It's Kind of a Funny Thing

First of all, thanks to PK Hrezo for giving me an award. The best gift is knowing a good person thinks well of you. : )

And who will I pass on this honor to? More wonderful people, of course:
Gavriella Zahtz
Shannon Mayer
Karen Jones Gowen
Alexia Adams
Jennifer Daiker

All great friends.

Anyway, today I'm going to write about humor. I am an admitted smartass, although I find it easier to curb that instinct online, where I have to first type it out and then hit tweet/post before making a witty retort. Which, I have to admit, isn't always witty.

But I'm talking too much about myself. What I'm interested in is humor at a subjective level. Why do some people find something funny and other people don't, or even find it offensive? If you go to another country, you might turn on the television and stare at their most humorous program, confused as to why this is funny. My brother lives in Japan and he hardly ever watches their programing. He says it's okay, but prefers to use his laptop to download American programs.

There are some cultural differences in humor. I remember a year ago, Reader's Digest did their humor issue and talked about the funniest joke in each country. Some of them couldn't be more different.

And there also might be a biological component as well. Ever wonder why poop jokes are popular despite the grossness? Because humans may be wired to find bodily functions and other things that make us uncomfortable funny.

Even with these generalities, going from one person to the other will find people with different ideas of humor. So another part of your sense of humor comes from experience (think of a show you've watched where they had a joke you found grossly insensitive; but did other people laugh?).

Humor...it's hard to achieve. You can do everything right, but someone just won't be amused.