What exactly is a sense of humor?

[Bob Ross]

You know what's not funny?  Puns.

I suspect a lot of people around here are into puns.

[movingforward]

About 20 yrs ago my family rented a large house at the beach (9 - 10 of us went).  We learned very quickly that my brother's then wife had zero sense of humor.  They were just recently married and though we had spent time with her we had never spent 4 days 24/7 with her.  One afternoon we were all out on the beach and it started to rain.  We, of course, all ran into the house to dry off, change clothes, etc.  After a few minutes my aunt comes running of her bedroom carrying a sweater small enough to fit a babydoll.  My uncle had apparently washed clothes and put her wool sweater in dryer - LOL!  (this was a fall trip to the beach so it wasn't really unusual to pack a sweater for cool nights).  My guess is he packed this sweater knowing he had ruined it and with all of us there it would turn into comedy as opposed to her finding it at home and wanting to kill him.  We all thought it was hilarious - maybe it wasn't - perhaps it is just our sense of humor, but ex-SIL didn't crack a smile.  Then shortly after that my cousin comes out of the bathroom with my grandmother's swimsuit on.  My grandmother always walked around saying "Lordy" when anything would happen.  He walked out of the bathroom in her swimsuit saying "Lordy, would you look at this, Lordy would you look at that."  We were rolling around on the floor laughing, including my grandmother (who actually had the best sense of humor than any of us).  Once again, ex-SIL didn't crack a smile.  We ended the night by watching Looney Tunes and I still remember the episode... it was the one where Bugs is in some kind of mansion with a vampire trying to kill him.  Bugs walked around saying/singing hocus pocus and abracadabra turning the vampire to a bat and then back into a vampire.  Seriously, I don't know who could not laugh at this but there are some people and apparently my ex-SIL is one of them. 

[zibazinski]

It's kind of like Monty Python. You either think its funny or you don't. My former sister in law came down to Florida to visit with her boys. My kids and I and ONE of her sons were watching an episode laughing hysterically. She and her other son sat on the sofa with blank expressions. 

[Green Eyed Lady]

What makes you laugh, Phoenix?  What makes you not be able to keep from snorting out loud?

[kittensaver]

I think a "sense of humor" is an outlook on life. It is the ability (natural or cultivated) to see many possibilities in a situation, and to choose to focus on the lighthearted ones. It's a Glass Half Full kind of thing.

You choose to see the best and/or the humorous/amusing/bemusing parts of life and situations. For some people it comes naturally. Others have to consciously work at it. But it can be done. Example: my DH was unloading a large haul of groceries a few days ago. Our teenaged tom cat [who is a big klutz right now because he's still growing into his body] knocked one of the almost-empty grocery bags off the counter and proceeded to get inside the bag and then tangled up in the brown paper handles. DH had the choice to either get ticked off because the cat created more clean-up for him, or to laugh because the cat looked comically pitiful with his head stuck awkwardly in a grocery bag. DH chose to laugh (and then he helped out the cat).

[tskeeter]

Having a sense of humor means that you are amused by two overweight guys wearing t-shirts that read Guinness Extra Stout.  Or, when you look at the stone bust with a thick cobweb hanging from the nose, you laugh rather than thinking "someone needs to dust that bust".  And you certainly don't pull the cobweb down.  Why deny someone else the amusement opportunity?

[happyhoix]

My own personal test is to ask someone if they liked Pulp Fiction.

If they hated it or thought it was violent - they don't share my sense of humor.

If they said they laughed their ass off in places, they share my dark and warped sense of humor.

The key thing with a sense of humor is to make sure you marry someone who shares yours, or you will spend the rest of your life annoying the crap out of each other.

[happyhoix]

Also, since some of us are sharing funny stories - my sister, her DH and two kids came to visit a while back, when my DS was just starting to date his GF, now fiance. 

Sister has a giant dog - big enough to put it's head on the countertop while standing on all four feet.

They wanted to demonstrate to us how fast the dog could run, so BIL stood at the foot of a long gentle slope, while sister stood at the top, holding the leash for this mammoth dog. Dog gets all excited, sister drops the leash, dog takes off like a rocket.

BIL, realizing that mammoth dog was on a track to hit him head on, tries to scamper sideways, but dog corrects his course and keeps on coming. There were no trees or anything to hide behind, so sure enough, dog plows into BIL, BIL flies into air and hangs suspended, horizontally, for a brief moment, before crashing onto the ground so hard it knocked the breath out of him and he had to lay there a minute, stunned.

