Personally, I think I’m a riot.
That may be a little conceded, but I truly think I’m funny. Not the stupid
slapstick humor of Borat, but more like “you have to have a few brain cells to
appreciate” kind of humor. I derive most
of my humor from a combination of bluntness (thank my mother), quick in the
moment deliveries, and, of course, sarcasm. I find great joy in sarcasm,
especially when people think I’m being serious. For example the other day I was
discussing the beverage of red bull with a few of my friends. I was saying how I
though it tasted like pee. Being smart, one of my friends replied “how do you
know what pee tastes like”. Without missing a beat I replied, “hazing”. Now let
me get a few things straight, I have never tasted pee before and my sorority
does not haze. Regardless, my friend stared at me in disbelief and shock, while
the other busted out laughing. Personally I thought I was being clever,
apparently my humor does not translate to everyone. This got me thinking about
the rhetoric of humor.
http://www.someecards.com/
The
rhetoric and words used to make something funny are average words and
sentences, at least my type of humor. There is nothing special about the words
used or the order in which they are presented. Then what makes it funny? It has to
do with three things: timing, delivery, and context. My comment was timed
perfectly. If I had said the same thing two minutes later it would have been
received with quizzical looks followed by slightly worried gazes at my
slowness. Things are much funnier and more impressive when people make it up on
the spot. It has something to do with the spontaneity. In addition, the
delivery was key. I said it with a straight face and did not crack a smile till
I thought my friend was genuinely worried about my life as a pledge. Sarcastic
comments are best said as though they are serious fact. It adds shock value
because it was not expected in the conversation. The listener’s brain takes a
second to comprehend that the facial expression and tone does not match up to
the comment said, and then laughter ensues, hopefully. Of course, context is
crucial. I talked about context in my last post, but it is just incredibly
important in rhetoric. The comment was especially funny because of two things:
1. I was a pledge at the time and 2. hazing is a stereotype of fraternity and
sorority pledges. By playing along with a stereotype, particularly one my
friends knew I would not be a part of, I made a funny play on the notion of a
pledge.
Reading
this you may think stand up comedy is not in my future, and I couldn’t agree
with you more. Do I think I’m funny? Yes. Do I think I'm funny enough to make a career out of it? Absolutely not. Whether I'm funny or not is really a debate for another time; harder to
argue with is the fact that timing, delivery, and context of rhetoric can
change a normal word or a phrase into a laugh-inducing joke.
This is definitely true. I guess I have never tried to really analyze sarcasm, but it is true the three main parts have to be context, delivery, and timing. I would have to say that timing is about the most critical part to sarcasm. Even delaying two seconds is going to tear down whatever sarcastic thing you are about to say. Delivery is usually constant as a serious tone, and context is important but as long as it is absurd, you are in the clear. So I would have to say timing is the most important piece.
ReplyDeleteThis is so true. I am a big fan of using sarcasm on others and I especially like waiting for their reactions, but strangely enough I am not always the best at deciding when other people are using sarcasm with me or not. Hahaha. My friends tend to get a good laugh watching me struggle to figure this out. They often don't understand how I am able to understand the process enough to use it all the time but not enough to tell for sure when the joke is on me. It doesn't really make sense to me either.
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