A little over four years ago I read a New York Times article about Jack Handey, who until that moment I had assumed was a fictional character. Turns out that the Deep Thoughts that used to appear on Saturday Night Live were written by a real guy, and his real name is Jack Handey.At the end of the New York Times article, he shares a Deep Thought that never aired because only he and his wife ever laughed at it: “See the fox running through the snow. Then he’s attacked by his mortal enemy: the fox. Fox on fox. Man, what a sight.”I burst out laughing when I read that the first time. I’ve gone back to it a number of times in the years since, and I laugh every single time. And just now, after not having read it for maybe a year or so, I tried to read it to my son and only got about halfway through before I started laughing.I have no idea why it’s funny. It’s not a typical joke. I think it’s the ridiculousness that appeals to me. I like ridiculous. Smart ridiculous. Stupid ridiculous is just ridiculous. And stupid.My sense of humor has evolved over the years. When I was in my late teens and early twenties a film called Kingpin made me laugh almost non-stop. But when I watched it again a few years ago for the first time in fifteen years or so, I barely even chuckled, which surprised me. Before that night I wouldn’t have guessed that my sense of humor had changed as much as it has.Over the past few years I’ve become fanatical about a podcast called WTF. It’s hosted by Marc Maron, who’s worked as a stand-up comedian for thirty years. He has developed into an excellent long-form interviewer. When the podcast first began he talked almost exclusively to comedians. He has branched out since then, but after talking to hundreds of different comedians and listening to their stories he has created a sort of oral history of comedy.And because of these interviews I’ve become more interested in comedy. I’ve always liked to laugh, but I knew very few comedians. Listening to these episodes has not only introduced me to the comedians he interviews, but the comedians referenced in the course of conversation.The podcast has forced me to reconsider comedians who I’d long convinced myself I didn’t like.Garry Shandling, for instance. I remember watching his first show, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, and thinking he was so unfunny. And when his Larry Sanders Show aired I avoided it on purpose. But after hearing part of Shandling’s WTF interview, and hearing how much he helped other comedians, I went back and listened to his work and found that he’s fantastic. He makes me laugh incessantly.Paula Poundstone. No one has ever seemed less funny to me than Paula Poundstone. But over years of hearing her on Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me on NPR, I’ve totally changed my opinion and I’m quite certain she’s one of the funniest women on earth.Bob Newhart is another person I’ve come to appreciate more as my tastes have changed. I never loathed him as much as the others, but he never made me laugh. But I listened to some of his old stuff, and watched a few episodes of Newhart, and he’s hilarious!There are some comedians I’ve liked since childhood though. Steven Wright and Brian Regan are probably my two favorite comedians. Steven Wright’s comedy works for me like no one else’s:“It’s a small world, but I wouldn’t want to paint it.”“I went to a restaurant that serves 'breakfast at any time'. So I ordered French Toast during the Renaissance.”“I want to get a full body tattoo of myself, only two inches taller.”I’ve heard or read those jokes dozens of times and they still make me laugh.Brian Regan is hilarious, and tells mostly clean jokes. But he is so consistently funny. In fact, on an episode of WTF, Marc Maron tells a story where he was sitting around with Brian Regan and a couple of other comedians, and one of the other guys commented on how Regan always works clean. And Regan said, “Hey, I have cuss sometimes. I have a joke where I use the word motherfucker.” The other guys said, “Oh yeah?” And Regan said, “Yeah, it’s a joke about a butterfly.” So funny!As a kid I remember watching Caroline’s Comedy Hour on A&E, and the Half Hour Comedy Hour on MTV, and Stand Up Spotlight on VH1.I marvel at the ability to write jokes. I can’t imagine sitting down and saying, “Okay, now I’m going to write something funny.” Incomprehensible to me how anyone can do that.It’s even more incomprehensible why certain things are funny. That Jack Handey joke always make me laugh. Why? Not one of those sentences is funny by itself, but when put together in that order…magic.I guess it just proves the old adage that there’s nothing more unfunny than trying to figure out why something’s funny.This was written as part of Blogapalooz-Hour, ChicagoNow's monthly writing exercise. Tonight we were challenged to "Write about and describe your sense of humor."Wasn't that well-written and fun to read? You should subscribe to my blog and we'll send you an e-mail every time I write a new one. Type your email address in the box and click the "create subscription" button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.
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