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Usenet Posted 19 years ago
Screenwriting
Origins of a Sense of Humor
I got to thinking about wordplay, which is a form or method of humor I am particularly fond of.
"Better a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy."
"Champagne for my real friends and real pain for my sham friends."
And, in the same vein, I once had a girlfriend ask me if I had any shampoo and I said, "No, but I have some real poo." For the entire relationship, the topic of hair-cleaning liquid was reduced to simply, "poo." An inside joke.
I was looking at the February calendar today and noticed that February 22nd is Washington's Birthday. And I remembered one day back in 2nd or 3rd Grade when my Mom referred to it as "Birthington's Wash Day." A silly little play on words that delighted me then and now. I had/have this mental image of a powdered-wigged Founding Father, George Birthington, hanging his laundry on the line.
There was a "Far Side"-ish comic strip in the paper this morning that displayed the answer to the age-old question, "Why did the chicken cross the Delaware?"
It reminded me how much I appreciate the ol' switcharoo:
Like... "Ah, autumn: the season of tossing marshmallows and toasting footballs over an open fire." And, (and this will betray my age), an old National Lamppon gag about, "...more iron than a barrel of monkeys; more fun than a pound of calves' liver."
"One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas.." We all know the punchline. But it is a perfect manipulation of language to set up a silly joke.
Gags, puns, set-ups, pay-offs, irony, reversals, wordplay...jokes are always subjective. And yet, most people respond to "good" jokes even if they aren't our personal taste. It's like we appreciate the structure even if it isn't our cup of tea.
Monty Python is full of jokes that could probably be crafted only if you had a Liberal Arts education from Oxford or Cambridge. And yet, they play. Firesign Theature is full of puns and wordplay that simply turns language on its ear.
How did your sense of humor evolve?
Remember what was particularly funny to you when you were a kid?
How's that worked out?
Joe Myers
"Pass the Lord,
and Praise the Ammunition!"
"Better a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy."
"Champagne for my real friends and real pain for my sham friends."
And, in the same vein, I once had a girlfriend ask me if I had any shampoo and I said, "No, but I have some real poo." For the entire relationship, the topic of hair-cleaning liquid was reduced to simply, "poo." An inside joke.
I was looking at the February calendar today and noticed that February 22nd is Washington's Birthday. And I remembered one day back in 2nd or 3rd Grade when my Mom referred to it as "Birthington's Wash Day." A silly little play on words that delighted me then and now. I had/have this mental image of a powdered-wigged Founding Father, George Birthington, hanging his laundry on the line.
There was a "Far Side"-ish comic strip in the paper this morning that displayed the answer to the age-old question, "Why did the chicken cross the Delaware?"
It reminded me how much I appreciate the ol' switcharoo:
Like... "Ah, autumn: the season of tossing marshmallows and toasting footballs over an open fire." And, (and this will betray my age), an old National Lamppon gag about, "...more iron than a barrel of monkeys; more fun than a pound of calves' liver."
"One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas.." We all know the punchline. But it is a perfect manipulation of language to set up a silly joke.
Gags, puns, set-ups, pay-offs, irony, reversals, wordplay...jokes are always subjective. And yet, most people respond to "good" jokes even if they aren't our personal taste. It's like we appreciate the structure even if it isn't our cup of tea.
Monty Python is full of jokes that could probably be crafted only if you had a Liberal Arts education from Oxford or Cambridge. And yet, they play. Firesign Theature is full of puns and wordplay that simply turns language on its ear.
How did your sense of humor evolve?
Remember what was particularly funny to you when you were a kid?
How's that worked out?
Joe Myers
"Pass the Lord,
and Praise the Ammunition!"
Top answer
") Also he drew pictures of horses (I LOVED horses) with lipstick and long eyelashes. "
- ") Also he drew pictures of horses (I LOVED horses) with lipstick and long eyelashes.
- "
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7 Answers
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I grew up listening to my father address my mother, "Pilot to mama dear."
(For those of you who don't know it replaced "Pilot to bombadeer.")
Also he drew pictures of horses (I LOVED horses) with lipstick and long eyelashes.
He used to ask everyone new if they "lived around here or rode a bicycle."
(For those of you who don't know it replaced "Pilot to bombadeer.")
Also he drew pictures of horses (I LOVED horses) with lipstick and long eyelashes.
He used to ask everyone new if they "lived around here or rode a bicycle."
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[nq:1]How did your sense of humor evolve?[/nq]
Who the *** knows. As far back as I can remember I have been able to make a room full of people pay attention, and then laugh their ***** off. My dad died when I was young, so it probably comes from a dark place, and me just wanting to see my mom laugh more than anything else. I dont know where it comes from. Im clueless. Succesfull Stand- up frie
Who the *** knows. As far back as I can remember I have been able to make a room full of people pay attention, and then laugh their ***** off. My dad died when I was young, so it probably comes from a dark place, and me just wanting to see my mom laugh more than anything else. I dont know where it comes from. Im clueless. Succesfull Stand- up frie
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[nq:1]Gags, puns, set-ups, pay-offs, irony, reversals, wordplay...jokes are always subjective. And yet, most people respond to "good" jokes even if they aren't our personal taste. It's like we appreciate the structure even if it isn't our cup of tea.[/nq]
My dad and I share the same sense of humour for puns and wordplays. Whenever I fire one off he'll guess the punchline and vice versa. His wi
My dad and I share the same sense of humour for puns and wordplays. Whenever I fire one off he'll guess the punchline and vice versa. His wi
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[nq:1]And, in the same vein, I once had a girlfriend ask me if I had any shampoo[/nq]
Sham poo: http://tinyurl.com/33a34h
Sham poo: http://tinyurl.com/33a34h
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[nq:1]I got to thinking about wordplay, which is a form or method of humor I am particularly fond of. "Better ... to you when you were a kid? How's that worked out? Joe Myers "Pass the Lord, and Praise the Ammunition!"[/nq]
FYI: I'm typing through tears of laughter.
I developed my sense of humor from my dad, a man chock full of mischievous boyish charm, married to a woman like Bouchard, wh
FYI: I'm typing through tears of laughter.
I developed my sense of humor from my dad, a man chock full of mischievous boyish charm, married to a woman like Bouchard, wh
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[nq:1]How did your sense of humor evolve? From my dad, and out of a sense of self preservation. Dad worked ... Translation - a lot of time on his ***, just in case there was something that needed to be done.[/nq]
Thirty years of that.
He did a lot of crossword puzzles and as a result knew more words than pretty much anybody I've ever known. Like me he was a fat kid and that requires a cert
Thirty years of that.
He did a lot of crossword puzzles and as a result knew more words than pretty much anybody I've ever known. Like me he was a fat kid and that requires a cert
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See Myers, you might appreciate wordplay, but you don't really let it out of its cerebral cage to prowl around in real life. You should meet our friend Roy.
Roy once invited us over for "A Communist Dinner." Intrigued, we showed up to find that the food being served that evening was all in various shades of red.
Roy told us about a "sea food" dinner he had hosted. Turned out it was actuall
Roy once invited us over for "A Communist Dinner." Intrigued, we showed up to find that the food being served that evening was all in various shades of red.
Roy told us about a "sea food" dinner he had hosted. Turned out it was actuall
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