A Few Words about Breasts and Baseball In the Morning Post (9/26/12)

During class, on multiple occasions, I have overheard my peers bashing The 50 Funniest Writers; specifically, they will question how and why certain authors or excerpts were included in this anthology of humor. I always feel the need to retort with something along the lines of, “Who died and made you the judge of our entire culture’s sense of humor?” or “Maybe it’s just you; I thought it was quite humorous and an insightful portrayal of the human condition through the lens of comedy.” Shorter, definitely less appropriate, responses, such as “Shut up” or “Go to Hell” may or may not have even danced impishly on the tip of my tongue from time to time. My parents raised me better though. After all, if you don’t have something nice to say don’t say anything at all, right? But I digress. Maybe I am just the fool who keeps his mouth shut... Regardless, once again, I enjoyed and appreciated this collection of readings as a whole. Of course, some stood out to me as more humorous than others did, but I appreciated them all for their comedic value. After all, someone must think that these stories are funny if they are included in this book, right? Enough of my ranting, here are my thoughts.

Nora Ephron’s short story, A Few Words about Breasts, immediately garnered my attention. I was initially disappointed that this excerpt was not, as I thought or perhaps hoped, an in depth chronicle or journal of breastology; however, my disappointment quickly transformed into enjoyment. Ephron masterfully captured humanity’s universal need to fit in with her comedic account of her journey through puberty. I laughed, and I related. I related, and I laughed. I thoroughly enjoyed this piece and while I couldn’t relate to her breast situation, her story definitely brought to mind my family’s “late bloomer” tendency which harassed me throughout middle school even and into high school. That’s all I really care to share, but there is definitely something to be said about finding humor in our past miseries. She makes light of a serious issue, which clearly pestered her throughout her life. I relate to Ephron’s piece to a limited extent, being a late bloomer, and that made it all the more hilarious.

After reading Ephron, I thought that I knew for sure I would write my blog on her piece, but then I started In the Morning Post by Donald Barthelme. This guy is funny. I got the impression Barthelme was the sort of guy who could make a dinner with extended family entertaining, if only because of his sly wit and deft sarcasm. I didn’t laugh out loud as I read this but I barely stopped grinning. His jokes often warranted a second read through to fully comprehend or catch, but they were worth it. Maybe this is just my type of humor but I really enjoyed how he slipped certain bits. For example, his drinking buddies were Joseph “Joe” Conrad and Thomas “Tom” Aquinas, two notable individuals who also happened to be stone cold dead before he was born. He was nonsensical at times and always conversational. This conversational, humorous tone made the story for me. Another author worthy of this anthology.

I did not think Tough as Bob War and Other Stuff, by Molly Ivins, was as funny as the rest of today’s readings. That being said, I still appreciated it for its comedic value. As I read, I pictured my dad or even older brother laughing at Ivins’ jokes and stories, but it just wasn’t for me. I grinned when she used “Bob War” as barbed wire. I know plenty of people who pronounce words with a strong Texan drawl, and bob war is just about spot on. She came across a little too cynical for my taste, but I still saw the humor in her writing. On the other hand, Roy Blount Jr., in his short story Gothic Baseball, balanced his cynicism with an appropriate dose of realism, and that made all the difference.

            I enjoyed Gothic Baseball from start to finish. Blount seemed intelligent and even though he was playing off basic ideas and stereotypes, he did make a good point. The North is much more gothic than the South, but then again, “What’s not to be Gothic about?”(343). I’ve thought some of the things Blount details in his story, and it was entertaining to see them gracefully and comedic ally presented in his short story. I don’t have much to say about this story accept I related to his generalization about people in the South and our relationship with Northerners. Really funny stuff.

            As scatterbrained as I feel right now, I have realized through these stories the importance of finding humor in the past, even when…no, especially when “the past” is a negative experience or unfortunate truth. We can find humor in just about anything. Like Bill Cosby said, "You can turn painful situations around through laughter. If you can find humor in anything - even poverty - you can survive it.”

The Good, The Bad, and The Funny (9/12/12)

            Finally! A new book. Just kidding, but seriously. The Funniest 50 American Writers by Andy Borowitz is a hundred times better than Comic Relief by John Morreall. At first glance, I recognized names of certain authors, such as Mark Twain and O. Henry. However, even though these were the first names I recognized, they were not the authors of the excerpt I found the most funny and entertaining. That being said, I enjoyed their writing more than Anita Loos and H.L. Mencken. Out of this assigned reading I cherished Dave Barry’s writing, titled Tips for Women: How to Have a Relationship with a Guy the most.

            Mark Twain’s excerpt, A Presidential Candidate, was entertaining to read because it was bizarre. He set up my expectations then shattered them by taking his writing in the opposite direction. I almost imagined him delivering the piece as a standup comedy routine, more than sitting at his desk more than one hundred years ago and writing this story. I did recognize and appreciate that his sense of humor is still accepted today, and I found myself grinning at a couple of parts. Grinning, but not laughing. O. Henry also pulled a handful and smirks and grins out of me as I sat in the library late at night reading his story. I thoroughly enjoyed The Ransom of Red Chief and soon found myself absorbed in the plot and characters. Poor Bill. I predicted the ending; however, my foresight did not take away from the humor of the kidnappers’ predicament. This story is very funny. I found the boy’s game, “Russian in a Japanese war”(23) hilarious. This story could be converted to TV nowadays and still be funny.

            On a different note, I found Anita Loos’ story, Gentleman Prefer Blondes, all together, not that funny. Perhaps it was the mood I was in when I read it but, I was annoyed by the woman’s egotistical and unintelligent diary rant. It was a long drawn out blonde joke, and I didn’t enjoy the delivery. One thing I did find funny was that the woman wrote she will let the man read her diary one day, and then she begins writing poorly about him and her interest in other men. All together though, I did not enjoy this read as much as the first two. That being said, I rank it above H.L. Mencken’s Imperial Purple. I found it to be a poor attempt at humor in general, not to mention my notion that Mencken was targeting a more sophisticated audience. In my notes I wrote, “not funny”, “dry”, and “Har, Har”. I wasn’t really “Har-ing”. Who knows, maybe it is just not my type of humor.

            Now for the excerpt I found absolutely hilarious. Dave Barry’s Tips for Women: How to Have a Relationship with a Guy is hysterical. Of course, I relate with this piece completely. I am a guy, and I am in a… do I dare say, relationship? I’m not sure women actually think this way, or maybe about relationships to this extent, but I definitely relate to the ant on top of the tire. Being aware of something large, but not understanding what it is… that’s me. I’m kidding; I’d like to think I’m more aware then his depiction of guys. At least by a little bit. Maybe… Hopefully… Oh well… Barry writes joke after joke that caught me by surprise and made me laugh. Sure, he is poking fun at guys, but there is definitely something to his advice that is true. I enjoyed this piece of writing because it was funny, but it also made me reflect on my experiences and understanding of my past and current relationship(s). This is what elevated Barry’s writing over the other others for me. I enjoyed this piece from when I read the title all the way to his table of threatening versus nonthreatening responses. Hilarious.