Q: What's So Funny?

A:  The short answer is, I'm not sure, but I know it when I see it.

I can remember, when I was a lad, watching a Steve Martin television special.  His second album was selling well; he had appeared on Saturday Night Live, and was about to embark on a film career..well, you know how that had turned out.....

I can remember the special very well; some of it was video of his stand-up at some fabulous place like Hollywood or Vegas or some such; and some of it was sketches.  My favorite was, of course, Turtle Boy, the story of a guy who works the Turtle ranches.  But I also remember a sketch where he's playing a Civil War general, taking his leave of his wife to go and fight.  As he leaves, he begins singing, "Leavin' on a Jet Plane", with the lyrics, "don't know.....what a jet plane is..." before he leaves.

I was sixteen years old and I laughed.

I'm almost fifty now, and I still grin at the memory of it.

I was all about the comedy back then, of course; a die-hard fan of SNL, a fan of Belushi, I would watch SCTV and PYTHON, and even FRIDAYS, and FRIDAYS mostly sucked, but it sucked in big way; it dared to be great, fell short, and didn't apologize.

I've talked about my favorite comedy stuff and I won't rehash, but the fact is, I had an appreciation of all sorts of things, and I appreciated the experiment, even if it didn't work out well.

Chevy Chase did a TV special, as well.  I don't remember it AS fondly, but I do remember him doing some kind of classic comedy obstacle course, with pies, and slapstick stuff.  It wasn't bad, but the fact that I only remember that leaves me to believe that it wasn't all that good.....and being witness to the kind of material Chase has chosen down the decades.....Foul Play and Community notwithstanding.....sigh.

There are some things I cannot tolerate, however.

I cannot tolerate humiliation comedy.  Comedy that makes somebody look intentionally stupid.  Demeaning humor.  Black comedians talking about stupid white people; blonde jokes; man-on-the-street stuff.  Nah.

I don't care for comedy that involves bodily functions; vomit isn't funny...and doing it MORE makes it even LESS funny, in my eyes.

I've never found the sound of somebody eating funny.....but some people like the sound of fingernails on the chalkboard, so I try not to judge; but I WILL change channels, or leave the room.

I suppose like all people, I enjoy comedy that comes to my level.  And that's why I don't watch SNL anymore (except for some of the Weekend Update stuff); the demographic seems to be 15 year old boys.

There are a couple of shows on Adult Swim that I have tried to appreciate; but Loiter Squad and the Eric Andre Show just don't click with my sensibilities....and I suppose that's going to happen....

I need more comedy.

And LESS drama.

KnowhatImean, Vern?