easily amused
Stamped: February 12th, 2007 | Toggle Similar
Tagged: comedy, cry for help, self flagellation, unfunny.
I am. Very. Easily amused, that is. And, aside from Kurt Cobain wanting to be like me, I have found that this is more of a character flaw than cutesy quirk. But I think the problem is in my actual laughter, not just the fact that I'm laughing. Which of course, leaves me completely confused and slightly paranoid. I mean, do I have one of those laughs?
Case in point: sitting on the couch with the manfriend and an Aflac commercial comes on the TV. And, sure…I've seen the damn thing like fifty times. But I still fucking laugh, ok? Man-friend's reaction? Snide commentary ("it wasn't that funny.") and perhaps a rolling of the eyeballs. Evidently, I have demonstrated my simplicity and he is thusly annoyed. But, does it mean nothing that I even resisted the urge to recite the lines along with the duck? AFLAC! Personally, I think that deserves some credit. I mean, the commercial is intended to be funny. It's a successful marketing ploy. I am reacting in the manner the ad-gods have intended, but I'm the freak?!
Another example? At a minature lecture in college, the professor was going on and on about Hawthorne. I'm not exactly sure what the topic was, but at some point, he compared a character to a couple of kids "playing poker in the back seat." Get it?! Poker? POKE-HER? Fucking brilliant pun! And this was coming from a white-bread, JCrew-adorned Minnesotan who typically walked aroud campus with his right hand neatly folded into his suit jacket pocket. Am I to understand that he didn't want us to catch his ha-ha? Because, when I laughed–out loud, I recieved at least three glares from fellow attendees. It was all over their faces…what's wrong with you?
But here's what I do know: I don't have a cackle. I don't have a nasal laugh. I'm not stupid; my laughter does not come from a lack of knowing what the hell anyone is talking about. I have superb taste in basically everything, including humor.
So then what is it? What is the world, or at least my man-friend, trying to tell me? That my laugh is obnoxious? Too loud? Does it last a bit too long? I mean, FUCKING LEVEL WITH ME! Because the irony is simply overwhelming. And guess what? I want to crack up about it a little bit. Clearly I've won the battle of logic, but what fun is amusement if the joke is on you?
(But seriously, how funny is that fucking duck!?)
UPDATE: Click here to listen to me laughing lots…(and talking dirty, by chance.) Now, you can really level with me. How's my laugh??
Last 5 posts by Jenna
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Um, maybe if you uploaded an MP3 of your laugh we could tell you whether its obnoxious. Without that, we’re left to speculate.
I was in a word-study class way back when. Someone asked what “black humor” meant. The prof gave an example. He said, “A guy said to Mrs. Lincoln, aside from that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?” I lost it. I thought this was the funniest joke I’d ever heard. I laughed and laughed. Everyone looked at me like I was odd.
In fact, I am odd, but not for the reasons they were thinking.
I do have the cachet that comes from being Minnesotan. We’re trendy, in a neat and tidy sort of way.
The duck is funny. What do you think about the new M&M’s commercial? At one point one of the M’s makes a Xerox of his naked ass, sitting on the Xerox machine. No one seems to notice or object. How can that be?
Dan beat me to it. in the immortal words of BBspeak, “this thread is usless without an audio clip(pics)” i can somewhat see manfriend’s tension at your outburst after the 30th-50th viewing. at that point, it(the commercial) becomes a tiresome irritant that i will fast forward through. the DVR is one of man’s crowning achievements, or not.
with regards to the cretins in Minnesota, or anywhere else for that matter, take pride and embrace your razor sharp wit, and leave them in the dust. the punster will appreciate that you ‘got it’, and who knows where things could lead from there…
i for one, am glad you don’t have a cackle, the (extensive)fantasy would be shattered.
jr
Ok guys…I linked to a clip of me on Playboy Radio a while back. You can hear me laughing lots there.
That Aflac commercial with Yogi Berra in it is probably one of the funniest commercials ever.
Oh Jenna, with the coquettishly teasing laugh. i had forgotten i could get dirty and listen to your audio over there. the fantasy lives on, even stronger. your laugh is one that i could grow old with. leave the unloving, slow witted manfriend behind on your vacation to the beach…
jr