Humor - See You In The Funny Papers

You wake up and the first thing you do is head for the front door to take in the morning paper that you pay good money to have delivered. The mornings that it doesn't come are enough to make you head to the phone, call up the delivery service and read them the riot act. Not that you're so upset that you're not going to find out what our illustrious President did today. You're waiting to see if Lisa's cancer has really come back and wondering how Funky is going to take the news.

Welcome to the world of the funnies.

Let's face it, the first section we pull out of the paper in the morning is the funnies. We started reading them when we were kids and continue to read them even as adults. Titles come and titles go, including some of our favorites, but there is always something to take their place and put a smile on our face in order to get us through the day.

Funnies come in all shapes, sizes and themes. The number of ways they entertain us and make us laugh, or even cry, are limitless. Some of them have been around for so long that they feel like a member of the family. There are the funnies that come in single boxes like "The Family Circus" where a cartoon is worth a thousand words. The most poignant Circus funnies are the ones where one of the small children ask one of the parents a question that usually involves trying to explain the illogic of adult actions. They're funny and thoughtful all at the same time.

Then of course there are the fu nnies like "Dilbert", which has been one of the most popular comics over the past couple of decades. Dilbert combines technical and office humor in a way that is both weird and yet so true. We can certainly identify with many of the stupid things that the pointy haired boss does. While not as popular as in its early days, this comic still hits very true to home in its own bizarre way.

Looking for humor in uniform? There is always "Beetle Bailey", which is one of the longest running comics today, having begun on September 4, 1950. We've been laughing at this look at the army and a few of its inept participants for over 50 years now. Reading this comic and looking at the world today makes you wonder if our own military is really run any better.

Maybe you want a humorous look at married life. Look no farther than "The Lockhorns". This is a comic that turns marriage into a battle of the sexes that neither can seem to win. The wife in the comic can't cook and the husband is as lazy as they come and can't keep his eyes off of other women. It is every stereotype of modern day marriage that you can think of and it never stops making us laugh.

These few funnies only scratch the surface of the number of comics we get to enjoy every morning when we open up the daily paper. That's of course when the paper boy remembers to deliver it.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Humor

Humor - An Introduction

Humor. What is it? Humor is different things to different people. One person may find it awfully funny to see somebody trip over a couch and do a pratfall onto the floor. Another person may find it awful or just not funny. One joke may have a crowd of people laughing like crazy in Portland, Oregon, while in Paris, France, the same joke will have no effect at all.

A lot of what we find humorous has to do with where we live, the time we live in and how we were brought up. Even the language we speak has a lot to do with what we find funny. That's why, as a comic, you have to know your audience. You have to take a look at the city you're performing in. If you're doing a stand up routine in a city like New York, you're probably going to want to do a lot of jokes about how violent and crazy the city is. New York is full of things to make fun of. However, if you're in a city like Howell, NJ, you'll probably want to stay away from a routine that pokes fun at the city.

There are many different kinds of humor. There is of course your stand up comedy. This is where a comic gets up on stage and tells a number of stories and jokes to entertain a crowd. This is probably one of the most demanding forms of humor that there is. There is no chance for a retake or re-shoot. You're live, on stage and all alone. This has to be the scariest type of performing there is.

Then there is what they call slapstick humor. This is where a comic or more commonly a group of comics will engage in a routine that involves physical activity that results in a funny conclusion, such as a pie in the face or hitting somebody over the head with a two by four. Slapstick humor is usually pretty good for getting a laugh out of someone. As a race, we just love to see people get hit. The reasons why are probably best left to psychiatrists to figure out.

Another type of humor, which isn't as common today as it was years ago, is pantomime humor. This is where an actor or group of actors will perform some kind of skit that involved absolutely no speaking whatsoever. Their actions would tell the story and in turn would make people laugh. This is not easy to pull off. Facial expressions are very important when performing pantomime humor.

More recently, we have the situation comedy. This has been around pretty much since the dawn of the television era. A situation comedy is just that. It's a show that presents some kind of situation within the time frame of a half hour that will ultimately resolve itself within that half hour. During this time, the dialogue will be presented in such a way as to make jokes out of many of the responses and comments. This is a very difficult form of humor to pull off as it requires both the telling of a story and being funny at the same time.

Of course, there is always humor that takes the printed form as well, such as jokes, comics and humorous stories. The amount of humor that has gone to print is beyond measure. Just take a look at your daily newspaper's comics section.

