# Tyler Perry -- Funny or no? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyler-perry-funny-or-no/486126 "2009-02-16T17:58:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyler-perry-funny-or-no/486126/1 "2009-02-16T17:58:17Z")
Absolutely not, I say. I just don’t get the humor. There’s nothing witty and nothing original about the comedy. His stuff seems to be full of unfunny G-rated cliches that we left behind in the 80s. Am I missing something with this? I’m not getting the appeal… ---
**Author:** ![HolyFreakingMoly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7ba0ec/32.png) [@HolyFreakingMoly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HolyFreakingMoly)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyler-perry-funny-or-no/486126/2 "2009-02-16T17:59:40Z")
He can be… The first diary had some moments. He’s overworked the characters. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyler-perry-funny-or-no/486126/3 "2009-02-16T18:08:27Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyler-perry-funny-or-no/486126/4 "2009-02-16T18:10:40Z")
What’s with his insistance on having his name appear in the title of every one of his movies & TV shows? _ **Tyler Perry’s** House of Payne_ _ **Tyler Perry’s** Madea’s Family Reunion_ _ **Tyler Perry’s** Daddy’s Girls_ …etc. I don’t recall having watched _ **George Lucas’** Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope_ or _ **Sherwood Schwartz’** The Brady Bunch_. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyler-perry-funny-or-no/486126/5 "2009-02-16T18:28:45Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@The\_Tof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tof)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyler-perry-funny-or-no/486126/6 "2009-02-16T18:34:55Z")
I really enjoy all sorts of humor. I’m one of those guys that are likely to enjoy even a really bad comedy… (I love Meet Joe Dirt, or Deuce Bigalow for example) I say not funny. I just don’t get him. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyler-perry-funny-or-no/486126/7 "2009-02-16T18:41:31Z")
Of course not. Don’t be silly. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyler-perry-funny-or-no/486126/8 "2009-02-16T18:42:38Z")
I so don’t get him that I don’t even know who he is. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyler-perry-funny-or-no/486126/9 "2009-02-17T14:42:42Z")
Just out of curiosity, I wonder what the racial makeup of all posters who have answered this question are? From what I have read about him, his humor is very successful in the black community - and not anywhere else. (Wish I could give a cite - I read articles on his career in Entertainment Weekly and Premiere, but I have no idea how long ago that was - Premiere Magazine doesn’t even exist anymore) I can say, as a white woman in her fifties, that the previews for his work never made me want to see them - and I love comedies. ---
**Author:** ![HolyFreakingMoly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7ba0ec/32.png) [@HolyFreakingMoly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HolyFreakingMoly)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyler-perry-funny-or-no/486126/10 "2009-02-17T14:52:04Z")
Well, I’m the only one who gave him any props, I’m caucasion but married to a Black man and most of my friends are Black… Don’t know what that means. I think I think he’s funnier than my husband thinks he is (he loves the Tim and Eric show on Adult Swim so that gives you a notion of his sense of humor!) and I don’t think he’s by any means hysterical. I think the Medea character, in the first Diary of a Mad Housewife, was humorous but, as I said, he’s way over exposed his characters. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyler-perry-funny-or-no/486126/11 "2009-02-17T15:43:21Z")
_House of Payne_ is painful to watch. I’ve tried. I didn’t laugh once during any of the shows I’ve seen. I have friends that love everything Perry does, so I’ve seen a few of his movies. I’m not a fan of his work, but I like him. I want him to succeed - I just don’t enjoy his movies. I’m the odd one out it seems since I’m an old Black chick. ---
**Author:** ![Garula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Garula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garula)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyler-perry-funny-or-no/486126/12 "2009-02-17T15:50:19Z")
> [@HolyFreakingMoly](#): > > (he loves the Tim and Eric show on Adult Swim so that gives you a notion of his sense of humor!) I believe that is more than adequate grounds for divorce. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyler-perry-funny-or-no/486126/13 "2009-02-17T15:53:00Z")
I am a white man in my mid 40s dating a black woman of the same age and I’ve seen a number of his movies. His movies are more overwrought emotional melodramas about good women done wrong than comedies IMHO, but each one has several moments that are really funny. They’re not my cup of tea (although I do like the eye candy he employs, ie Gabrielle Union, Sharon Leal, etc) but the theatre was packed and during the few funny bits the laughter was so loud it drowned out the dialog. That being said, if his Madea character was never heard from again I wouldn’t complain at all. ---
**Author:** ![HolyFreakingMoly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7ba0ec/32.png) [@HolyFreakingMoly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HolyFreakingMoly)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyler-perry-funny-or-no/486126/14 "2009-02-17T16:03:28Z")
> [@Garula](#): > > I believe that is more than adequate grounds for divorce. Ya think? It is the worst show EVAH although I’ll admit laughing once or twice at it. The whole Adult Swim line up is pretty regular around here. I do admit to liking Shin Chan and love the Oblongs. Sick, sick stuff! ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyler-perry-funny-or-no/486126/15 "2009-02-17T16:10:41Z")
Sometimes. But not enough that seeing his name on a project would make me think “oh, must see that”. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyler-perry-funny-or-no/486126/16 "2009-02-17T16:17:45Z")
> [@singular1](#): > > Just out of curiosity, I wonder what the racial makeup of all posters who have answered this question are? From what I have read about him, his humor is very successful in the black community - and not anywhere else. (Wish I could give a cite - I read articles on his career in Entertainment Weekly and Premiere, but I have no idea how long ago that was - Premiere Magazine doesn’t even exist anymore) > I can say, as a white woman in her fifties, that the previews for his work never made me want to see them - and I love comedies. I have checked not only my skin color but the majority of my penises, and I am still, by all available evidence, black. I would say that not only is Tyler Perry not funny, but he can’t see funny from where he is. Every time he appears on screen, or a work of his is performed, Richard Pryor gets a little more dead. ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tyler-perry-funny-or-no/486126/17 "2009-02-17T16:42:59Z")
> [@singular1](#): > > From what I have read about him, his humor is very successful in the black community - and not anywhere else. I’d say his humor is better _understood_ in the black community. I’m black. I _get_ it. But it (usually) isn’t funny. Or well-written. Or well-directed. It’s just that in the black community (just like anywhere else) appealing to the lowest common denominator is likely to reap the highest rewards.