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Monday, May 22, 2017

So funny everyone forgets to laugh


I'm not sure when I began to think I was funny (funny, ha-ha, not funny odd). I suppose like many shy, sensitive kids, I turned to humor as a defense mechanism. It was probably junior high when it really started to come out. I was always a pretty quiet kid. I would sit in class and kind of mumble comments to the kids sitting next to me. Eventually they would laugh and I felt like they liked me. I was hooked on my own brand of stand up at that point.

Though it did get me in trouble in this accelerated math class that was taught by a emotionally stunted guy who had been a whiz kid in math. He may have done well in college math, but he sucked as a teacher. He was always throwing tantrums in class and being early teenagers, we pushed as many buttons as we could find. Anyway, one day I was doing my usually covert (or so I thought) monologue to the kids around me and the teacher suddenly was in my face telling me to shut my fat mouth.

Apparently he didn't think I was funny.


I don't recall exploiting my humor much until I was college studying Journalism and wrote a humor column for the college newspaper. It's where I found my voice and style. And it was even mildly successful on campus.

I always gravitated toward humor writers like Dave Barry and Tom Robbins, writers who wrote with an intelligent wit that made you laugh, but think. That's what I aspired to. But getting a job writing like that is a rare thing.

The dull as dirt stuff I ended up writing for work inspired me to look at ways to use humor to keep my mind from turning to jelly. I tried adding humor to slide show scripts and newsletter articles I was writing for work. It rarely went over well. I turned to drafting funny newsletters for people's retirement parties. This turned into drafting skits for staff meetings and then emceeing going away parties and such.

Mine is a sarcastic humor. It is a rare meeting I attend now that I don't interject some smart ass comment. Problem is, my humor always seemed funny to me when I believed it was funny. But every now and then a bit of doubt creeps in. I catch myself saying stupid stuff. I've even had some of my staff refer to my "dad jokes." Ouch.

I occasionally will attempt to be funny on Facebook and have found that I get mixed responses. Last week I posted a slide show of some of my "funny" inspirational quotes that I originally posted on my Dizgraceland page. Now whereas I can post a photo of my daughter playing in a recorder concert and get 20 or more likes, I got three likes for my "funny" quotes.

Now either it says something about the people I've accepted as friends on Facebook or it says something about my humor. I just may not be as funny as I think I am.

Nawww...I just think I need to get a bunch of new friends.


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