In the following articles in this series, we will take a more in depth look at some of the forms of humor and examine them. Hopefully, you may even get a chuckle out of it.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Toys

Humor - Unintentional Humor

It's one thing to laugh at something that's meant to be funny. After all, that's what joke writers, cartoonists, sitcom writers and the like want us to do. If we don't laugh at their material then they haven't done their job and most likely won't keep it for very long. The list of sitcoms that have lasted just a few episodes is a mile long. The number of comic strips that have seen one printing can be measured in light years. And the number of joke writers who never got out of playing the local dives...Well, you get the picture.

But what about laughing at things that aren't supposed to be funny? Let's face it. Everyday in our own lives we run into a situation that is funnier than anything you've ever seen prewritten. Where do you think joke writers and cartoonists get their material from? As hard, sad and tragic as life can too often be, it is also many times just rip roaring hysterical.

Need some real life examples that you can probably relate to?

What about when you go to the supermarket, give the checkout girl your courtesy card (that thing that lets you get stuff at discount prices) and suddenly the scanner starts going crazy? It beeps and it beeps and it beeps. It doesn't stop beeping and she can't figure out how to make it stop. So she goes running around the store to look for a manager to help her figure it out. Finally he arrives and starts working on the scanner. But he can't get it to stop either. Suddenly you start to notice that every employee within hearing distance of this non stop beeping is standing around waiting to see if the scanner can get fixed. That's when the girl and the manager realize that all that was needed was to press the reset button on the register itself. It's done, they stand, stare and laugh. And you can't help but laughing with them. If this has never happened to you, just take a trip to one of those no frills supermarket chains.

What about when you're at an auto dealer looking for a new car? You've found one that you like and the manager tells one of the prep boys to bring it around back. Just at that same moment, another prep boy is pulling a car around back for another customer. Each car is being backed up into the lot. And sure enough, you see it coming, the two cars are heading right for each other in reverse with neither prep boy aware of the other one in his rear view mirror. Wham! The manager and the owner may not be laughing but it's all you can do not to bust out in hysterics.

Unfortunately, sometimes humorous things happen at the worst times. Like an outdoor funeral where mourners are following along with the service holding the handouts that were given to them at the church. Suddenly there is a strong wind and you're stuck deciding between hanging onto your hat or trying to hang onto the little booklet when suddenly you start seeing pages of liturgy blowing into the wind. It's not funny, but it's funny.

The truth is, life can be very funny. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Not with all the pain and sadness that goes along with it.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Humor

Humor - Stupid Questions

One of the most common forms of humor is in asking questions, that when you think about them, make no sense. Oh, the questions themselves make sense all right. It's the things that they are questioning that make no sense when you really sit down and ponder the situation. We're going to ponder some of the more common ones that philosophers have been wrestling with for years and still haven't found an answer to. It is doubtful any answers will be found here as well.

For example, why do people go to a McDonald's, order a Big Mac, large fries, apple pie and then insist on getting a diet soft drink? When you think about it, what sense does this really make? The Big Mac alone has close to 1000 calories. The fries are a good 450 and heaven knows what the apple pie has in it. A person ordering this meal has already consumed almost all the calories they need for the day, so the diet soda isn't going to help ease the situation that's certainly leading this person to an early cardiac episode.

Here's one that should keep quite a few of you up at night. Scientists say that the Universe is everything. The concept of everything should be clear to everyone. However, scientists also say that the Universe is expanding. If the Universe is everything to begin with, then what is it expanding into? This is kind of like saying you have all the money in the world but want more. There IS no more. Weird.

Okay, this one is sure to have you scratching your head. Doctors practice medicine and lawyers practice law. These are people whom we entrust our health and legal problems to. These are people who have the most influence over whether we live or die. Shouldn't they be good enough at what they do that they don't have to practice it anymore? Do you really want your doctor practicing on you while he's doing open heart surgery?

And if you really want something that makes no sense at all, picture this situation. The city of New York has just had a major power outage. Everyone in the city is without light. They can't do anything that requires electricity. So somebody please explain why they report power outages on TV? The people who can see it aren't affected and the people who are affected can't see the report and already know there's an outage anyway since they have no lights. The illogic of man is just mind numbing.

This should raise at least a few eyebrows. The price of something, how much it costs, and the worth of something, are basically the same thing. So then how come priceless and worthless are total opposites?

How about this? Somebody puts a bumper sticker on their car that says, "If you can read this, you're TOO close." If they don't want people to tailgate them then why put bumper stickers on their car in the first place? Who's going to see it BUT the tailgaters?

