March 14, 2007
What's so funny?
Laughter, a topic that stymied philosophers for 2,000 years, is finally yielding to science. Researchers have scanned brains and tickled babies, chimpanzees and rats. They’ve traced the evolution of laughter back to what looks like the primal joke — or, to be precise, the first stand-up routine to kill with an audience of primates.
When I was in college a friend and I tried to convince a couple of professors to give a senior seminar on "what makes comedy funny." The response: "No. As soon as you analyze it, it ain't funny any more."
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Wow, that's funny, just last night I was thinking about an article I read a couple of years ago about the search to explain how we evolved into a laughing species. I was trying to hypothesize what the evolutionary advantage would be, and I had nothing. Not funny ha-ha, but funny weird.
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Which would you rather: roll on the floor laughing, or bite your tongue? Neither, I'm chuckling.
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What do a potato and a tomato have in common? They're both red... except the potato.
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Isn't there a comedy film that includes a sketch about the first caveman stand-up? Woody Allen or Mel Brooks or summat?
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Wenn ist das Nunstruck git und Slotermeyer? Ja!...Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!
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Laughter.
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woozle-wuzzle?
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I didn do nuthin'! *BURP*
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Gah-hil-hil-hil!
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More on laughter.
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fish tick, just that URL makes me laugh now. Gah-hil-hil-hil-hyuk!
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hil-hil-hil ... hil-hil-hil ... hil-hil-hil ... *wipes tears*
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/glare
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Oops. Sorry koko. hil-hil.
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*snkKKh!* BwHA!
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Holy shit, that didn't stop being funny. Until the comedian ruined it by re-railing his act.
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Researchers have...tickled babies... That would be one of the most squee-inducing jobs evar.
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What’s So Friggin' Funny?