It's not funny!

A long time ago, in a faraway country...

By HOWARD BELTON

November 27, 2010, 6:37pm

 When I was a kid, on the other side of the world, in England in the old days, my sense of humour was trained on cartoon films. Before we got TV, there were at least three every week at the children’s cinema on Saturday mornings. I still enjoy watching the classic cartoons, especially Tom and Jerry and the Road Runner. Why are they so funny? Doctoral theses have been written on the subject and I don’t want to compete with the psychologists, but it seems to me that it’s because impossible things happen, which would be fatal in real life, but are funny in fantasy.  The coyote steps off the cliff, and only falls when he looks down and sees there is nothing below. Tom Cat runs into the garden fork and we know that, when he drinks water, it will spout from the holes. I’ve seen some of the films many times, but they are still funny.

The love of slapstick humour really is universal. I will never forget the time, during my early days in Japan, when I was driving out of the hotel car park. I stopped because a man was walking the other way, reading a newspaper up in front of his face, heading for the car. The car park attendant and I exchanged glances. Did we warn him? No. We just laughed when he walked into the car and threw the newspaper into the air in shock. No, he didn’t hurt himself – at least, not enough for us to feel guilty about laughing.

In these politically correct times, there are a lot of jokes which are just not allowed any more. In the USA for example, if you make jokes about black people, then you could end up in jail. Unless you are black of course, then it’s OK. Black comedians have an unfair advantage – there is a whole area of comedy reserved exclusively for them! I saw a TV comedy show where a crippled comedian was applauded for making jokes about cripples that would simply not be allowed from an able-bodied person. Another comedian had been treated for mental illness and his madman jokes had the audience in fits of laughter. Thank goodness these exceptions are allowed because, maybe sadly, some of the funniest jokes are about disadvantaged people.

I don’t know about you, but I always feel very frustrated when I am going through airport security. At least in the UK, there are stern notices warning that any terrorist jokes will lead to you being banned from flying or worse. The longer I queue, the more good jokes come to mind and, sometimes, I have to bite my tongue to keep them in. So far I have succeeded, but I know that, one day, a joke will escape and I will be in deep trouble.

My son likes a lot of comedy which I just don’t find funny. He has an answer to this. He says “You old folks don’t understand. Your sense of humour is stuck in your childhood, and anything new is shocking.” Hmmph. I absolutely refuse to listen to that sort of nonsense.

Isn’t it an odd world that we live in?

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Source: Manila Bullitten