Meyaouing is Easy; Comedy is Hard

One of my most favorite of all punsters is one Spider Robinson; a reluctant Science Fiction writer. The one I loved the most was this little gem:

In the year 2744 a human survey team discovered a planet whose sole inhabitant was an enormous humanoid, three miles high and made of something very like granite. At first it was mistaken for an immense statue left by some vanished race of giants, for it squatted motionless on a vast rocky plain, exhibiting no outward sign of life. It had legs (two), but apparently never rose to walk on them. It had a mouth, but never ate or spoke. It had what appeared to be a perfectly functional brain, the size of a fifty-story condominium, but the organ lay dormant, electrochemical activity at a standstill. Yet it lived.

This puzzled hell out of the scientists, who tried everything they could think of to elicit some sign of life from the behemoth--in vain. It just squatted, motionless and seemingly thoughtless, until one day a xenobiologist, frustrated beyond endurance, screamed, "How could evolution give legs, mouth and brain to a creature that doesn't use them?"

It happened that he was the first one to ask a direct question in the thing's presence. It rose with a thunderous rumble to its full height, scattering the clouds, pondered for a second, boomed, "It couldn't," and squatted down again.

"Migod," exclaimed the xenobiologist. "Of course! It only stands to reason."

I know I love to joke. It seems to bring joy around, and well.. I'll admit it.. I love it when people like to have me around. But I end up thinking about the idea of what is funny; heaven knows I am having a hard time finding funny things to say here. (Hehe..there was a Star Trek epsiode when the android asked that question: "Tip O'neal in a tutu.")

The greeks thought a lot about humor; it was paramount to their understanding of health and health care. They believed that everyone had four humours, based upon elements: Autumn-Earth-Melancholic-black bile; Spring-Air-Sanguine-blood; Winter-Water-Phlegmatic-phlegm; and Summer-Fire-Choleric-yellow bile. I know what your saying.. too much information. But they thought that sometimes you had an inbalance of such fluids in your body, your health went wacky. A sanguine attitude (another word for "blood") meant you were extra energetic. A meloncholic attitude meant that you had too much black bile, full of sadness.

Hehe.. if only it were that easy.

But that is why the Greeks loved the theatre so much. Theatre was actually started as a sort of festival to celebrate the harvest. But they developed a whole philosophy about the process of creating a play and made it a whole social process, much that is still used today. They wanted to be able to purge the soul of excess things (for tradgedies, this was called "catharsis").

I think it comes from a sense of the absurd, and then finding someone who will actually listen to you. Sometimes my jokes comes from my inability to understand or deal with situations.. kinda like punching the bully in the nose. I missed a lot of school as a little girl, but the times I did go, I tended to do little things to break the tention for myself. Once, I actually wore two different shoes from two different pairs.. it was kinda drastic. Two different kinds of colors. The looks I got was pricesless, and probably was the only thing that kept me going (several teachers thought I was just.. slow about shoes). Thats what Mel Brooks often said about why he wrote "The Producers" the way he did; the greatest revenge that he could ever think of was to make Hitler the object of laughter and riddicule forever. He even said "I want to thank Hitler - for being such a funny guy on stage" when he accepted the awards.

I have thought that todays comedians have takent he place in our society that people like Aristotle or Socrates used to hold. Even the subtle jokes between George Burns and Gracy Alan ("Gonzo Fiddles while George Burns"... gotta love it) leave you a moment to think about what you just heard. Seignfield made an observation about the idea that most people have a greater fear of public speaking than of death; therefore, more people would rather be in a casket than giving the eulogy. Compare that to the words of Socrates when he talked about the fact that he chose his wife as the woman who was the most shrewish he could find so he could appreciate life the most. These people seem to always want to make people think, and laugh. Me... I just am a glutton for attention.

Well.. humor isn't easy. Too many rules sometimes, and its hard to find a safe subject. Not all my jokes have gone off very well.. In fact; I would like to hold a moment of silence for all those people who have suffered from all the bad jokes I have made over time. May they some day find peace. And pie. Lots of pie.

In the words of Hamlett, "Buzz Buzz."