Humor, like beauty, rests in the eyes of the beholder (or, in reality’s case, its audience).
There are many different names for humor, as Google informed me, each name labeling a genre of humor defined by specific content and procedures.
The recent news about Rep. Weiner has brought blue humor, or humor inappropriate for a public speaker, well, straight from public speaker’s mouths onto the iPads and TVs of viewers. Even local news anchors have taken on the jobs of comedians such as Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, slipping pun after pun and wisecrack after wisecrack about his name into their daily programming.
Why are we so fascinated with said “blue humor?”
If you think about it, they attempt to slip similar, yet clean jokes about gas prices and the economy into their broadcasts, but we hardly crack a smile. Same with newspaper headlines – their puns, if we even catch them, produce a reaction nowhere near the desired one.
I think we like blue humor because what’s forbidden is fascinating. We could easily mention an arm or a leg (or an arm and a leg…ha, not funny) in everyday conversation without a second thought, but discussing parts hidden by swimwear surprises us as viewers. Laughter can be caused by surprise.
The truth can also evoke laughter. Truth can be found in these taboo topics, if points are made that “shouldn’t” publicly be acknowledged. Referencing the size of a specific organ, for example, can evoke embarrassed laughter from self-conscious males and a chuckle from apathetic females who know about said self-consciousness.
Any more? Share if you wish. This is just a rough start, a babbling of unspoken thoughts finally put to paper. Or, in this case, posted online…you know what I meant.