Humour
C has discovered a comedy channel on Pandora radio. We have been listening to Bob Newhart, Steve Martin, one routine from Andy Griffith,Jonathan Winters, Bill Cosby and a few other older comedy skits. Most of them were new to me and are pretty funny. There was one thing very noticeable about all these comedians. (besides the fact that they are all male) None of them used bad language,sexual humour,scatological humour,ethnic humour or were mean. Somehow these men managed to be funny.
Is it just me, or has that become a lost art?
A long time ago I knew a guy that was really into "South Park". He would tape all the shows and watch them as well. I had to know when it was on so I would know not to call him while he was watching. He loaned me an episode because he was certain that I would enjoy it.
It was called "The Hunting Episode". I know that deer and other forest critters need natural predators to keep their numbers at a good level. Still,I dislike hunting. Hunters don't hunt because they need to feed themselves and their families, they hunt because they enjoy killing things,something an animal loving, tree hugger like me finds deplorable. I endured the entire episode clutching my stomach, because I wanted to be fair. The the end came and one of characters, a little kid named Kenny, was killed. At that time Kenny got killed at the end of every episode and it was a sort of game among fans at that time to see how Kenny would get killed the next week.
That was enough. I rewound the tape, handed it back to my friend and told him that he was welcome to watch it in his own home whenever he wanted, he was never to bring that trash into my house again. I know it is a cartoon and it's not real but I don't find murder funny. I can't imagine what sick people would think that is remotely humorous. I had once heard that the men who created "South Park" had a goal to offend everyone. Somehow I don't find this admirable.
As an aside, this person continued to watch the show religiously until they did an episode that featured a pedophile priest. My friend, who happens to be a very conservative Catholic, went from being a fan to disliking the show. He's also no longer a friend of mine.
It is possible to be funny, even today, and still run a clean act. George Carlin did several routines that have no bad language in them and are funny. One of them is about the differences between baseball and football. Another one is "Indian Sergeants". He also did a nice bit on bad words and how there are more words to describe a bad word than there are bad words. Andy Griffith did a routine where he was a backwoodsman watching his first football game. Bob Newhart has "Driving Instructor", "The Cruise of the U.S.S. Codfish" and "Abe Lincoln vs Madison Avenue" Steve Martin has "Grandmother's Song", a song that starts out like pieces of advice from and elderly relative and then goes in a completely different direction. Even though they were all written or performed a decade ago or better, they are all still funny.
It isn't that hard to be funny without all the profanity. Anyone can do it. One time during a busy and bad day a pharmacist I was working with turned to me and said, "Do you know what really burns my butt?" "No", I said. "A fire about this high," replied measuring the distance with his hand about three feet from the floor. The fact that it was delivered by this proper,older pharmacist, who until then never cracked a joke to me made it all the more funny. I laughed so hard I could hardly breathe. It was wonderful.
C told me a joke the other day. "What did the buffalo say to his son when he left for school?" The answer, "Bye Son" Get it? Bye Son (bison). Clean humour is possible.
In fact we should start a movement. We have movements for clean air, clean water and clean streets. How about a movement for clean humour? Even if it doesn't go anywhere, it would be fun.
Is it just me, or has that become a lost art?
A long time ago I knew a guy that was really into "South Park". He would tape all the shows and watch them as well. I had to know when it was on so I would know not to call him while he was watching. He loaned me an episode because he was certain that I would enjoy it.
It was called "The Hunting Episode". I know that deer and other forest critters need natural predators to keep their numbers at a good level. Still,I dislike hunting. Hunters don't hunt because they need to feed themselves and their families, they hunt because they enjoy killing things,something an animal loving, tree hugger like me finds deplorable. I endured the entire episode clutching my stomach, because I wanted to be fair. The the end came and one of characters, a little kid named Kenny, was killed. At that time Kenny got killed at the end of every episode and it was a sort of game among fans at that time to see how Kenny would get killed the next week.
That was enough. I rewound the tape, handed it back to my friend and told him that he was welcome to watch it in his own home whenever he wanted, he was never to bring that trash into my house again. I know it is a cartoon and it's not real but I don't find murder funny. I can't imagine what sick people would think that is remotely humorous. I had once heard that the men who created "South Park" had a goal to offend everyone. Somehow I don't find this admirable.
As an aside, this person continued to watch the show religiously until they did an episode that featured a pedophile priest. My friend, who happens to be a very conservative Catholic, went from being a fan to disliking the show. He's also no longer a friend of mine.
It is possible to be funny, even today, and still run a clean act. George Carlin did several routines that have no bad language in them and are funny. One of them is about the differences between baseball and football. Another one is "Indian Sergeants". He also did a nice bit on bad words and how there are more words to describe a bad word than there are bad words. Andy Griffith did a routine where he was a backwoodsman watching his first football game. Bob Newhart has "Driving Instructor", "The Cruise of the U.S.S. Codfish" and "Abe Lincoln vs Madison Avenue" Steve Martin has "Grandmother's Song", a song that starts out like pieces of advice from and elderly relative and then goes in a completely different direction. Even though they were all written or performed a decade ago or better, they are all still funny.
It isn't that hard to be funny without all the profanity. Anyone can do it. One time during a busy and bad day a pharmacist I was working with turned to me and said, "Do you know what really burns my butt?" "No", I said. "A fire about this high," replied measuring the distance with his hand about three feet from the floor. The fact that it was delivered by this proper,older pharmacist, who until then never cracked a joke to me made it all the more funny. I laughed so hard I could hardly breathe. It was wonderful.
C told me a joke the other day. "What did the buffalo say to his son when he left for school?" The answer, "Bye Son" Get it? Bye Son (bison). Clean humour is possible.
In fact we should start a movement. We have movements for clean air, clean water and clean streets. How about a movement for clean humour? Even if it doesn't go anywhere, it would be fun.
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