The Seriousness of Humor

Humor is a serious topic.

Very serious.

Even more serious than humor itself is the compatiblity of humor.

I was once set up on a blind date with this guy named… Actually, I can’t remember his name so let’s just call him, Sherman.

The only thing Sherman and I had in common was that we both just so happened to have been single at the very same moment in time. Apparently, some people believe that this one commonality is all that is needed to make a perfect match.

Anyway, Sherman seemed to enjoy boasting about what a great sense of humor he possessed. “I’m the funniest guy you’ll ever meet.”

To prove it, he brought a whoopie cushion on our date.

Seriously.

A whoopie cushion.

He would squoosh that whoopie cushion and crack up like it was the funniest thing on the planet.

And it was – when I was 11.

But then I grew up and my sense of humor matured.

It’s not that whoopie cushions aren’t funny. It’s simply that, as an adult, I just never found them to be as funny as the real thing. I’m all about authenticity.

Anyway, following the whoopie cushion portion of the date (also known as dinner), we went to see the flick, Independence Day, starring Will Smith. The movie, which took place in the present day, was about a global attack by an extraterrestrial race.

Below is a picture from the movie, depicting an enormous alien mothership, that has one fourth the mass of the Moon, descending upon Earth – right before it had deployed thousands of alien fighter ships to destroy the planet.

Once the movie ended, and as the credits were still rolling, I turned to Sherman and asked the very same question I always ask after watching a totally unrealistic sci-fi movie, “was that a true story?”

People always laugh when I ask my standard post ridiculous sci-fi movie question.

But not Sherman. He seemed dumbfounded by my question – not to mention very worried for me. He responded, “Oh, no. That wasn’t a true story at all.”

As we walked along 3rd Avenue, he went on to explain, very methodically, that as far as he knew, there were no aliens on earth at this time, nor could he recall a monstrous alien spaceship ever descending upon New York City.

We never spoke again after that, and I have no idea what became of Sherman or his whoopie cushion.

Perhaps Carrie Fisher said it best in the movie, When Harry Met Sally (also not a true story) when she opined, “Everybody thinks they have good taste and a sense of humor, but they couldn’t possibly all have good taste.”

While someone with bad taste can find happiness with someone possessing good taste, the same cannot be said about a sense of humor.

This is because humor is something that must be taken very seriously.

144 blog posts down – 221 left to go…