We could go on and on but you get the point. Lots of stupid questions in our world. Now if only somebody could come up with some smart answers.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Humor

Humor - No Sense Of

You've heard the old phrase, "No sense of humor". We use it every time we tell somebody a joke and they don't laugh. Maybe you've just witnessed something funny, like a person tripping over a step stool and tumbling to the ground. You bust out in laughter but you friend, standing right next to you and seeing the same thing that you just saw, has absolutely no reaction whatsoever. You stare at your friend in disbelief. How could he not laugh at something like that?

Why people laugh at certain things and not at others is as mystery to everyone. If it weren't, sitcoms would never fail. Every show that ever hit the tube with the intention of making us laugh would be an instant hit. But they're not. Why? What goes wrong with the process? Why is someone getting hit in the face with a pie funny to one person and not another? Why is the same joke funny to one person and yet the same joke when told by another person gets no reaction?

There are theories as to why people don't find things funny, but that's all they are, is theories. Nobody has the answer to perfecting humor. Note all the failed sitcoms. One theory is that it's all in the delivery. In other words, how a joke is told. This might explain how the same joke, when told by two different people, generates two different responses. Or in layman's terms, some people just don't know how to tell a joke, no matter how funny the joke itself is. As funny as Abbott and Costello's "Who's On First" routine is, imagine it being done by two people who just don't have the talent for performing. Your favorite routine can quickly turn into a bland performance.

Another theory is that whether or not something is funny to a person has a lot to do with what they have or have not been through in life. This can actually work in both ways. If a person has been the victim of a crime, they may not find humor involving cops and robbers as being very funny. However, somebody who has been on an air flight that was delayed for several hours can relate to humor based on airline delays and may actually find such a routine funny. Or they may think back to the hell that it was and not find anything funny about it at all.

And still another theory is that some people just don't find anything funny. Humor itself is not something they respond to. Think about why you laugh at something. In many cases it's because of what you've learned about a subject and the joke is poking holes at it. A person who simply finds nothing as being funny may just look at the hole poking as another part of the subject itself. In other words, they don't get the joke. An example would be a joke that goes like "Trying to get the post office to deliver the mail on time is like trying to get President Bush to tell the truth". The person may simply not see the connection or humor in that statement and all the explaining in the world isn't going to make him see it.

Until we figure out for certain what makes something funny, sitcoms are still going to fail miserably and nobody is going to understand why.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Humor

Humor - The Funniest People Of All Time

As a race, we've been laughing at one thing or another for a very long time. The number of comic acts that have come and gone over the ages is staggering. Some were good, some were not so, but some were beyond description. These were the best of the best. These were the ones who made us laugh harder than anyone else. In honor of these great funnymen, we take a look at just a few of them here.

There was probably no greater comic duo than Abbott & Costello. At the height of their popularity, they made several movies in one year, something you don't see happening today. Their most classic routine was "Who's On First". But they were so much more than that, entertaining us on radio, in movies and on television with their own TV show.

Another great duo was Laurel & Hardy. They were many years before A & C but no less funny. Their classic movie "March Of The Wooden Soldiers" is shown every year around Thanksgiving. It has become a tradition. While they didn't make as many movies as A & C, they did do a number of short subject films, such as the classic "The Piano" that will have fans laughing for years to come.

If you're looking for single performers, look no farther than Charlie Chaplin. Without ever saying a word, he made us laugh harder than just about any single person in history. He was the king of the silent film era. His numerous short subject films were some of the funniest ever made, including "The Rink", "The Cure", "One A.M"., "The Immigrant" and so many more. The Charlie Chaplin film festival can still be seen in various parts of the world.

From duos, to single performers to trios. No greater trio existed than The 3 Stooges. Moe, Larry and Curly took the art of slapstick to new levels. This in spite of the tragic lives that they suffered through. Even after Curly died at such a young age, Shemp Howard, the third of the brothers, reluctantly took over in spite of his fears of performing. Nobody ever had a clue.

Then there was the Marx Brothers. Groucho, Chico and Harpo, Each one had their own personality and shtick. Groucho was the funny man with a million one liners. Chico played piano with a flair that was unequaled. And then there was Harpo, who never said a word and yet was probably the funniest and most beloved of all. His harp playing was simply gorgeous. Their movies like "A Night At The Opera" and "Duck Soup" are pure classics.

And who could forget the great duo of Martin and Lewis? That would be Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Jerry Lewis was probably one of the craziest funnymen ever. He played off the straightman Martin's cool crooner looks like a pro. Even though their partnership ended badly, they will always be remembered for the laughter that they gave us.

