Research
Question: What does what I find
funny say about myself/my interests?
Categories/Codes:
Animal characters
Violence
Double meanings/wordplay
Structure (length, plot, setting, etc.)
Surprise/absurdities
Conflict
What these features say about
me
1
There
was a snake called Nate. His purpose in life was to stay in the desert and
guard the lever. Animal character personified. This lever was no ordinary lever. It
was the lever that if moved would destroy the world. Nate took his job very
seriously. He let nothing get close to the lever. The
element of absurdity; far from anything possible in reality.
One
day off in the distance he saw a cloud of dust. He kept his eye on it because
he was guarding the lever. The dust cloud continued to move closer to the
lever. Nate saw that it was a huge boulder and it was heading straight for the
lever!
Nate
thought about what he could do to save the world. He decided if he could get in
front of the boulder he could deflect it and it would miss the lever. Nate
slithered quickly to intersect the boulder. The boulder ran over Nate, but it
was, in fact, deflected, leaving history to conclude that is was better Nate than
lever. “Better late than never”. If someone had never heard the
phrase before, this story would probably be dumb to them.
2.
Some
friars wanted to do more for their flock but their vow of poverty, simple
lifestyle and lack of gainful employment meant that their supply of available
funds was, to say the least, meager. Nevertheless, they put their collective
heads together and came up with the idea of opening a small florist shop. They
reasoned that they could grow most of the flowers on the church grounds, and
what they couldn't grow, they could likely pick from the surrounding
countryside. As you can probably guess, everyone liked to buy flowers
from the men of God and their little business flourished. So much so that the
rival florist across town thought the competition was unfair. Business setting; can make this funnier to someone that
is familiar with this setting because it’s relatable. He asked the good
fathers to close their little shop, but their flower business was providing
them with much-needed funds for their good works and they refused. He went
back time and again, finally begging the friars to close. By this time, they
had tired of the florist's constant whining and they ignored him. The success of the friar’s
business is causing the florist’s business to suffer. It is funny to me that the cause
of the conflict is a friar; the ironic contrast is surprising. The
florist even asked his mother to go and ask the friars to get out of the flower
business, but they ignored her, too.
By
this time, the florist was nearly bankrupt and in desperation hired Hugh
MacTaggart, the roughest and most vicious thug in town, to "persuade"
the good friars to close. Being a man of few morals and even fewer religious
convictions, Hugh had no ethical problems with his assigned task and promptly
gave the friars a thorough beating and trashed their store. The use of violence is
an absurdity; the fact that the florist had to go to those lengths to resolve
his problem. He departed with a stern warning that he’d be back if they
didn’t close the shop. Terrified, the friars did so immediately, thereby
proving that only Hugh can prevent florist friars. “Only
you can prevent forest fires.” You have to be familiar with Smokey the bear ads in order
for this story to make any sense.
3.
A
giant panda escaped from the zoo in New York. Animal character
personified; it is funny to picture an
animal in an urban setting; relatable to me. Eventually, he found his way downtown and
walked into a restaurant, where he found a seat at an empty table. The maître
d', being a native New Yorker figures he's seen stranger things than this so he
sends over a waiter to take the panda's order. It’s funny to me since I’ve been in this setting; an absurdity taking place in
a familiar setting. In due course the panda's meal arrives and he eats.
After
he finishes his dinner he stands up, calmly pulls out a gun from
God-knows-where he had it hidden, and blows away several customers and a couple
of the waiters. Then he turns around and walks toward the door. This is much unexpected.
Naturally,
the maître d' is horrified. He stops the panda and demands an explanation, at
the very least.
The
panda says to him, "What do I look like to you"?
The
maître d' answers, "Well, a giant panda, of course."
"That's
right," says the panda, "Look it up," and he walks out.
The
maître d' calls the police. When they arrive the maître d' relates the whole
story to them, including the panda's comment about looking it up. So the chief
detective sends a rookie out to get an encyclopedia.
He
eventually returns with the Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume P. The detective
looks up "panda", and there's the answer: "Giant panda, lives in
China, eats shoots and leaves." The double meaning
is funny.
4.
Robinson
Crusoe fell desperately ill. Just before dropping into a coma, he called for
his man Friday to help him. "Friday, get help! Get help!"
"Yes!"
Friday replied, "Get help now!" Not knowing what else to do, he went
outside of Crusoe's tent and danced and prayed for the gods to come and help
his master.
Shortly
afterwards, he went back into Crusoe's tent and found his master awake and
staring at a beautiful glowing shape at the foot of his bed.
"Who
is that?" Robinson Crusoe asked.
His
helper answered, "Thank Friday! It's God!" “Thank
god it’s Friday.” If
you don’t know this phrase, this story wouldn’t have been funny.
5.
All
the top chess players show up at a hotel for an important international
tournament. They spend the first hour hanging around the lobby telling each
other of their recent victories. Their crows get progressively louder and
louder as each one tries to outdo the others.
The
hotel manager gets tired of this, so he throws them out of the lobby and tells
them to go to their rooms. "If there's one thing I can't stand," he
says, "its chess nuts boasting by an open foyer." “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” song lyrics. This story would have been
funnier to me if I was more familiar with chess.
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