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Ironically, the last genuinely funny comedy came out in 2006 and it was Idiocracy. It also became reality, which,at this point, it's not even funny.

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I wouldn't be so sure about the validity of German humor studies for English speakers. Due to German sentence structure, jokes have to be structured differently and this affects the humor. I can't remember the name of it, but a popular British stage play about standup comics had to be completely overhauled in German because the jokes didn't work. With the verb in English coming right after the subject, the predicate of the sentence can resolve the joke, but in German you already know everything before the verb comes at the end.

Thus, they studied it and found that a lot of German humor is a type of progressively absurd storytelling. The story starts out plausible, and people are buying it, but as the story gets incrementally more absurd, people gradually start laughing, until the level of absurdity and laughing reach their peak near the end of the story. My German family immigrated to the US in 1851, but they retained this style of humor unto the fourth generation. It caused problems for me when I was dating a girl from a not-very-German background, because as the story got absurd, instead of laughing, she'd get a look of humiliation on her face out of embarrassment that she'd bought into the early part of the story. She wasn't the only one whose feelings were hurt by that kind of joke.

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I think we get jaded as we age. We lose our sense of wonder and silliness. Also comedy has evolved. Unfortunately a movie like Superbad would probably never be made today nor would Tropic Thunder which was and is fantastic! Ty for the interesting info. I've never read a post about comedy dissected in this way. Sabrinalabow.substack.com

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Foster Brooks would also be censored today. Yes, some jokes in some of his routines were non-PC, but they were never hateful. And he's just as funny as he was in the 70s. Only Gilbert Gottfried has since equaled Mr. Brooks' ability to make an entire panel of roasters absolutely lose it.

My favorites:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdPcjIrSvcs&t=33s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGJtuEyvj_s

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Thanks for posting those clips. Foster Brooks was great.

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The comedian Jimmy Carr talks about how laughter evolved long before language (quoting a scientist named Dunbar). The theory is that by creating "humor" (whatever that was, hundreds of thousands of years ago), early human ancestors expanded their "pod" or community beyond the number which they could physically maintain (grooming, mating, etc.). We see babies laughing well before talking, and how instinctively (?) they use that to great effect on adults.

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My theory is that humans developed a sense of humor to keep us from killing our children. It's hard to imagine how else so many children manage to age beyond two years.

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😂

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An interesting post, thank you. Three comments:

Perhaps the reason why people over 80 begin to laugh more is that the serious, humorless folk have died out. Only witty people live to old age.

Have you factored in that professional comedy changes over time? Compare video clips of the old stand-up comedians, like Dave Allen or Bob Newhart, with their modern equivalents. Big difference. Old people might laugh at old comedy but not new comedy.

There's also the obvious point that the aches and pains, failing faculties, and sense of impending doom that go with old age are rather contrary to a good laugh.

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I've taken courses in comedy writing and also improv comedy. It's interesting that people who write and perform comedy are often very serious and not jokesters, probably because they see it as a job or work.

I don't see a decline in humor in older folks, being one myself, but when you've heard it all before, it loses its punch. You become harder to impress. Brain dysfunction undoubtedly affects some older folks as well.

Interesting piece -- enjoyed it.

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I did laugh at your interactions with the pillow 😆 great piece! I was actually thinking earlier about your piece on music.

so much of music is themed around romance (excitement, heartbreak) and I wonder how much of that affects the age decline in music upkeep. Most people partner up by the time they’re in their 30s, so you’re not getting super giddy at a pop romance song as you would be when you’re dating in your teens or 20s. Could have small effect on why people stop listening to new trending music.

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Two thoughts:

1. The German's doing studies on humor is hilarious and somewhat problematic given they probably aren't representative of the rest of the world regarding humor.

2. I wouldn't be surprised if adults laugh less than children because of an increase in responsibility, not necessarily a loss of humor.

2a. Checkout my Substack thaliascomedy.com to workout your humor muscles.

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How many Germans does it take to change a light bulb?

None, if the light bulb has been engineered correctly.

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They take their comedy so seriously it's no laughing matter.

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😆

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Germans have a great sense of humor. My favorite German comedy is Go Trabi Go, but there have been many others that made it to art house release. Come on, these people went through the Thirty Years War and for ages joked "That's just something the Swedes left."

