Laughing at risque jokes

Why do I do it? Why do I laugh at things I shouldn't? For instance, when someone from Howard Stern's "whack pack", his personal collection of mentally challenged misfits with various speech impediments, talks about anything? How about when Andrew "Dice" Clay profanely rants about females in ways that set women (and men for that matter) back a thousand years? What about one of the most politically incorrect shows on cable TV today, Curb Your Enthusiasm. I laugh my butt off every time Larry David pathetically wrestles with race or sexuality or death or handicaps. And I can't leave out Chris Rock cursing his way through a monologue about the plight of fathers whose daughters are strippers.

I might just as well laugh at a train wrecks. And I do-not at real train wrecks-but at comedy train wrecks.

I used to think "you either get it or you don't". But I'm not so sure anymore. When I crack up and cough up a lung because a ten year old girl thinks Larry David, whom she encounters in a ladies restroom, has a giant erection, am I being blindly insensitive to child molestation? When I chuckle at a really mean-spirited racial slur Imus's sidekick bigot, Bernard, blurts out, am I promoting hate and fear? I'd like to think I'm laughing at his ignorance but I'm not positive.

I'm not completely without scruples. I laugh just as hard at some of the all time great "clean" comics: Bill Cosby, Brian Regan, Jerry Seinfeld, Flip Wilson, Steve Martin. I think Napoleon Dynamite might just be the funniest movie I have ever seen and it was clean. I even laugh at myself a lot. I'm almost always self entertained by my own stupidity; like the time I was frantically searching for my mobile phone and thinking of the dozen ways i could have lost it, only to realize it was in my other hand. Or the time I locked my self out of my flat with nothing but my boxers and an embarrased smile. Even my short stories about growing up generate laughs at my personal reputation's expense, what little I have that is.

It's not like a want to laugh at the cost of others' pain. Well, that's not completely true. I do laugh at people who slip on ice or walk into glass doors. But only after I'm sure they are okay. I guess nothing tickles me more than a hair piece folded back or a booger flapping free in the nostril of the unaware. It's almost a knee jerk reaction. I don't know, I just can't help it. I'll say this, I'm not proud of it sometimes, if that helps at all.

I guess it's like music. You know how some people say, "oh, I like all kinds of music: rap, country, pop, punk, Manalow, System of a Down, Mozart"? Well that's how I feel about humor. I like all kinds: stand up, sit coms, ad lib, filthy, clean, sight gags, accidents.

However, there are some types I don't like, making me a tad more complicated than a total ignoramus. I don't like ethnic stuff, like "dumb Pollock" or "drunk Irishman" jokes. They seem to me to maintain cultural myths that cloak an underlying bigotry, a position that those who love such jokes disdainfully tag as politically correct. And how about those jokes about people with no arms and legs-wassup with that? I'm not a fan of elephant jokes either-I just don't get them. Hmm … I guess there is such a thing as "getting it or not".

Unfortunately, I have that dark side though; like that classic bit by Kinison about what goes on in the mind of a dead man being raped by the mortician's sick assistant. Now that was funny but in an ashamed-of-myself way. I know it's wrong. I even scream, 'oh that's so wrong' as I bellow in doubled-over hysteria.

So why then do I laugh? Well, probably because I think it's funny … dah. And why do I find this stuff funny? Maybe in the case of Clay or Rock, it's the shock. Maybe in the case of Martin or Regan, it's the delivery. Maybe in the case of Seinfeld or David, it's the predictability that there is humor in the most odd scenarios. Maybe in the case of Winters or Williams, it is the unpredicatability of the ad lib.

Maybe I simply have a defective brain stem. Whatever the reason, I'd rather be this way then never laugh at all, you know, like dentists and Dick Cheney.

Money from your blog

As you guys can see, I've written a blog. No surprise there. Now I'm also hoping to make a little money from it, I mean who couldn't do with a little extra dough. So I hope that I get some relevant links on the side of my site like Johnny Choo or whatever. Also, for any upcoming bloggers out there, its not too difficult to make money online. If you know how. So watch the right of this page and hope you get nice little link that shows you how to make money. They just come up once in a while so you gotta keep your fingers crossed...

A long overdue 'about me'...

"K enters his favorite ritzy restaurant and while sitting at his regular table, he noticed a gorgeous woman sitting at a table nearby....all alone.

He calls the waiter over and asks for their most expensive bottle of Merlot to be sent over to her - knowing that if she accepts it, she is his.

