What we think is funny.

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Humor is cultural & political, it can also be very personal.</p>

<p>I remember when I was a child having a hard time with what was supposed to be funny. Hated anything that showed or implied that someone got hurt. Even cartoons. Especially hated the Three Stooges or Jackie Gleason, where * mean* was viewed as funny.</p>

<p>I think much had to be learned to get perspective on why it was funny.
My dad used to love Pogo- which I was too young to understand.
I learned to like Monty Python & Mad magazine, & later along with my kids loved Calvin & Hobbes & the Far Side.</p>

<p>I now enjoy David Sedaris ( that white people list forgot Lake Wobegon), although he borders on too much 13 year old boy humor.
I guess my sense of humor is far from being politically correct with PG Wodehouse & Fran Lebowitz on my bedtable.</p>

<p>I hated Forest Gump- & neither I or my teen daughter bothered to watch Napoleon Dynamite all the way through.</p>

<p>But I loved Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy (* there’s* Mos Def again :wink: ) & Mr Bean.</p>

<p>Jane Austen doesn’t appeal to me however although she is my sisters favorite ( my same sister, who went to see * Austin Powers: the spy who shagged me* without knowing what " shagged" meant- she is * very conservative * LDS & they went with another LDS couple- who all walked out)</p>

<p>I haven’t watched Saturday night live much since the original cast but I know what shagged means.</p>

2

<p>Jay Leno.</p>

<p>He has had a hard job in appealing to traditional Carson viewers while trying to capture younger viewers too. So he has some segments of the show for various kinds of viewers. Our kids enjoy watching Leno though usually only half of the segments. They usually go to bed when the guests come on.</p>

3

<p>Authors and books: Richard Russo’s “Straight Man”, Rita Mae Brown’s “Ruby Fruit Jungle”, E.M. Delafield’s “A Diary of a Provincial Lady”</p>

<p>People: my family…the funniest, cleverest people I know</p>

4

<p>Dave Barry. A fellow CCer posted Barry’s colonoscopy article a while back…everyone I know who read it is still laughing. My sarcastic, cynical, been-there-done-that 18-year-old thinks it’s one of the best things he’s ever read.</p>

<p>We both also love Dilbert, M<em>A</em>S*H, and early Simpsons.</p>

<p>What I NEVER thought was funny included the Stooges, Honeymooners, and especially Benny Hill. Ick.</p>

5

<p>My family thinks I’m weird because I found Mr. Bean and Napoleon Dynamite funny. </p>

<p>I find the ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Larry David’ shows funny - they just resonate.</p>

<p>I thought Benny Hill was funny too. I’m not a stooges or Larel and Hardy fan though.</p>

6

<p>Any noisy body sounds work for most of my family. Sometime I feel so alone! :)</p>

7

<p>when my H & I were first living together we loved the Bob Newhart show and later Newhart- unfortunately, I didn’t get to see the last Newhart show but I will be looking for it.</p>

<p>He is a funny, funny man.</p>

8

<p>There were several Monty Python skits I loved in particular-- I think they can be found on Y*uTube.</p>

<p>John Cleese as Little Red Riding Hood
The Four Yorkshiremen (remind me of some posters on CC!)
Working Class Playwright</p>

<p>Also, the episode of “Taxi” where Elaine brings Jim Ignatowski to the fancy reception and he ends up playing piano (“I must have had lessons”). A classic.</p>

<p>Comics: Calvin & Hobbes, Bloom County, Peanuts, Mutts</p>

9

<p>Oh, ditto EK!
I loved Bob Newhart, and all the side characters were so good too.</p>

10

<p>“Bob Newhart show and later Newhart- unfortunately, I didn’t get to see the last Newhart show but I will be looking for it.”</p>

<p>The last episode of the Newhart showed that it was all a dream. Bob the shrink wakes up with Emily(?) on his side.</p>

11

<p>yes, emily.</p>

12

<p>Before there was David Sedaris, before there was Garrison Keillor, there was Jean Shepherd.</p>

<p>The world is on the decline. ;)</p>

13

<p>I absolutely love political humor - Bushisms make me laugh so hard. I also loved all the comics people sent to me during the 2000 election - lots of jokes on Florida.</p>

14

<p>My H and I used to watch Bob Newhart reruns for years. Then Newhart. Also love Seinfeld, Friends. I’ve read David Sedaris’ New Yorker articles, and I’ve read Rita Mae Brown’s cat mysteries, but I don’t know if they count as humor. I used to be a huge Woody Allen fan. Saw all the movies and read quite a few, if not all, of his books. I suppose that dates me as you don’t hear him mentioned much anymore. I like the “great presidential speeches” spot on Letterman, also Dave’s top 10 list. Also like Dave Barry.</p>

15

<p>I like Chris Rock.</p>

<p>“You could be single and lonely, or married and miserable.”</p>

<p>“If you never ever thought of using rat poisoning on your spouse, you have never been married.”</p>

<p>Henry Cho - Korean comedian with a southern accent.</p>

<p>[Henry</a> Cho - Whistle | | Comedy Central](<a href=“http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=71295&title=henry-cho-whistle]Henry”>http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=71295&title=henry-cho-whistle)</p>

<p>He did a skit where he went to Korea with his father for the first time, he didn’t realize it was so easy to lose his father in a crowd, every where he turned they all looked like his father. He did it all in southern accent. I was on the floor.</p>

16

<p>Henry Cho was also funny in Harold and Kumar go to White Castle. I will see them again when their second movie shows up on DVD on 7/28 (Harlod and Kumar escape from Guantanamo Bay)</p>

<p>I think it is John Cho not Henry</p>

17

<p>Oh, I like the Daily Show and Colbert Report too. There’s just so much out there. Movies: A Fish Called Wanda, Fierce Creatures, Death at a Funeral, old Chevy Chase movies (Vacation, European Vacation). Loved old Bill Cosby and George Carlin routines. Remember when there used to be comedy albums? They’d put out LP vinyls with comedy on them, and you’d just listen, like radio sort of (that surely dates me).</p>

<p>Some stuff must be generational tho. When we took our teens to see the Holy Grail musical, we rented the movie first so they’d get the jokes. Well, they didn’t like the movie or the musical and didn’t think either one was funny. Plus, I noticed how middle aged the audience at the musical was. Same thing sort of for Young Frankenstein, and H and I still like Mel Brooks, altho I really did not like the Producers movie at all. Never saw the show for that one.</p>

18

<p>Harold and Kumar was good. Also, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (?), time machine movie. New Yorker cartoons, Doonesbury, ZITS (cartoon).</p>

19

<p>how 'bout Miss Swan on Mad TV?</p>

20

<p>

</p>

<p>mercymom, have you seen the original Producers movie with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder? It’s head and shoulders above the remake.</p>