# What types of humor do you not "get"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 9, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872 "2009-05-09T20:26:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/61 "2009-05-10T14:48:22Z")
Most of what was mentioned, especially: Slapstick Body fluid/gases humor Borat and his ilk. But I confess to often wondering if I have a stunted sense of humor. I often see a link here to things that are supposed to hilarious and usually I think: wow, you are too easily amused. But maybe I’m would be better served by being more easily amused. ---
**Author:** ![Engineer\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@Engineer\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engineer_Dude)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/62 "2009-05-10T14:48:25Z")
TV shows / movies where the main character just can’t catch a break. **Meet the Parents** was funny for _maybe_ the first 10 minutes, but after that it just gets sad. You start feeling sorry for the guy and wanting to punch the dad in the face. Same with the main character of **Scrubs** and Dr. Cox / Dr. Cox’s girlfriend girlfriend / the janitor. The worst offender has got to be Curb Your **Enthusiasm**. As if I’m not misunderstood enough by idiots in my _own_ life. Now I have to watch it happen over and over again to some guy on screen :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/63 "2009-05-10T17:52:12Z")
I don’t like humor in which a person is humiliated or embarrassed. I’ve been in that situation enough times that it doesn’t appeal to me. My daughter told me about an incident at school in which a boy had a juice pouch squeezed all over his clothes, and he had to walk back to class in his undershirt and boxers, and everyone laughed except the teacher, including my kid. I reminded her that it could have easily been her in that situation, and she stopped laughing. This is why I didn’t like “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” even though my brother found it uproarious. I also don’t like bathroom humor. It’s just not funny to me. There’s an anime OVA in which a character has to take a dump and it’s basically 10 minutes of his unsuccessful and unfunny attempts to go to the bathroom (long line, toilet’s being cleaned, unaware girl asks him out as he tries to sneak into the ladies’ room, etc.) He eventually shits his pants. I did not find that funny in the least. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/64 "2009-05-10T18:39:22Z")
I don’t like comedy based on stereotypes. I don’t even like stuff like “why computers are better than men” if they get too mean. Humiliation, unless it’s someone who really deserves it. > [@gaffa](#): > > Poop:\*\* It’s just human waste. What’s funny about it? I understand there is a particular age range when children usually laugh uproariously at anything featuring poop, but I don’t recall ever doing so. If you have to ask, you’ll never understand. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/65 "2009-05-11T00:15:35Z")
I agree with the OP. I hate scatological humor. I also don’t really like watching slapstick (_reading_ about slapstick, now; that’s a different matter). ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/66 "2009-05-11T00:55:42Z")
British humor in the original. I find things from Monty Python, Douglas Adams, etc. funny when they become in-jokes and people I know tell them to each other, but watching or reading this type of humor just puts me right to sleep. I only like it second hand. Funniest video type stuff where people get in accidents and really hurt themselves. I used to like Morning Zoo type shows. I don’t know if I’ve matured or if the ones we get around here have just gone to crap, but now they are too racist, misogynist, predictable, full of blatant product placement, and just plain not funny. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/67 "2009-05-11T02:23:33Z")
> [@ParentalAdvisory](#): > > Sorry, I meant comedians. In the middle of a standup act, they bust out a guitar and think they’re funny, but it just isn’t so. Stephen Lynch is a genius. Otherwise, I agree. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/68 "2009-05-11T16:12:52Z")
That BET comedy show that used to be on at night… not sure if it’s still on. It was, supposed “black stand-up-comedians”, women and men, that really didn’t have an punchlines or coherent jokes. It was really more like telling stories that may or may not be funny in a stilted dialect. It really didn’t show any genuine talent, just a chance for “pimp boy G” to front and show some weird machismo or Big Sista to relate a smack down . Reminded me a lot of rap, actually, no real “melody” or substance to the comedy. Whatever happened to the Richard Pryor/Eddie Murphy tradition? ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/69 "2009-05-11T16:23:13Z")
Never really thought Adam Sandler was very funny, either… I do, however, think that Rob Schneider is funny acting to an Adam Sandler script. ---
**Author:** ![Frustrated\_Wonderer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a4c791/32.png) [@Frustrated\_Wonderer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frustrated_Wonderer)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/70 "2009-05-11T16:29:32Z")
Everybody loves Raymond type humor, I also don’t see why Bill Crosby is considered to be so funny. I guess it comes down to “reality family” comedies which are so very corny and predictable. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/71 "2009-05-11T16:41:36Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Whatever happened to the Richard Pryor/Eddie Murphy tradition? Well, to answer my own question… I do think [Katt Williams](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1174236145035008029) is funny as hell, and maybe carrying it on down the line. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/72 "2009-05-11T16:55:05Z")