The waiter gets the bottle and quickly sends it over to the girl, saying this is from the gentleman. She looks at the wine and decides to send a note over to the man. The note read: "For me to accept this bottle, you need to have a Mercedes in your garage, a million dollars in the bank, and 7 inches in your pants."

After reading the note, K sends one of his own back to her and it read: "Just so you know - A BMW 850iL, and a Mercedes 560SEL are in my garage; plus I have over 10 million dollars in the bank. But -- not even for a woman as beautiful as you, would I cut off two inches. Just send the bottle back.""

Eddie Izzard vs Russell Peters

eddi

ussel Peters is great! A fantastic comedian who is so successful because he unashamedly makes fun of everybody and everyone. From Tap-some-Bong to SomebodyGonnaGetHurtRealBad. No favourites there! Also being Indian and having a potential 1.2 billion people audience sure doesn’t hurt his popularity. I mean, you just have to be Indian to truly get his jokes! Sure the white boys like it.. but u don’t really get it unless you’ve grown up like that. The first time I heard him I had aches in my sides for days. Well maybe for a few hours but you get my drift.

Now you must be wondering why I’m talking about Russell Peters when this post is titled ‘Eddie Izzard’. This has been subtly (ahem) done to help you truly appreciate the scope and breadth of what Im goin to say next. … …. … Eddie Izzard simply blows Russell Peters away. Its like comparing a redneck to an etiquette counselor! Eddie Izzard is true comedic genius who intersperses intellectual comedy with brilliant situational comedy. The most fascinating thing is that you get the impression that he’s doing the show primarily to please himself, and that if we (the audience) laugh its simply a by product that he doesn’t really care too much about. Only he can pull of what he does. Only he.

I remember that a few weeks after watching my first Eddie Izzard show, I switched over to some Russell peters, and he just seemed so bland and repetitive while previously he was My God of comedy. This is what Izzard does to you. Do yourself a favour and watch him. If you don’t like him you have probably never dated your whole life (going by the principle that girls like people WITH a sense of humour).

Random rhymes

To piss of someone (albeit childishly):

Inky Pinky Ponky
(Jack) has the IQ of a donkey!

To piss of dem bitches:

Eeny meeny miney Moe
(Sandra)'s a cheap 2 dolla ho!

Another day with nothing to do.. sigh...

Thoughts on the piano man

I've never really listened to Billy Joel. Nothing against him, its just that I've never really heard any of his songs. And no, I don't live under a rock. The other day I was at a pub (karaoke night) and a friend of mine unexpectedly whooped with glee and started pointedly pointing (sic) out a song to me. As the flashing lyrics scrolled up the plasma, I better understood his exuberance...

"Its nine o' clock on a saturday
The regular crowd shuffles in
Theres an old man sitting next to me
Makin love to his tonic and gin

He says, son, can you play me a memory?
Im not really sure how it goes
But its sad and its sweet and I knew it complete
When I wore a younger mans clothes

La la la, de de da
La la, de de da da da

Chorus:
Sing us a song, youre the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well, were all in the mood for a melody
And youve got us feelin alright

Now john at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for free
And hes quick with a joke or to light up your smoke
But theres someplace that hed rather be
He says, bill, I believe this is killing me.
As the smile ran away from his face
Well Im sure that I could be a movie star
If I could get out of this place

Oh, la la la, de de da
La la, de de da da da

Now paul is a real estate novelist
Who never had time for a wife
And hes talkin with davy whos still in the navy
And probably will be for life

And the waitress is practicing politics
As the businessmen slowly get stoned
Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
But its better than drinkin alone

Chorus

Its a pretty good crowd for a saturday
And the manager gives me a smile
cause he knows that its me theyve been comin to see
To forget about life for a while
And the piano, it sounds like a carnival
And the microphone smells like a beer
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
And say, man, what are you doin here?

Oh, la la la, de de da
La la, de de da da da

Chorus"


WOW! I was blown away! It made me think that a lot of the songs we hear and hum to.. we never really listen to the lyrics. I mean.. I used to listen to Rage Against The Machine when I was a teenager and though I could never make out the lyrics I absolutely loved their songs purely based on their riffs, rythm and vocal style! It was only later (after I read an article about what they stood for) that I understood that they were actually singing about 'revolutionary viewpoints highly critical of the domestic and foreign policies of the U.S. government.' Oof! But that single piece of information managed to give every song of theirs so much more meaning and gave me the first inkling of what it felt like to have respect for a band.
Music is truly a wonderful thing :)

"Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
But its better than drinkin alone" - I just know that this line is going to haunt me forever.