The Importance of Being Funny by Al Gini

Author:Al Gini [Gini, Al]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2017-05-03T04:00:00+00:00

A son, calls his [____] mother in Florida.

Son: Hi, Mom! How are you?

Mom: Not too good; I’ve been weak.

Son: Why have you been weak?

Mom: Never mind.

Son: Mom, what’s wrong?

Mom: It’s okay, don’t worry.

Son: Stop this! Tell me, what’s wrong?

Mom: All right, I haven’t eaten in thirty-eight days.

Son: That’s terrible! Why haven’t you eaten in thirty-eight days?

Mom: Because I didn’t want my mouth to be filled with food if you should finally call!

Anthropologically speaking, jokes can help break down stereotypes and displace and disarm our fear and discomfort in regard to our dealings with others. Comically speaking, I think that most ethnic jokes speak to the very core of what humor is about: making light of and laughing at life. Folk tales, stories, and jokes may not be the answer to all of life’s problems, but they can be a balm and offer genuine, if only temporary, comfort.

Whatever the joke, whatever the topic, whatever the level of depravity, whatever the level of lewd, lecherous, sexual raunchiness, whatever the ethnic or racial vitriol of a joke, and no matter how decadent or déclassé, someone, some audience, might relate to it, might take some comfort in it, and might think it funny. Just ask Southern humorist and stand-up comic Jeff Foxworthy.

If you go to family reunions to pick up girls, guess what? You just might be a redneck!

If your daddy walks you to school because you’re both in the same grade, guess what? You just might be a redneck!

Jokes such as these, jokes that celebrate being a redneck—“a person who suffers from a glorious absence of sophistication”—propelled Mr. Foxworthy into the natural spotlight. And thanks to a number of TV shows, eleven New York Times best-selling books, and twenty award-winning and best-selling comedy albums, his personal net worth is estimated to be in excess of $100 million. Ain’t comedy grand??

Okay, so naughty, salacious, racial, homophobic misanthropic, misogynous jokes may in fact, counterintuitively, be funny. Now we need to ask the question: Are they ethical?

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