That Wasn’t Very Funny: The Many Forms of Comedy that Shape Our Humor

Comedy is another one of those things in life that you don’t have to understand the joke necessarily, the absurdity in most jokes is what makes it so funny. Thats why people always say laughter is the best medicine. Laughter helps calm us down most of the time. It can be many other things. Comedy can be used as a copying mechanism; it can bring together a sense of community. Comedy can be anything. It’s like a comfort food, even during the bad times we find joy through laughter. What I’m about to talk about has always been a part of my life and culture and is generally part of American culture as well.  That is comedy, it has always played a role in my life, and I can say growing up and learning my family’s sense of humor, shaped me into the person I am today and sort of encapsulates part of my personality.  I chose this topic as a part of my culture because I believe comedy plays an important role in everyone’s culture. Especially mine, much like with anything it’s what brings us closer together. In my family comedy is how we connect and communicate. In its entirety it’s just a sense of love and admiration for one another. In times like these, we need it a changing world full of uncertainty and fear.  When I think about comedy in other cultures and how they create a unique sense of humor, I often think of British people or rather People from the United Kingdom in contrast with American humor this group in particular views comedy in a different way.

Growing up people around me would tell me I’m a pretty funny person. My family included. My mom would always say I have great one liners and my dad and sister used to tell me how good I am at making funny voices or noises. Even one of my teachers thought I was so funny, she had me do stand up in front of the class. I think I was in the second grade, but I still laugh about how awkward it was.  I know my family plays a big part in my sense of humor.  I feel like everyone in my family always has something funny to say, but I’d like to think my friends for the most part shape my sense of humor too. According to the New York Times “having a sense of irony and not taking things so seriously is what separates each country. According to Gil Greengross, author of the article The relationship between humor styles and personality. “personality traits were found to be strong predictors of humor styles. This may not be surprising, given that personality can predict many life outcomes, such as job performance and satisfaction in romantic relationships, and mental wellness. Nice, friendly, socially adept people tend to have healthy humor styles, and they are likely to use humor both to help deal with adversities in their own and to support others.” We see a lot of that through television and film. I believe filmmakers express parts of their personality when they make these films. I believe the same happens in television. It’s one of the many ways people learn to express their humor and creativity. Although I think these days the internet has mostly changed my humor a little bit. I often go to social sites like YouTube, read books like Calvin and Hobbes, and even movies. I love comedy movies and TV shows so I would say most of my humor that I have I’ve gotten from a show or a movie. I typically like to watch older comedy movies, one of my favorites would have to be anything made by Mel brooks. The best part about comedy is seeing the smile on people’s faces, it’s one of the many things that bring joy into our life. I don’t want to be a comedian, but I just like to make people laugh and put a smile on their face.  No one has to be a comedian to do that after all. According to Ayesha Habib, Author of the article  The philosophy of meme culture. “Memes of today drip with Internet-trademarked black comedy. They’re embellished with a vernacular particular to Internet-molded youth, making them fascinating and frustrating to older generations.”  Much like with American culture, comedy has always been one of the big parts of British culture. It’s among the many things that are unique to them and that they hold value to. Aside from the British I believe most Europeans would be aware of or be a part of British culture and experience their sense of humor, so there isn’t any exclusion. Majority of British humor stems from television shows, movies literature and of course friends and family. Not too far off from American culture. This has great significance to the British, it is what brings them joy and makes them happy.  I see some similarities and differences in American and British humor, and I just find it interesting and wanted to examine that further.

Believe it or not there isn’t too much of a difference between British and American humor.  One of the commonalities between the two is that they both get their sense of humor from family and almost any life event. I find it to be a simplistic attitude, which just means that we all find humor the simplest things and places.  Of course there is quite a lot that sets us apart. Among many things Americans find humor in absurd situations and scenarios. It’s the idea of something ridiculous happening that more than likely will never happen in real life that makes us laugh. One major difference is that most people in America get their sense of humor from the internet and social media, often it’s the younger generation that is more interested in internet humor rather than the typical stand-up comedy or comedy movies. Meanwhile the British find deadpan and sarcastic type of humor to be funny and this is what makes them laugh and brings a sense of unity to them. When I think of both cultures and their styles of humor, for Americans I think about comedian Jerry Seinfeld, his style of humor in my opinion is a fair representation of what American humor looks like.  For the British I think one of the best representations for them would be Rowan Atkinson.  His deadpan style of humor fits perfectly with the British and their sense of humor.  One of the similarities between the two comedians is that they both seem to use observational style of humor.

One of the things i like so much about comedy is that the jokes are universal and there is no singular punchline. Everyone has their own interpretations. I also like how most people are able to not take a joke too personally. Thats one of the most important things about comedy, having a good sense of humor and being able to laugh at yourself and take jokes. I know it’s not easy, there are so many offensive and vulgar jokes out there, but i think it’s just having a certain mindset of not taking life too seriously and taking everything with ease.

Citations:

“Burberry: A Bit of British Humor.” New York Times, 26 June 2001, Accessed 11 Feb. 2024.

Wickberg, D. (2015). The senses of humor: Self and Laughter in Modern America. Cornell University Press.

Greengross, G. (2019, December 6). The relationship between humor styles and personality. psychologytoday.com. Retrieved February 25, 2024, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/humor-sapiens/201912/the-relationship-between-humor-styles-and-personality

NUVO. (2020, March 19). The philosophy of meme culture. https://nuvomagazine.com/magazine/spring-2020/the-philosophy-of-meme-culture