This list not only barely scratches the surface but hardly does justice to these great performers. If you've never seen their work, do yourself a favor and rent some of their videos. You won't be sorry.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Humor

Humor and Your Relationship

What is it about Humor that can really get things going? Have you ever been in a workplace meeting where everyone is "brainstorming" some new idea? Everything is going stagnant and nothing is getting done. Everyone is inputting his or her ideas but nothing seems to gel. All of a sudden, someone cracks a joke, the tension is gone and the meeting rolls along.

While attending a meeting in a computer manufacturing business, one of the participants looked over at the table and saw these beautiful cookies laid out for everyone. She commented, "Since I'm new, I have to ask, do we have these cookies at every meeting? I'm concerned I'm going to gain weight while working here". Another participant stated, "Of course and it is a problem because when B started here, he was only 120 pounds". At this, everyone just roared since B was about 220 pounds.

Humor helps people to relate to each other. As kids, we are always cutting each other down in jest. We can't be serious all the time because our relationship won't grow. At a party, who is the star? Isn't the one that shines the one that is telling stories that are comical or telling jokes? Have you said, "He's so funny, I love to be around him". Do you remember a joke that someone said? In a conversation, your memory may all of a sudden stumble across a joke that someone said even years ago. We may be in the middle of a serious conversation and all of a sudden, we remember something funny that someone said. We have to contain ourselves because of the seriousness of the conversation but we just want to bust out laughing. If we do lose control, the other participant of the conversation is having a hard time seeing what you are laughing about due to the seriousness of the conversation. Do you let them in on the joke?

People that are serious all the time can become lethargic and depressed. Have you ever been around someone that just broke up with their boyfriend or girlfriend? They're down and all you want to do is get them back up. So, you start telling them jokes. You cut them down and tell them here's my opportunity to kick you while you're down. You ask them since Susan dumped you can I date her now? You’re willing to say anything to get them back up. (Besides, he knows you didn't even like Susan!)

Being constantly depressed can change your body's biochemistry. Often, people that are chronically depressed are treated with pharmaceutical drugs. Many of these individuals may have a family history of depression. Humor can change the person's biochemistry and if significant enough, could it possibly alter the level of need to be dependent upon pharmaceutical drug?

Although it is not the subject matter of this article, there is a lot of scientific study in this area. People that are suffering from depression do well when their counselors utilize humor as a medium in their relationship. There is a lot of opportunity to benefit from various therapies such as music therapy and art therapy.

People that are humorous are fun to be around. They tend to be very energetic and have a lot of friends. Friendship makes the world go round.

Have you read your joke of the day?

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Humor

Humor - The Benefits

Did you know that the sound of someone laughing is more contagious than a cough? Research has shown us that there are many benefits of laughing. Laughing triggers the chemistry of the will to live and it will increase your capacity to fight disease. Having a good laugh will relax your body and reduce issues associated with high blood pressure. It will also help with problems associated with arthritis, ulcers and strokes. There even has been research showing that it may also reduce the risk of heart disease.

It makes sense because emotions that are distressful, such as anger, depression, stress and anxiety, are related to heart disease. You can't be angry or anxious if you are having a really good laugh. The University Of Maryland Medical Center did a study that showed that having a good sense of humor during a stressful situation could help the damaging physical effects of distressing emotions. Here are a few things that having a good mirthful laugh will do for you: it will reduce your stress; boost your mood and your immune system. It will lower your blood pressure, improve your brain function, help you become relaxed and make you feel good and protect your heart.

People who laugh on a regular basis have lower blood pressure than the average person. When you laugh your blood pressure will initially go up then become lower than the normal level, your breathing will then be deeper and that sends oxygenated blood throughout our body. Laughing will decrease your stress hormone and will increase antibodies to fight infections.

Having a sense of humor may help protect you against a heart attack. Research shows that laughing may help prevent heart disease and also found that people that already had heart disease were about 40% less likely to laugh compared to other people about the same age that did not have heart disease.

Ever laugh so hard your stomach hurt? That's because we get a really good workout when we laugh. It will workout your diaphragm, abdominal muscles, respiratory, leg and back muscles. Laughing hard will tone your intestinal functioning and will make the muscles that hold the abdominal organs in place stronger. You can burn about the same amount of calories laughing than on an exercise bike.

Doctors have pointed out that having a sense of humor can teach perspective by helping people see the reality of the situations rather than distort it to support their distress. Humor can shift the way we think and distress can alter the way we think. It really isn't the situation that causes stress; it is the meaning we put behind the situation. Humor can adjust the meaning of the situation so that it is not so overwhelming.

Try these few ideas to help improve your mood and have a sense of humor on life. Try to laugh at events rather than be distressed by them. It will improve your disposition. Try laughing to help release any pent up anger or frustration by visualizing a humorous event to replace the anxiety-producing situation.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Humor