So let's talk about humor and comedy writing and putting it on artworks like graphics, music, writing, etc.

Lately I've kind of been consciously studying funny things which means every time I laugh at a particular scene in a movie or in a sentence in an online article I take a few moments to consciously understand how the funny part came to be.

I personally believe it could be learned but needs a certain sensibility or viewpoint, or innate potential. That's why I partially agree with woody allen that you are either born funny or not. Some does have natural talent, and are fairly quick to learn it. Funnily enough, humor can be find everywhere, even not funny things can be turn to funny things, from disgusting, to sensitive issues, death, sex, racism, sexism, religion, politics, eveything under the sun could be funny. Itjust needs the skill or total lack of skill to make the art.

Anyway, I was wanting to learn more. I know there isn't a secret ingredient or skill and I'm not looking as if it's the only way to be funny but I've been making a game from smbc to guess what the punchline would be as the strips are commonly one panelled. And I never once could guess what it would be and end up laughing at the joke and feeling stupid(not really) for not thinking about it. I know it's full of reversals and stuff but the smbc jokes are somethin i would liketo learn and i;m confident soner or later i will get the intuition and mentality to produce it.


So I would like to listen if others's opinions about the subject of it. what's your favorites etc. movies, stand up comedians(which also i've been watching on youtube), jokes, sketches, types of humor. Anything and did you personally see that you need to improve and 'study' or do you just jumpt it and rely on your personal experiences and mentality to produce those awesomeness.
As I see it most ofthe Artistry forum goers here aremostly musicians so have you ever thought of adding that 'tickel' flair to your melodies or lyrics. So there, I just want to talk about everything funny and how it applies to everything.

In my opinion humor is one of if not the best way to reach people. Because an idea that can seem totally absurd, indirect, or reletively harmless can be driven into the brain much more easily and much more effectively.

If you speak to people directly and intentionally it can throw them off to a degree if they aren't that kind of open minded or willing for basic conflict and "aggressive conversation" in the first place because any kind of debate is aggressive because you're directly trying to influence a person's assumptions or way of thinking. But if you do it with the correct kind of comedic presentation it gives them room to ponder about what you're talking about on some further level even if they're only seeing whats being said as a joke.

I also feel humor is all about intent and trying to convey something, like any other form of art or meaningful social interaction. So if your joke, pun, play on words, story or what-have-you doesn't have an intent its just nonsense and nonsense isn't as funny. Not to say that a good joke has to have some political, psychological, or social agenda; it just has to have a reason for being. An original thought for what your set-up revolves around, will provoke thought and the ensuing laughter. Also known as your punch-line.

Dark humor is probably my favorite but its a careful line to walk because you could go too far and offend or not far enough and it probably won't be funny. So you've got to figure out what are and aren't good topics to use in your humor.

I love putting humor into almost everything I do and even when I write I stick a little in here and there because it shows a lightheartedness and youthful way of looking at things. I personally think its never good to take yourself too seriously because then no one else will.

Some of my favorite comedians are: Bill Hicks, Henry Rollins, Doug Stanhope (yes he is kind of an ass but very good at dark humor), Lewis Black, Richard Pryor and some very old David Cross also anything with Zach Galifinakis. The only television I can think of that I find regularly funny is weeds, boondocks, arrested development, and Shameless.

I think I'm pretty good at humor now but its always a hit and miss thing. I was terrible at it when I was younger but then studied it alot, developed alot of my own opinions and quirkyness and now I can do it pretty well when I put my mind to it. I don't think its necessarily something that comes inherantly I think if you inherantly love humor and are drawn to it then eventually with practice you'll be good to. Some people just get there earlier than others that doesn't mean they're any better. I've seen alot of funny dudes I knew when I was younger stick to the same immature style of humor and now most of what they have to say is followed by awkward silences.

Humor is like taste in music or food or anything else you'll get people who will laugh at everything you say and do and others who won't laugh or won't like you because of it. IMO its good to try to coax or laugh at everyones jokes unless they're totally offensive or hopelessly stupid both to be courteous and encourage personal growth.

Also this would prolly be better in media because most folks ignore the fuck out of artistry and I think its a good topic.

Someone admin please move this to media.

enjoy your new home little one..

I have no idea. Distant whisperings from the aether.

I guess fundamentally good humor is about processing information in interesting ways, usually in order to illuminate some noteworthy trait about the topic in question. I used to enjoy going around talking about how comedy tried to reach some higher truth in some safe, largely innocuous way. I'm not really sure this is the case, even though it can be.

Here is an interesting example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmXacL0Uny0

Nothing is really being conveyed here. It's a cockeyed comparison of two sports which isn't really illuminating anything of note. But what's effective here is his use of language, juxtaposition, and presentation to show something not at all interesting in a very engaging and entertaining way. Give the transcript of this to someone who reads things aloud in a very robotic, stilted manner, and you have something that isn't very funny. Read either the baseball or football descriptions on their own, and you also get something near totally empty. The extremes Carlin reaches with language here aren't really terribly inventive on their own, but it becomes pretty good stuff when you see how the words bounce off each other and how he illustrates them with body language and changes in his voice.

I would say as important to the conceptual grounds of comedy is the method it's being delivered. You could have a really good joke, or something earnestly funny, but told in poor or unsophisticated ways, the joke could be totally ruined.

Here's a truly phenomenal example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCixAktGPlg

Exact same joke, told once by a genuinely gifted performer, told again by someone that is a very low-functioning autistic jerkoff. The joke isn't really intrinsically funny, and it only works in Cosby's case because his examples along the way are funny and his pacing and payoff builds up carefully. But then Mencia does it and relies wholly on the joke itself being funny, exhausting you before the punchline has even been delivered, failing to make the buildup to the joke itself interesting or even peripherally nuanced. Presentation is the key here, and the reaction each has after the joke will tell you everything you know about comedy. Cosby's long pause, and pained, almost hurt reaction, compared to Mencia screaming at the top of his lungs before you've even been able to process the information or react to the joke, almost as though his unpleasant screaming is supposed to be the joke. Cosby's reaction works here, because that's the reaction you expect a father to have, and the comedown from the energy of the buildup is excellent. Mencia's reaction doesn't work here, because you can't believe someone who would have that reaction could possibly have children in college before the state deems them unfit for parenthood and takes the kids away. Cosby works and has good aesthetics, Mencia leaves you feeling like you've just been shit on by an arrogant stranger.

So basically the secret behind comedy is that if you like Carlos Mencia you have a bad sense of humor and should be euthanized.

Yup this is the best place to learn about making iphone  cases.

I guess fundamentally good humor is about processing information in interesting ways, usually in order to illuminate some noteworthy trait about the topic in question.

I just recently got a nice thick book that's all about the history, nature, and evolution of information. I expect to find out how humor works by the time I am done reading that book.

I know it's too much for me to expect that I myself will become more humorous after absorbing the information within that book, even though the only reason I bought that book was because I thought it might make me funnier.

What book is it? I'm pretty sure that at a subconscious level might help.