过兰亭Book 4
Unit 1 Leisure Activities
Entertaining Humor—What's Funny?
Donald M. Huffman
The joy of laughing at a funny' story is universal, probably as old as language itlf. But, what is it that makes a story or a joke funny?
As one who had enjoyed humor since I first recognized it, I've made an attempt to explain and discuss humor with students in such diver cultures as Latin America and China. I've done some rious thinking about funny stories. It has been a labor of love!
Why is it that veral students in a class will fall out of their chairs laughing after I tell a joke while the rest of the students look as if I've just read the weather report? Obviously some people are more nsitive to humor than others. And, we recognize that some people tell jo黄豆红烧肉
kes very well while others struggle to say something funny. We've all heard people say, "I like jokes, but I can't tell one well, and I can never remember them." Some people have a better n of humor than others just as some people have more musical talent, mathematical talent etc. than others. A truly funny person has a joke for every occasion, and when one is told, that triggers an entire string of jokes from that person's memory bank. A humorless person is not likely to be the most popular person in a group. It is reasonable to say that the truly humorous individual is not only well liked, but is often the focus of attention in any gathering.
Even some animals have a n of humor. My wife's mother often visited us for extended stays. She normally didn't like dogs, but she fell in love with Blitzen—a female Lab we have, and the relationship was mutual. Even when young, Blitzen would tea Grandma by very lectively carrying one of her bedroom slippers into the living room where Grandma sat in her favorite, comfortable chair. Blitzen pranced just beyond the reach of Grandma until Grandma was tempted to leave her chair to get the slipper from Blitzen. When Grandma left her chair, Blitzen would quickly jump into the chair, flashing h
er Lab smile from sparkling brown eyes which clearly said, "Aha, I fooled you again.
Typical jokes or humorous stories have a three-part anatomy that is easily recognized. First is the SETUP (or tting), next is the BODY (or story line), and the are followed by the PUNCH LINE (an unexpected or surpri ending) which will make the joke funny if it contains some humor. Usually all three parts are prent, and each must be clearly prented. It helps if the story/ joke teller us gestures and language which are well known to the audience. 一什么平川
Humor, as a form of entertainment, can be analyzed in order to discover what makes a funny story or joke em funny. Here, for example, are some of the most common types of humor. They range from the most obvious humor to the more subtle types.
"SLAP-STICK" is the most obvious humor. Its language is simple, direct, and often makes fun of another person or group. Slap-stick was and is the technique of the stand-up comedian and the clown. It appeals to all ages and all cultures. Nearly every English-speaking comedian in this century has ud the following joke in one form or another. On夏至手抄报
e man asks another, "Who was that lady I saw you with last night?" The other replies, "That was no lady, that was my wife." The humor lies in the fact that the cond man is saying that his wife is not a lady. In other words, she is not a refined woman. The joke is no less funny becau it is so often ud. The audience knows in advance what will be said, becau it is classic humor, and any audience values it even more becau of its familiarity.
Chine "cross-talk" is a special type of slap-stick in which two Chine comedians humorously discuss topics such as bureaucrats, family problems, or other personal topics. Cross-talk can be heard anywhere from small village stages to the largest Beijing theatres, and to radio and television. It is clearly a traditional form of humor well understood by Chine people.
A PLAY ON WORDS is not so obvious as slap-stick, but it is funny becau of misud or misunderstood language. My favorite example is the story of three elderly gentlemen traveling by train in England. As the train slowed for a stop the first man asked, "Is this W讽刺的话>浙江高考一本线
embley?" "No," said the cond, "It's Thursday." "So am I," said the third man. "Let's stop for a beer." We know that older people often do not hear things clearly, so the misunderstanding of both Wednesday (for Wembley) and thirsty (for Thursday) make a nice tup for the punch line delivered by the third man.
唯物主义和经验批判主义天气冷了关心的话短语The famous Chine cartoonist and humorist Ding Cong is a master of word play. In one of his funny cartoons, a teacher says, "How come you completely copied somebody el's homework?" The young student replies, "I didn't completely copy it. My name on the page is different." In another classic Ding Cong cartoon, an irritated father asks, "Tell me, what's one plus two?" The son says, "I don't know." The impatient father then says, "For example, you, your mother, and I altogether are how many, you idiot?" The son proudly answers, "Three idiots." Whether the stories are cartoons, jokes told by a slapstick comedian, or a cross-talking team, they appeal to people everywhere as funny stories becau they have a note of reality to them, and the unexpected punch line is quite funny. 11 PUNS are even more subtle forms of word play. They u the technique of similar sounding words or alternative meanings of the same word. Puns are thought by s
ome critics to be the lowest form of humor, but I disagree with this. Puns require more subtle and sophisticated language skills than most humor forms, but even the very young can u them in their simpler forms. For example, the "riddle" or trick question often us a pun in the tup, the story line, or, more often, the punch line. Puns are the first type of humor I learned, and at about 5 years of age I remember hearing the following riddle. One person asks, "What is black and white and red all over?" The other person usually cannot answer the riddle, so says, "I give up. What is the answer?" The riddler replies, "A newspaper." This is the obvious answer if one knows that "red" is pronounced the same as "read" in English, but the meanings are clearly different.
