# Humor does it need a victim? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 29, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990 "2003-04-29T20:13:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Synthesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@Synthesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Synthesis)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/1 "2003-04-29T20:13:58Z")
OK. I need some Doper support here. A friend and I were debating whether of not humor needs to have a victim. His argument is that humor is usually the result of relief from not being the victim in a certain situation. Furthermore, he asked me to provide a specific example of something that is funny but doesn’t have a victim. A situation where something is funny…but not at the expense of anyone or anything. And I hate to admit it, but it stumped me. On one hard, some things that kids say can be pretty funny. But only because we are viewing them from an adult perspective. If an adult said some of the same things we would classify them as a sad case of a special needs person. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Something funny…that doesn’t victimize anyone (or anything). ---
**Author:** ![NotMrKnowItAll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6bbea6/32.png) [@NotMrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotMrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/2 "2003-04-29T20:23:25Z")
I’m sorry I’ve been waiting for many (~20) years for a funny joke that doesn’t have a butt to it. I’ve yet to see one. For kid jokes, animals frequently play the butt. Self deprecating humor casts the teller as the butt. If anyone has a joke without a butt, please tell it here and now. Victim is too strong a work methinks… ---
**Author:** ![mrblue92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@mrblue92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrblue92)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/3 "2003-04-29T20:30:26Z")
No, I’m a frayed knot. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/4 "2003-04-29T20:33:41Z")
Puns have no victims. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/5 "2003-04-29T21:21:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by autz \* > \*\*Puns have no victims. \*\* Except for the people that have to hear them. ---
**Author:** ![InquisitiveIdiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3ec8ea/32.png) [@InquisitiveIdiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InquisitiveIdiot)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/6 "2003-04-29T21:40:05Z")
If a pun is involved, EVERYONE is a victim. Everyone probably knows this, but this point was addressed in hienlein’s (sp?) “Stranger in a Strange Land.” It was buried beneath a mound of hippie ideals, but was nevertheless valid. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/7 "2003-04-29T22:13:39Z")
A grasshopper walks into a bar. The bartender says “Hey, there’s a drink named after you!” The grasshopper says “You have a drink named Murray?” I disagree with the premise that humor the result of relief from not being the victim. It’s more from unexpected results and the leap the mind has to make to understand the unexpected results. ---
**Author:** ![ElJeffe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ElJeffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElJeffe)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/8 "2003-04-29T22:18:04Z")
> [@](#): > > I disagree with the premise that humor the result of relief from not being the victim. It’s more from unexpected results and the leap the mind has to make to understand the unexpected results. How does this explain a person finding something funny even when they know what’s going to happen? For example, I’ve seen Austin Powers at least a dozen times, and I still always laugh at the same parts, even though I can quote most of the movie from heart. I know that unexpected results have something to do with it, but what about the repeat-viewing phenomenon? Is that just my remembering back to when it _was_ unexpected, and recalling my amusment from then? Jeff ---
**Author:** ![InquisitiveIdiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3ec8ea/32.png) [@InquisitiveIdiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InquisitiveIdiot)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/9 "2003-04-29T22:38:48Z")
Probably. Just because you know it’s going to happen doesn’t mean it’s not unexpected in terms of what normally happens on those situations. FYI - Azumanga Daioh. Funny as hell anime, and completely schizophrenic with a 10 second attention span. The random moments are classic. I’ts like the japanese Family Guy, only more so. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2003, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/10 "2003-04-29T23:13:04Z")
As Mel Brooks said, “Tragedy is when I get a paper cut on my little finger. Comedy is when you fall in a manhole and die.” ---
**Author:** ![X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbe5ce/32.png) [@X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X_Slayer_ALE)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/11 "2003-04-30T00:01:35Z")
You also have to remember that its only funny until somebody gets hurt. Then its hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/12 "2003-05-01T16:22:55Z")
“The pun is a form of humor to which fools stoop and wise men aspire.” ---
**Author:** ![seriousart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@seriousart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seriousart)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/13 "2003-05-01T16:47:57Z")
One theory on humor is that we laugh because we feel superior to the person or thing being belittled. Somebody falls down, we feel better that it wasn’t us. Another supposed reason we laugh is when something unexpected happens. IE: Man goes to pull a rabbit out of a hat and a lion’s head comes out instead (Bullwinkle). Monty Python’s humor is also a good example of humor coming from the absurd. And then there’s old fashioned wit. Defined by the ability to perceive and express in an ingeniously humorous manner the relationship between seemingly incongruous or disparate things. I’m sure there’s more. There’s all sorts of different reasons people laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Synthesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@Synthesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Synthesis)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/14 "2003-05-01T17:21:22Z")
I appreciate some the thoughts and opinions. It has become clear to me that the source and reason for something being funny is more complicated than I initially thought. I did find the following research and it has some compelling thoughts… [http://www.uni-duesseldorf.de/WWW/MathNat/Ruch/humor.html](http://www.uni-duesseldorf.de/WWW/MathNat/Ruch/humor.html) Syth ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/15 "2003-05-01T17:24:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mrblue92 \* > \*\*No, I’m a frayed knot. \*\* But what about all the poor strings who aren’t frayed knots and therefore face a lifetime of thirst and discrimination? Surely _they_ qualify as victims? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/16 "2003-05-01T21:59:49Z")
A man and a man and a man were walking down the street… ---
**Author:** ![sciguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@sciguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciguy)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/17 "2003-05-01T22:16:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Synthesis \* > \*\*I did find the following research and it has some compelling thoughts… > > [http://www.uni-duesseldorf.de/WWW/MathNat/Ruch/humor.html\*\*](http://www.uni-duesseldorf.de/WWW/MathNat/Ruch/humor.html**) I find it funny that a humor study was done by a German university. Does that make them a victim? Well, ok, so it’s funny because of the stereotypical humorless German. Still, some jokes are based on situations that are just plain absurd, without necessarily having a butt. For example, two men fighting: not funny (even though there are people getting hurt). Two men fighting with fish: funny. And I have to admit to an almost abnormal enjoyment of puns. Despite seeing it many times, I still grin at “Super calloused, fragile mystic, plagued with halitosis”. ---
**Author:** ![GOM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@GOM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GOM)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/18 "2003-05-08T15:57:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by autz \* > \*\*Puns have no victims. \*\* Oh??? Perhaps you never noticed that the first syllable of **punishment** is pun! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/19 "2003-05-08T20:07:51Z")
A priest, a minister, and a rabbi walk into a bar. The bartender looks at them and says, “What is this, a joke?” ---
**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humor-does-it-need-a-victim/171990/20 "2003-05-08T20:18:37Z")
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