short thought on funny

Assuming you are funny (which may be a stretch), there is one reason people don’t laugh at your jokes. They don’t know that you are funny.

It’s a fact; people can’t laugh at your jokes until they think you are funny. It’s impossible to laugh at someone you don’t think is funny. Even if they are.

You simple-minded, foolish readers (note to self: stop insulting your readers) you think that Person 1 says joke and Person 2 laughs at said joke. Please! You are so wrong (note to self 2: stop telling people you don’t know they are wrong). Your proof is that you turn on the TV and laugh at people you don’t even know. But you know something about them: that they are funny, or they wouldn’t be on the stand-up stage with a mic in their face. Here’s proof:

Case Study (A): I can think of more than one time when words that made no sense came out of my mouth, and people just laughed. They thought, “That funny guy Chris,” and they laughed. But I wasn’t being funny. I was just stupid. And my statement made no sense, but they still laughed at something that wasn’t funny. Why? They thought I was funny.

Case Study (B): I have spoken to numerous groups, and more than once no one laughed at my obvious comedic prowess and razor wit. At first, a group will check you out and try to figure out what is going on. “Is this dude just weird or funny?” The same punchline can be taken either way. So once they get one joke and figure out, “Hmm. This guy does have a sense of humor,” then they’ll loosen up and let out a chuckle, or giggle, or cackle, or maybe even a laugh that scares children. But you’ll never get a laugh until they know you are funny.

If you have laughed at one of my blog posts, then you think I am funny. If not, you think I am a sarcastic guy who tries too hard to be funny. You’d both be right.