There was an article in Science decades ago about national stereotypes and individual personality types. Basically, Germans were supposed to be serious, Italians half crazy but not as crazy as the Greeks, the English were stuffed shirts, the French something or another. Despite this, each group had roughly the same mix of personalities.

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An American, a Frenchman, and a German are having a discussion about language when butterfly floats by. The American says, "How beautiful and we have a beautiful word to descrbe it; Butterfly." The Frenchman says, "We too have a beautiful word for it; Papillion." The German spoke up and asked, "And Vats Wrong mit Smeterlink?"

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Either these scientists didn't include The Three Stooges in their analysis, which is inexcusable, or they threw out the Stooges' data as an extreme outlier, which makes more sense.

I'm 62. I can't count the times I've re-watched their shorts, and I laugh as much as I did when I was 8. Then, it was the slapstick. Now, it's slapstick, timing, chemistry, recurring bits that never get old ("Woo woo woo woo woo!!"), and their interactions with non-Stooge types - especially when high society is brought down to the level of the pie fight. There's something there about class struggle, and the use of next-level absurd situations to reveal - or at least give some hope - that even the ultra-rich are human, wayyy deep down.

I also have a great appreciation for their ability to pump out shorts year after year, never producing a dud. Remarkable.

It's been 102 years (!!!) since their first vaudeville performance, and they're as funny as ever.

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Brilliant. I still love the Stooges, they are truly timeless. So much humour of even a few decades ago is dated and unfunny, let alone humour from before the war. But the Stooges are as fresh and hilarious as ever. Genius work.

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I remember enjoying some of their movies and shorts. Even as a kid, some of the stuff was painful. I never really enjoyed the old poke someone in the eye thing, and they did that a lot. Then again, the prison movie where they eventually got pardoned for firing off the 10:45 gunshot was hilarious. That joke still makes me laugh.

(I gather a lot of the Three Stooges humor didn't age very well because a lot of the movies, when shown on television, had the reels in the wrong order. There might be some good gags, but it was hard to follow any complete narrative.)

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Frank Zappa is famously quoted as saying, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." Different mediums are being analysed, but the sentiment is the same. This was the most unfunny article I've ever read. What stimulus led me to this conclusion, you might ask. Who cares?! If you want to kill a joke, explain it. If you want to understand a culture, immerse yourself in it. Save the charts for physics. Free yourself from the constraints of fealty to popular ideas and preconceived notions.

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"If you want to kill a joke, explain it."

Best summary of the absurdity and futility of certain scientific endeavors, ever.

Although TBH, every instance of scientists trying to explain the joke is pretty damn funny.

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I wonder about the people who stay hilarious and love humor right into their very old age, like my dad and my mom's uncle.

I also wonder about the fact that my taste in humor has broadened as I've aged. I don't like the jokes that are filth for its own sake anymore, but that has been more than replaced by many other genres.

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Fascinating! I can’t imagine what it must be like to be presented with a multiple choice question and have to pick the “correct” punchline. I gotta hit the joke gym (staring at memes) and keep the ol’ noggin sharp

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This is so interesting to see and read! I've been studying how we disconnect with our "inner child" as we age. You know how you give a kid art supplies and they make a joyful drawing without hesitation? Then fast forward 10 years and this older kid gave up drawing because it wasn't fun because of the pressure to draw something picture perfect. These must be connected!

I saw Scary Movie 2 in the theater three times and owned the first one on DVD. I must rewatch and report back!

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I'm 64 and my best online friend is a 35-year-old woman. She sometimes sends me funny clips and memes which I often don't find funny. There are some comedians she likes that I find kind of cruel. Interesting to see the differences, and to know that it's probably a natural thing.

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When I was 18, my favorite comedian was Bill Hicks, but for the last 15 years, Mort Sahl has been my hero.

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Mort is a forgotten treasure

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Yes, it's unfortunate. I've spent 20 years trying to "spread the word" (music, movies, too) and looking for audio/video and have about 200-400 (on my Patreon and YouTube channel -- same username). Enjoy!

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I can only say that as I age my sense of humor has become darker.

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