I am sitting here, all alone. I ran across something online about a half an hour ago that struck me as so funny that it had me gasping for air off and on for a good long time. I was quite helpless; whenever I felt myself winding down, I would think of it again and be off to the races. I am just now calm enough to type these words.
I will post it here with the intention of learning if anyone else sees the humor in it. I wouldn’t be shocked if some (many?) don’t see why it hit me so hard. Humor is unpredictable and illogical.
So, look below at what may be the funniest thing I’ve ever read, and tell me if it strikes you as it did me:
I tried to tell a coworker about a College Jeopardy contestant who, when asked to name a part of a flower, guessed “hymen” instead of “stamen” but I couldn’t stop laughing.
Many years ago, my best friend’s mother died suddenly. My brother and I went to the viewing. We were trying to keep straight faces, but earlier that day, the new National Lampoon had arrived in the mail. One of their Photo Funnies was usually signs that were double entendres and the like, but this time they were fake signs and the first one said, Mr. I Eat Corpses – Undertaker. We made the mistake of showing it to my friend, trying to cheer him up, then all three of us were snickering, unable to be quiet. Here comes his sister and she threatened to fix all of our wagons. Did that help? What do you think?
A few years ago, when my wife and i were binging 30 Rock, there was a line from the “Sexy Baby” episode where the sexy new writer says Lutz lured her into bed. Liz replies with “Lutz? No! It’s that even possible? I was there when he Belvedered*.”
Couldn’t stop laughing at that line. Even after i went to bed, it kept popping into my head and I’d restart the giggles, to the point where I ended up shaking the bed so furiously i woke my wife up.
*For reference, “Belvedering” is when a man accidentally sits on his own nuts.
I had a laugh attack like that about a year ago. A friend and I were sitting at the table in the tiny living room of my small apartment, getting very drunk. A really stupid pun had both of us doubled over with tears streaming down our faces for at least 10 minutes. Seconds after we’d regained control, the laughter attacked us again, and we had to stand up and move away from each other (in that tiny living room). On it went for about 30 minutes. I was mentally observing myself the whole time because it was fascinating. I hadn’t laughed like that in over a decade, and the pun that had sent us into convulsions was really stupid. I later figured that it was a release from different kinds of stress that each of us was experiencing.
I really like the word “playpusary”, and there’s something inherently funny about marsupial sex, but I don’t get the uncontrolled laughing vibe from it. I can sorta see where that tickle might come from, but it didn’t do it for me.
OTOH, I had an attack like that maybe a month ago. Had me going for several minutes with, like the OP, several false recoveries then the idea comes back and I’m laughing like a maniac again. I can’t recall what the triggering item was, but my wife totally did not see the humor, much less the out-of-control humor. Then again, she’s kinda humor-challenged.
@burpo_the_wonder_mutt, my brother and I giggled throughout my grandfather’s funeral. As @alovem says, I think it was a kind of stress release.
I’ve told the story before of how we once went to a new church, where we heard a sermon entitled “Jonah and His Three Boners”. My stomach hurts just remembering how hard we tried to stifle the laughter. The whole family just staggered out afterward, wiping our eyes…
Mrs. J. and I, years ago, had our taxes done at Sears (they had a tax kiosk). On this occasion the tax preparer was a very proper, dignified Indian gent named C.U. Mehta (Alligata), which in itself was not enough to provoke mirth, but established a certain background.
C.U. Mehta was extremely diligent, and went over in incredibly precise detail every facet of our pretty simple return. As minutes stretched to over an hour, we were nearing a state of tax exhaustion when it finally seemed that he was through, only he went off on yet another endless tax tangent. I sneaked a peek at Mrs. J., and the look on her face did it - I started laughing. C.U Mehta’s indignant expression was a trigger for further hilarity. After a minute or two I excused myself, tears of laughter streaming down my face, so that Mrs. J. could handle the remainder of the transaction.
That’s the only time I can recall not being able to stop laughing.
I too, find the word ‘platypusary’ as well as the rest of the article snippet in the OP highly amusing, but did not rise to the LOL stage for me. But there are so many factors in getting to that place where you can’t stop laughing at something— it’s not just the subjectivity of humor, it’s the mood you are in at the time. I’ve watched comedies that made me laugh constantly, then watched again months or years later and thought “how did I ever find this funny?”
Your coworker must have been thinking about this flower:
Yeah. We all know that feeling when you’re getting ready to sneeze but can’t quite yet. It might develop into a full sneeze or it might pass uncomfortably.
That’s about where “playpusary” is for me. In the right mood and caught by surprise I could totally see going over the edge with it. Didn’t happen today though.
I’ve been giving this more thought. I find all of the other examples in this post pretty amusing, and I appreciate how they could turn someone into a gigglepus. But I think they do that only for those who “own” their event. I didn’t expect the platypusary to send anyone else gasping for oxygen, and of course it did not. This is not something you can manufacture. The stars must align.
I think Rule Number One is that it must be spontaneous. You cannot gift it to someone. But when it happens, hoo-boy, look out.
To quote my favorite Warren Zevon lyric (he was talking about love, but it applies equally to our topic):
“You can’t start it like a car, you can’t stop it with a gun.”
Agree. I don’t expect anyone else to lose their shit over a reference to Belvedering, but man in that moment, my laughter was uncontrolable off and on for about three hours. My wife thought I was nuts. “It’s not that funny,” I believe were her exact words.
I laughed out loud. Not uncontrollable laughter, but audible laughter and true enjoyment, so thanks.
Yeah we’ve all been there. Back before we all knew what a jerk Louise CK was, we were watching the special where he goes to the doctor because he’s feeling creaky, and the doctor gives him stretches to do every day. And he’s like, “Ok, so how many days should I do this for?”
And the doctor says, “I don’t think you understand. You just do this now. This is a part of your life now.”
I guess because we were in the early days of getting older we found this hilarious. I ended up on the floor.
A few months ago I was talking about something going on at Carnegie Hall with my 11 year old daughter when she asked a very sincere question, “OK, but how do I get to Carnegie Hall”
I chuckled and then made the mistake of starting to explain why I was chuckling while still chuckling which started a positive feedback loop of hilarity which ended with me in a fit of laughter, gasping, tears streaming, the whole bit.
All while my daughter is still looking at me with a bemused expression and in the meantime my wife has wandered in to find out what was so funny…
