads. Perhaps most have shrugged it off. But insofar as the offense has exceeded les cringé, I thought I’d suggest appreciating this latest reminder of why we’re winning. They are not funny. At all.

“Funny is the opposite of not funny, and of nothing else. The question of whether a man expresses himself in a grotesque or laughable phraseology, or in a stately and restrained phraseology, is not a question of motive or of moral state, it is a question of instinctive language and self-expression. Whether a man chooses to tell the truth in long sentences or short jokes is a problem analogous to whether he chooses to tell the truth in French or German. Whether a man preaches his gospel grotesquely or gravely is merely like the question of whether he preaches it in prose or verse. The question of whether Swift was funny in his irony is quite another sort of question to the question of whether Swift was serious in his pessimism. Surely even Mr. McCabe would not maintain that the more funny ‘Gulliver’ is in its method the less it can be sincere in its object. The truth is, as I have said, that in this sense the two qualities of fun and seriousness have nothing whatever to do with each other, they are no more comparable than black and triangular. Mr. Bernard Shaw is funny and sincere. Mr. George Robey is funny and not sincere. Mr. McCabe is sincere and not funny. The average Cabinet Minister is not sincere and not funny.” — G.K. Chesterton, Heretics

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  1. Norm McDonald Inactive
    Norm McDonald
    @Pseudodionysius

    Who is Scooby Doo?

    • #1
  2. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    One way or the other, their arrogance shines through. Using humor has a certain artistry. When your graces could be likened to a gorilla, there’s not much room for good humor.

    • #2
  3. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    There have always been things that are wrong to laugh at, but only recently have we been given things that are ‘correct’ to laugh at. We all agree that some things are ‘no laughing matter’ – that is part of separating the sacred and profane, the solemn and the light – in a culture. 

    What we are looking at here, though, is the deliberate grabbing of the cultural reins by nouveau scolds who have very specific agendas regarding what is to be sacred/profane, solemn/light. 

    Orwell’s two-minute hate is not far different from this odd exercise in contemptuous jocularity – it’s forced and overwrought, and a strongly crafted invitation to conform. 

     

    • #3
  4. Norm McDonald Inactive
    Norm McDonald
    @Pseudodionysius

    • #4
  5. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Norm McDonald (View Comment):

    Who is Scooby Doo?

    All Obama snacks now.

    • #5
  6. OmegaPaladin Moderator
    OmegaPaladin
    @OmegaPaladin

    The best jokes make the subject of the joke laugh as well.  They need to contain some element of truth, and remain a little light-hearted.  Going for maximum partisan savagery reduces the humor even for the target audience – it sounds too much like the jokes the other side uses.


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    • #6
  7. Songwriter Inactive
    Songwriter
    @user_19450

    Samuel Block: The truth is, as I have said, that in this sense the two qualities of fun and seriousness have nothing whatever to do with each other, they are no more comparable than black and triangular. Mr. Bernard Shaw is funny and sincere. Mr. George Robey is funny and not sincere. Mr. McCabe is sincere and not funny. The average Cabinet Minister is not sincere and not funny.

    That is a simply wonderful (and funny!) quote.

    • #7
  8. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    Samuel Block: At first glance, one might be inclined to deem our current epoch humorless.

    I understand what you mean, but I have a little different take, which you might not even disagree with.  We live in a humor filled era because one aspect of humor is the tearing down of ideals.  Humor can be endearing or vicious.  Vicious humor undercuts a serious issue, undercuts values, undercuts ideals.  Everything is a joke because humor is a means to undercut your opposition.  Within the like-minded group, satirizing the other group is a means of bonding within the group while it tears down “them.”  We do it to the left as they do it to us.  But it certainly feels like they are the masters at it.  Nonetheless it is an age of tearing down values and ideals.  I think it’s an epoch of vicious humor.  

    By the way, this goes back to at least Aristophanes, the ancient Greek comedic dramatist back in the 4th century BC.  

    • #8
  9. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Manny (View Comment):
    But it certainly feels like they are the masters at it.

    Ahem:

    https://babylonbee.com/

    • #9
  10. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):
    But it certainly feels like they are the masters at it.

    Ahem:

    https://babylonbee.com/

    I never saw that before. I guess that’s a conservative joke site?

    • #10
  11. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Manny (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):
    But it certainly feels like they are the masters at it.

    Ahem:

    https://babylonbee.com/

    I never saw that before. I guess that’s a conservative joke site?

    Satire site, like The Onion.

    • #11
  12. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Snopes has tried fact-checking them several times. The Babylon Bee-Snopes War led to Snopes having a new rating: Satire.

    • #12
  13. Samuel Block Support
    Samuel Block
    @SamuelBlock

    Manny (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):
    But it certainly feels like they are the masters at it.

    Ahem:

    https://babylonbee.com/

    I never saw that before. I guess that’s a conservative joke site?

    Yeah, they’re great. The YouTube comedy game is pretty much run by political amigos. 

    • #13
  14. Songwriter Inactive
    Songwriter
    @user_19450

    Samuel Block (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):
    But it certainly feels like they are the masters at it.

    Ahem:

    https://babylonbee.com/

    I never saw that before. I guess that’s a conservative joke site?

    Yeah, they’re great. The YouTube comedy game is pretty much run by political amigos.

    Very funny stuff. 

     

    • #14
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