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is comedy overrated?

L

lyssword

Diamond Member
I like dick jokes as much as the next guy, but don't you guys think comedy and being funny is overvalued in the society? I hear the argument that funny people are the most intelligent, but is that really true? Is the person who focuses all their time on observing culture /human behavior any more intelligent than a person writing an algorithm, writing a research paper or making brilliant business decisions and so on? Maybe comedy is more accessible/relatable for the average person, thus turning it into popularity contest instead of an actual gauge of intelligence.
 
I like when people are funny as a side-effect or by-product of what they do. Jokes for the sake of jokes tend to look attention seeking and kind of socially desperate. There's nothing too badly wrong with it but the point of excess where it goes from interesting to obnoxious is quickly reached.
 
There are many different types of comedy.
Dick jokes isn't all comedy.

Maybe you should consider engaging with some satire or similar.
 
I know dick jokes aren't the funniest, obviously something like the onion is much more elaborate than your average joke, but a lot of people just try to go with too much sarcasm in order to appear funny. Was there really as much attempt to be sarcastic/funny say 50-100 years ago or is it something that internet has popularized?
 
Any "dirty" comedy is easy IMHO. Much harder to be funny without resorting to dick jokes. I was unimpressed with Russell Peters for that reason.
 
lyssword said:
I like dick jokes as much as the next guy, but don't you guys think comedy and being funny is overvalued in the society? I hear the argument that funny people are the most intelligent, but is that really true? Is the person who focuses all their time on observing culture /human behavior any more intelligent than a person writing an algorithm, writing a research paper or making brilliant business decisions and so on? Maybe comedy is more accessible/relatable for the average person, thus turning it into popularity contest instead of an actual gauge of intelligence.
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Comedy is a layer on top of all those things. It takes an intelligent mind to notice and communicate the humor that others miss.
 
dank69 said:
Comedy is a layer on top of all those things. It takes an intelligent mind to notice and communicate the humor that others miss.
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But is it really anything extraordinary? for example in this thread I noticed that there are some passive-aggression towards those not funny, such as "nerds", "germans". Does it make me that much more intelligent if I point out that they must be putting others down to compensate for their smaller dick?
 
lyssword said:
But is it really anything extraordinary? for example in this thread I noticed that there are some passive-aggression towards those not funny, such as "nerds", "germans". Does it make me that much more intelligent if I point out that they must be putting others down to compensate for their smaller dick?
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Yes, that line in this specific context makes you seem much more intelligent to me.
 
Not quite the same question, but I do think professional gag-tellers (stand-ups) are a bit over-rated. Not their fault, but they are everywhere and I can take-or-leave them, myself. They pass the time but none of them are really 'great'.

Humor, like philosophy, sport and politics, is not really something that should be so professionalised, I reckon. It should just part of everyday life instead of being left to some elite to do for money while the rest of us watch.
 
Humor, like philosophy, sport and politics, is not really something that should be so professionalised
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Disagree, then we would never get genius rants like Chris Rock / Dave Chapelle.
 
blinkingbie said:
I love Jeff Dunham when it comes to comedy 🙂 especially Achemed 🙂
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Jeff Dunham can't take any ladies home though, because I assume his house looks like something out of a horror movie. 😀

Comedy is one of the hardest forms of entertainment to master, because it's such a fickle medium. Anybody can tell a dick joke, but making every person in a crowded theatre laugh to that dick joke is an art form. Jim Norton is the master of the dick joke IMO.

But dick joke's aren't all comedy. Seinfeld got enormously successful with a clean brand of humour. There's also more observational comics like George Carlin and Patrice O'Neil. Satire, like Dave Chapelle. Or the rants of Chris Rock and Louis Black.

There's also a reason why good comics all tend to either have mental health issues or are recovering addicts. You learn to cope through humour.
 
Hollywood comedy movies are highly overrated.

I watch all the big, and many of the small comedies, and only a handful in the last ten years have made me laugh more than a couple of times.
 
Ns1 said:
Disagree, then we would never get genius rants like Chris Rock / Dave Chapelle.
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Not American so not very familiar with those two, but I did see Rock's infamous n-word bit, and I just found myself thinking 'yeah, but that's just about class-distinctions within the black population, and class prejudice is as problematic as racism, we know these distinctions exist, I've heard it before from the black people I know, this isn't news'. And getting all angry and ranty about it doesn't make it funny.

Likewise I recall him doing something about 'no food intolerances in Africa or Asia' and the only thought was 'er, actually many East asians have trouble digesting lactose, its almost the norm there'.

Stand-ups all seem to be too egotistical to me, even the ones I might politically agree with just seem to be lazily preaching to the converted. And over here they are _everywhere_ used to present every other TV program.

I'm fine with sit-coms though. Somehow those are different. E.g. Seinfeld the show I liked, Seinfeld the stand-up does nothing for me. Same with Ricky Gervaise and the Office. Maybe it's 'cos you don't have to actually like or agree with the characters in a sit-com? There's more depth and less egotism to it than there is in stand-up.

But it might just be me not having the right sense-of-humor, I admit that. I'm not arguing stand-ups should be banned or something, I just can't get enthusiastic about any of them, and it really wouldn't bother me if they all disappeared as a profession (whereas if musicians, say, all vanished tomorrow I'd be upset).
 
pmv said:
Not American so not very familiar with those two, but I did see Rock's infamous n-word bit, and I just found myself thinking 'yeah, but that's just about class-distinctions within the black population, and class prejudice is as problematic as racism, we know these distinctions exist, I've heard it before from the black people I know, this isn't news'. And getting all angry and ranty about it doesn't make it funny.

Likewise I recall him doing something about 'no food intolerances in Africa or Asia' and the only thought was 'er, actually many East asians have trouble digesting lactose, its almost the norm there'.

Stand-ups all seem to be too egotistical to me, even the ones I might politically agree with just seem to be lazily preaching to the converted. And over here they are _everywhere_ used to present every other TV program.

I'm fine with sit-coms though. Somehow those are different. E.g. Seinfeld the show I liked, Seinfeld the stand-up does nothing for me. Same with Ricky Gervaise and the Office. Maybe it's 'cos you don't have to actually like or agree with the characters in a sit-com? There's more depth and less egotism to it than there is in stand-up.

But it might just be me not having the right sense-of-humor, I admit that. I'm not arguing stand-ups should be banned or something, I just can't get enthusiastic about any of them, and it really wouldn't bother me if they all disappeared as a profession (whereas if musicians, say, all vanished tomorrow I'd be upset).
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My point is, those aren't "natural conversation" rants. Those were conceptualized rants that are worked, reworked, tested, reworked again, and then launched into professional comedy bits.

it's just you, but at least you know that.
 
pmv said:
Humor, like philosophy, sport and politics, is not really something that should be so professionalised, I reckon.
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The market says otherwise.

(well except for philosophy, no money in that unless you consider programing to be a bunch of logic problems)
 
Comedy, humor, satire - they are all wonderful.

If it wasn't for these, we would be enraged shitheads. Comedy is relief. And, frankly, quite necessary.
 
Ns1 said:
My point is, those aren't "natural conversation" rants. Those were conceptualized rants that are worked, reworked, tested, reworked again, and then launched into professional comedy bits.

it's just you, but at least you know that.
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Sorry for trying to have a polite conversation. Wrong venue, I know.
 
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