I swear I will finish up that creative writing piece that's been sitting in my saved posts for almost a month now...
If you've spent any decent amount of time with me, you should know I really enjoy good humor. There is just something about cracking a smile and letting out a giant whooping laugh. I live for the moments when you can't even stand up and are gasping for breath because you're laughing so hard (it has happened, it is glorious). Oddly enough I've had people compliment me on my smile and laugh. Which while kinda cool is honestly one of the weirdest compliments I've gotten.
However, I don't enjoy all humor. I require humor to have at least some wit to it. Sure I will grin at most things, but there are certain thresholds where I deem it too mundane or generic or lame. But a clever turn on the head, a sharp pun, or a situation that you just can't manufacture even if you tried, those are what I laugh about. Obviously this is all subjective and whatnot.
As a slight digression, most humor is funny because of the absurdity of it all. You intentionally put something in a weird situation. Or take a mundane situation and add an element of wonky. Or tear down something established and reveal how odd it really is (if you squint). This is why roasts are funny. You take a normal person, usually someone you know intimately, and throw around their best and worst traits for all to see and joke about. Something you would normally never do in good civilized company.
My default joking mechanism is taking potshots at people. Attributing to them a completely absurd situation or attribute. Like if I joke about what kept me up late into the night. I could say something along the lines of me and four others guys penetrated deeply into five others. It was really fun, screams of pain all around, in fact one of the guys was dressed up as the Queen of Pain. Of course, I'm still a virgin, and heterosexual to boot, so ~obviously~ this didn't happen. Right? Well, that's just a really weird way of describing a game of DotA2 when my team pushed into enemy territory and had a massive teamfight where we won. =p
So yeah, I'm a deadpan snarker. Or at least try to be.
There are a few key elements to making this work. First, I have to know about the person. I don't want to unintentionally bring up something they don't want to talk about. Otherwise to steer clear I have to do something extremely outlandish that no one could believe. But the better I know someone, the tighter I can play. Which leads to point that the best jokes are ones people partially believe. Duping a few people into second-guessing their beliefs is the core of all this. It's easy to dismiss the outlandish, but taking a step back, making sure you're OK, is what gets investment and thought into the joke. Even better if the target rolls with it and pretends that what I just said was gospel truth. Then people get really confused and hilarity ensues. Finally, you have to let people in on the fact there was a joke. Otherwise bad things happen. Luckily if you put the proper tells in people will figure it out. But sometimes I have to make sure people realize I don't in fact make 100k. 'Cause, you know, all people with advanced degrees make minimum 100k.
The nice advantage of being a bit of a jokester is security. You get away with a lot of things, and if something you tried was an honest attempt gone wrong, you can sometimes play it off like a joke. Like trying to hit on a girl and she gives you a weird look? Crack a smile. Lining up a few perhaps sensitive characteristics of an individual? Just keep going into the ludicrous and listeners don't know where the truth ended and the lie started.
Unfortunately it also means people can't take you seriously. I find it can be hard to put it all on the line (yeah, it can be argued I'm a huge wuss and hide behind humor and intentionally lowered expectations). And if I do, sometimes people just smile and assume I'm playing another joke. This is why tells are extremely important. Making sure there is a distinct jump between the plausible and the unreal is important. For example, every time I use the word "obviously" I'm usually intentionally taking a really silly position. Or when I make a list, the later ones are probably the fakes, especially when they come in sets of three. "I went shopping, then I went to another party, then I went and killed 10 people." Hopefully these help distinguish between the times I'm being completely serious and when I'm being a snarky jerk. Cadence of voice helps when telling the joke live, but through text I rely on other cues. (apparently some people read my updates/blogs with my voice in their heads). Without these listeners can't tell if you are capable of being serious. And trust me, I can get pretty darn serious, and it'd be a shame for someone to not realize it when I am.
People who don't know about my snarky and sometimes biting comments might get a little put off. I've had on two separate occasions two different friends tell me they originally thought I hated them. Like, hardcore hating them. Luckily they learned that actually means I like them. I don't make fun of people I don't like and enjoy poking fun at. I like making people I like laugh. So, if I've ever offended you with my humor, this is a direct and public apology. I was hoping you'd get a good laugh out of it. <3
So that's a bit about me. I am a giant tension diffusal mechanism. I will intentionally poke fun at myself to help lighten a situation. And don't be surprised if I throw in a completely ludicrous comment about you. I'm just trying to make people smile. =D
Speaking of, enjoy this video that always makes me smile:
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