People, in general, tend to have very specific senses of humor. No two people are ever going to agree on everything, humor-wise; there will always be something that strikes the two differently, and leaves one completely cold. So what causes it?
I know a large amount will be pure personal nature; we’re all wired differently, so we’ll obviously react to stimuli differently. I’m sure it depends just as much on the people we grow up with, and the environments we grow up in. Everyone gets molded differently.
But I know that, personally, I can track my own sense of humor to a few specific works that shaped it pretty majorly. The things I find funny, the humor I seek out, even the way that I tell jokes, are all defined largely by the stuff I was into roundabout middle school or so. Namely:
[ul]
[li]Bill Cosby’s comedy albums, which I listened to most every day growing up, and which taught me how great a well-told overblown story can be.[/li][li]The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which taught me how much spontaneous, random and observational non-sequitors could aid in the telling of a story.[/li][li]Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail, for its sheer love of absurdity.[/li][li]The Simpsons (can’t stress this enough), for just about everything from the cadence of a good gag to referencing pop-culture in a way that’s still funny if your audience hasn’t seen the thing being referenced.[/li][li]Dana Carvey’s stand-up special that got played at least once a day for a couple years on Comedy Central, for the fantastic energy and range of impressions and impersonations.[/li][li]Robert Aspirin’s “Myth” series, which opened up the whole fantasy-humor realm.[/li][li]Deadpool, as written by Joe Kelly, showing that serious ideas can still be espoused in stories about hilarious deranged lunatics.[/li][/ul]Other stuff came later, like MST3K, more stand-up, and more movies than I can count. And I’m sure there’s lots of stuff I’m forgetting. But if I had to trace my sense of humor to its roots, all those things would immediately jump to the foreground.
So, how about you? What defined what you find funny?
The earliest comedy I can remember listening to were my parents’ Bill Cosby LPs. I listened to them over and over. From there, I graduated to Dr. Demento, and then I discovered the British comedies on PBS, and my life has never been the same. I was also exposed to Monty Python and the Holy Grail at an early age, and I’d also include Young Frankenstein.
MST3K, hands down. It’s why I frequently put random snark in size=0 at the bottom of my posts or throw in quick drive-bys in threads I haven’t yet posted to. It happens in regular conversation, too; I’ll even riff on something I’ve said if I find something funny about it.
Hmm…for me, I think it was more the people I grew up with. My father and his friends are very funny (in a corny way) when they get together. They have all been friends since childhood so they know each other very well and rib each other a lot.
My dad does silly things like, when there is a dinner at someone’s house, he gets the spare toilet rolls and hides them in silly places around the house so that when the friends are tidying up later on, they come across them.
We spent many summers staying in caravans on a friends farm when I was a child. Obviously we all had fairly limited wardrobes and resources. Every now and then, the ladies would declare a buffet evening and a buffet table would be ‘formally’ laid out instead of the usual free for all. Sometimes the buffet evening would be declared a ‘touch of class’ theme and we would all try to wear something a bit nice, say a fancy scarf tied around the neck. One night my ‘uncle’ stepped out of his caravan wearing a full tuxedo and top hat. In the middle of a paddock.
They’re the kind of things that you really ‘had to be there,’ but certainly that sense of fun and the unexpected was very much the mood of my childhood and I think that’s where my sense of humour comes from.
I grew up watching Roseanne and reading MAD Magazine with the full blessing of my parents. My mom buying me a couple of books by some smartass named Cecil Adams didn’t help any, either.
[li]Dana Carvey’s stand-up special that got played at least once a day for a couple years on Comedy Central, for the fantastic energy and range of impressions and impersonations.[/li][/QUOTE]
Rocky & Bullwinkle, Roadrunner would be my two inspirational cartoons.
Many different comedians on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and Johnny himself Get Smart
Laugh In
F-Troop
Now that I think about it, I don’t really have an answer because my definition of humor has changed so much over time. When I was in high school I thought that Seinfeld was the most hilarious thing that the human race had ever produced. Earlier this year I watched a couple episodes and they were completely dead on arrival. Kramer slides through the door, George gets angry easily, Jerry mentions masturbation on TV … where’s the humor?
80% Simpsons
10% movies (mike meyers being one of my faves, plus chris farley)
10% tv shows and standup comedians (south park, old SNL, project runway, kathy griffin, jim gaffigan)
This is almost identical to what I came in to say! With the exception of the Smothers Brothers; though I like them very much, I never had any of their records, and I always read Peanuts and enjoyed its dry humor. “Deadpan” is pretty much my watchword. Later on I discovered the wonders of Wodehouse and Bullwinkle.
When I was a child, cartoons were certainly predominant, chief among them Warner Brothers (Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies), and Rocky and Bullwinkle.
A little later, I listened to some of my parents’ comedy albums; the ones I remember are Phyllis Diller, the Smothers Brothers and Allan Sherman.
However, I have to say that the single biggest influence on my rather twisted sense of humor was my introduction in high school to The Goon Show, a British radio program from the 50’s. If you’re not familiar, think Monty Python without sight gags. Actually I like it much better than I ever liked Monty Python. It’s full of non-sequiturs, horrible puns, and creative images beamed directly into your brain.
So I am sadly liable to go off into non-sequiturs and bad puns at the most inopportune moments, and then have to shake my head and say “never mind” when I get the blank looks.
Roddy
My family is funny. All of 'em. Every last one of my relatives has a great sense of humor, and particularly quick wit. If you didn’t want to be left in the dust at a family dinner you learned quickly to pipe up. We all learned.
My cousin went to Thanksgiving at the home of her first boyfriend, her first at someone else’s home, and came back bewildered. She said “I just assumed everyone’s family was as funny as ours. They aren’t.”
Outside humor influences range from Marx Brothers to Eddie Izzard. Things that I grew up with include Allan Sherman albums, Bob Newhart albums, my grandfather’s subscriptions to the New Yorker and Punch. We watched any screwball comedy that showed up on TV, and listened to tapes of classic radio comedies (Fibber McGee, Jack Benny, Burns and Allen). Bookshelves held the complete works of James Thurber, Ogden Nash, P.G. Wodehouse, Mark Twain, and more.
Thanks for posting this. Considering the OP has brought up some great memories. We used to do hoaky things like write and perform puppet shows, and play parlor games. In those days we all lived within a 30 minute drive of eachother. Now we’re more scattered and only get together every few years, but when we do we laugh, a lot!.