> [@Noel\_Prosequi](#): > > Cringe comedy. Where some buffoon is stuck in a mildly socially awkward situation (like, they forgot to buy a birthday present) which serves as a Maguffin for the buffoon to go to ludicrous lengths to avoid the consequences of the problem/attempt to solve the problem. It depends for such success as it has on our shared fear of embarrassment arising out of the original situation, but the far greater embarrassment generated by the attempt at avoidance/resolution usually drags me out of the joke. Good one. I agree, though you’ve described it better than I could. I’ll add: A character who is a self-absorbed, over-the-top (to cartoony levels) jerk is not funny. Frank Burns from MASH probably isn’t the best example, but he’s the best example I can think of at the moment. [QUOTE=gaffa] Slapstick: Any humor that depends on hitting, slapping, eye-poking or (especially) being kicked in the balls. The Three Stooges, America’s Funniest Home Videos and “Dodgeball” are examples. The thing is, I’ve been kicked in the balls, and I’ve never felt pain like that before or since. I don’t laugh at scenes of pain, I wince. [/QUOTE] Here’s the key to enjoying slapstick, I think: Cartoon characters cannot be physically damaged, and they cannot feel pain, at least not severe pain. Rather, what would cause a real person harm or pain causes them **humiliation** and **embarrassment**. So, when Daffy Duck gets a shotgun blast to the head, or Wile E. Coyote falls off a cliff, or Yosemite Sam has a stick of dynamite blow up in his face, it is their pride, not their person, that is injured. Some live action characters, including the Three Stooges, count as cartoon characters in this regard. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/73 "2009-05-11T17:05:41Z")
Cringe humor, and gross-out humor. Everything else, if it is not well-done. And especially shaggy dog stories. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/74 "2009-05-11T17:21:45Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Whatever happened to the Richard Pryor/Eddie Murphy tradition? Chris Rock is the heir to that throne, and . . . [shooting a sacred cow right between the eyes] . . . he’s better than them. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/75 "2009-05-11T17:33:11Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Here’s the key to enjoying slapstick, I think: Cartoon characters cannot be physically damaged, and they cannot feel pain, at least not severe pain. Rather, what would cause a real person harm or pain causes them **humiliation** and **embarrassment**. So, when Daffy Duck gets a shotgun blast to the head, or Wile E. Coyote falls off a cliff, or Yosemite Sam has a stick of dynamite blow up in his face, it is their pride, not their person, that is injured. > > Some live action characters, including the Three Stooges, count as cartoon characters in this regard. Yes, but they’re not. The Three Stooges were three old men, and they had keep replacing the one who got the brunt of the abuse because of injury, so much that one replacement had a [clause in his contract prohibiting being hit too hard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_stooges#Joe_Besser_replaces_Shemp). Cartoons are funny, and I laugh at “Roadrunner” cartoons. Human beings, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/76 "2009-05-11T18:03:55Z")
I generally dislike the notion that “irritating” or “annoying” is the same as “funny”. I suppose that’s more a social thing than a “genre”, though. ---
**Author:** ![Theodore\_Striker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Theodore\_Striker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theodore_Striker)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/77 "2009-05-11T18:13:36Z")
Not sure what genre it specifically belongs in, although I’m guessing physical humor, but the over-mugging for the camera a-la Jim Carrey just does not do it for me. Slapstick is pretty lame, but I do chuckle at the misfortune of others, like on AFV. Babies doing cutesy things on there need to go away, but dumb people falling out of trees while doing something stupid makes me laugh. Bodily fluid/ fart, and scat jokes stopped being funny after high school for the most part. I love stand-up, but hate singing stand-up and ventriloquism. My sisters love Jeff Dunham, and I just do not see it at all. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/78 "2009-05-11T18:18:18Z")
Here’s one that hasn’t been mentioned yet that I’ve never found funny: The “I’m so drunk I act dumb and slur my speech” comedy. When I was a kid I would see it performed by people like Dean Martin, Carol Burnett, or Dudley Moore. It just seemed stupid to me then and it still seems stupid to me now. Same goes for the “I’m so stoned” comedy of Cheech & Chong and the like. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/79 "2009-05-11T18:18:23Z")
Stoner comedy…any sort of self-cool “woah dude” comedy is totally unfunny to me. e.g. Cheech and Chong, or Harold and Kumar. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872/80 "2009-05-11T18:24:11Z")
I can find value in examples of every single type of comedy mentioned… except ventriloquism. I am utterly mystified that successful ventriloquists exist. Seriously, why? I think Dave Chappelle’s standup routines are very good… and yet I hated his show. I just thought it was amateurish and stupid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-types-of-humor-do-you-not-get/495872.md?page=5)