If we glance back at out teen years during the 40's, 50's or 60's, we will notice a considerable difference in what we thought hilarious then and what evokes laughter today. Humor is humor, but for some reason, we convulsed over some of the silliest jokes, clown acts, pantomimes, and TV show sketches imaginable. Was it truly funny? Absolutely! Would today's teens agree? Probably not. Think of who was big back then.......Charlie Chaplin, Mae West, Bob Hope, Danny Thomas, Lucille Ball, Red Skelton, Dan Rowan, Carol Burnett, Tim Conway, Carl Reiner, Jack Benny, Harvey Korman, Martha Raye, George Burns, Milton Berle, Steve Allen, Don Rickles, Bill Cosby, Soupy Sales, Dean Martin, Jackie Gleason, W. C. Fields, Red Foxx, Art Carney, Woody Allen, Jonathan Winters, Joan Rivers, Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, Johnny Carson, George Gobel, Rich Little, Phil Silvers, Phyllis Diller, Jack Lemmon, Bob Newhart, Jim Nabors, Red Buttons, Pat Paulsen, Peter Sellers, Carl Reiner, Don Knotts, Danny Kaye, Lily Tomlin, Flip Wilson, Valerie Harper, Gene Wilder, and Jerry Lewis. Italics were my favorites as a kid, especially the evening shows watched with my dad, who always kept a handkerchief close by to wipe tears from intense belly laughts. His favorites were Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Red Skelton (Clem Kadiddlehopper) and The Great One, Jackie Gleason, all comedically unique. And, by the way, if you haven't seen the movie, Gleason (2002), with Brad Garrett, it is worth the rental fee. Garrett portrayed Gleason brilliantly.
Today's older comedians, such as Tim Allen, Rick Moranis, Diane Keaton, Craig Kilborn, Eddie Murphy, Kelsey Grammer, Rosie O'Donnell, Andrew Dice Clay, Ron Stewart, Ben Stiller, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Steven Colbert, Wanda Sykes, Mike Myers, Howard Stern, Jay Leno, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Bill Maher, Garrison Keillor, Goldie Hawn, Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, Bill Murry, David Letterman, Billy Crystal, Jeff Foxworthy, Matt Groening, Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmie Walker and Jerry Seinfeld were weaned on the above veteran comedians. Today's younger ones such as Amy Schumer, Neil Patrick Harris, Ashton Kutcher, Seth MacFarlane, Jimmy Fallon, Sarah Silverman, and others, such as Betty White who belongs in all 3 groupings, are fortunate to have availability to the above mentors and to the considerably older and talented duos (through recordings) of Abbot & Costello, The Marx Brothers, Burns & Allen, Cheech & Chong, Laurel & Hardy, The Three Stooges and others who, when they take note, could add a subtle, yet boisterous, edgy tone to their acts. We had so many funny singers, also, like the Smothers Brothers and Ray Stevens, who probably wouldn't go over well today with a song about a sheik, Ahab the Arab. The long pauses of Tommy Smothers may bore or lose kids today, as would Jack Benny who made a career out of them. Timing is everything but utilized a bit differently today. If Will Rogers came back in this century, he would likely watch sitcoms in disbelief wondering what most of the "looks" and sexual innuendoes were all about and think, "America is becoming so educated that ignorance will be a novelty. I will belong to the select few," thank you very much.
NBC News did a special on "Why Do We Laugh?" It is universal and unconsciously occurs spontaneously. We don't decide in advance to laugh (or cry or get angry, for that matter), it just comes out when our funny bone is tickled. We have learned that laughing is triggered by sensations and thoughts, activating many parts of the body, which can be "caught" by others around us regardless of whether or not they have a clue as to what's so funny. Babies start laughing between 3 to 4 months of age so one doesn't require a history of experience to discover what is deemed hilarious by society. Is there anything more adorable and amusing that a laughing baby? What do they see and what are they thinking? Again, humor alone is obviously not the key ingredient. Apes, rats and elephants (probably all animals) are known to "laugh" when they are tickled, teasing or playing. Adults supposedly laugh less than children, most likely because we are so much more aware of sadness and tragedies in the world so it's not just "fun and games" anymore. Comedians are known to often suffer with depression. Drs. Nancy Irwin and Patrick Wanis concur in that humor is sometimes used as a defense mechanism against these depressed emotions and that their careers are chosen as a way to heal their pain by bringing joy and laughter to others. It seems that the ability to evoke chuckles may be somewhat innate in that their comedic antics, if received with great joy as a child, would then encourage them to hone their natural skills, as with any inborn talent. We owe a debt to these comedians and playwrights who provide us with a delightful reprieve.
I'll leave you with a couple of short jokes, with the first by Steve Martin who is receiving his medical test results: "First, the doctor told me the good news. He said that I was going to have a disease named after me." Then Travis Stork, MD (from The Doctors) with his favorite: "A frantic man calls his doctor: 'My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two minutes apart! 'Is this her first child?' the doctor asks. 'No!' the man shouts. 'This is her husband!!!'" Sounds like a Bob Hope kind of joke, doesn't it? Just the way we liked them.
- Jane Alise
References:
~http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3077386/ns/technology_science-Science/t/big-mystery-why-do-we-laugh/
~http:www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/08/12/robin-williams-dead-suspected-suicide-are-comedians-more-plagued-by-depression/
Jokes found in Readers Digest, May 2015, pgs. 68 & 71