DH, DS and I all burst out laughing, as do sister and her two kids. Then I remembered DS's GF, and thought "she must think we are horrible people" and turned to look at her, and she was laughing, too, but had her hand over her mouth to try to smother it.

That's when I knew GF would fit into our family just fine.

[movingforward]

Sept 26, 2014 16:17:06 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

My own personal test is to ask someone if they liked Pulp Fiction.

If they hated it or thought it was violent - they don't share my sense of humor.

If they said they laughed their ass off in places, they share my dark and warped sense of humor.

The key thing with a sense of humor is to make sure you marry someone who shares yours, or you will spend the rest of your life annoying the crap out of each other.

I hated Pulp Fiction - LOL.  You are completely right that you need to share the same sense of humor.  I didn't go out with a guy in college because Pulp Fiction was his favorite movie and I hated every minute of it.  He, on the other hand, didn't think What About Bob was funny and I laughed my ass off through the entire movie.  I figured we definitely didn't belong together. 

[Artemis Windsong]

Sept 26, 2014 12:21:04 GMT -5 Bob Ross said:

You know what's not funny?  Puns.

I suspect a lot of people around here are into puns.

Give us a pun, Bob.  Or I will paint you a happy tree.

[Peace Of Mind]

Sept 26, 2014 8:44:10 GMT -5 NoNamePerson said:

I aspire to be as funny as POM is on-line

I want to be as funny in real life as POM is online. Should I add this to my bucket list?? Geeze, I'm gonna have to live to 105 to clear out this list if I keep adding to it.   

Me too!     I'm heading out for lady's night soon so wish me luck but I do have one question!   Are rotten tomatoes good for skin and hair or is that just eggs?   

[Firebird]

Humor is wonderful - it's probably on my top 5 list of things that keep me sane.  I love making people laugh.  Nothing makes my day more than hearing people laugh at one of my stories or jokes (or seeing that -rofl-icon under a quote of mine on here).  I agree that it's all about seeing the lighter side and being able to find funny things even in serious situations. 

And one of the things I love most about DH is the way he makes me laugh, especially when I'm upset or angry or nervous.  He has this way of speaking that instantly defuses my negative emotion and just makes me flat-out giggle.  He only makes jokes when he's very comfortable around someone, which is unfortunate because the dude is a laugh riot. 

Using humor appropriately is an art form.  Some things just aren't funny no matter what the context - but MOST things are humorous at least some of the time, and then it becomes about audience and timing.

[Firebird]

This is funny

www.buzzfeed.com/patricksmith/touch-the-cow-do-it-now#2ch1dp7

[swamp]

Sept 26, 2014 16:24:29 GMT -5 movingforward said:

Sept 26, 2014 16:17:06 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

My own personal test is to ask someone if they liked Pulp Fiction.

If they hated it or thought it was violent - they don't share my sense of humor.

If they said they laughed their ass off in places, they share my dark and warped sense of humor.

The key thing with a sense of humor is to make sure you marry someone who shares yours, or you will spend the rest of your life annoying the crap out of each other.

I hated Pulp Fiction - LOL.  You are completely right that you need to share the same sense of humor.  I didn't go out with a guy in college because Pulp Fiction was his favorite movie and I hated every minute of it.  He, on the hand, didn't think What About Bob was funny and I laughed my ass off through the entire movie.  I figured we definitely didn't belong together. 

I didn't like pulp fiction either. And I thought I had a sense of humor.

[NoNamePerson]

Sept 26, 2014 16:40:12 GMT -5 Peace Of Mind said:

Sept 26, 2014 8:44:10 GMT -5 NoNamePerson said:

I want to be as funny in real life as POM is online. Should I add this to my bucket list?? Geeze, I'm gonna have to live to 105 to clear out this list if I keep adding to it.   

Me too!     I'm heading out for lady's night soon so wish me luck but I do have one question!   Are rotten tomatoes good for skin and hair or is that just eggs?   

You have it all wrong. You put rotten tomatoes and eggs in blender and drink. Sit close to ladies room just in case.  Enjoy youself for sure  

[Deleted]

Humor changes. Pulp fiction, pre-kids, omg when Travolta shoots the guy in the back of car, lmao... Although I preferred 4 rooms actually...

Today, wouldn't watch them. Too dark. Although I still like things like Lucky Number Sleven and Black Snake Moan, which I guess some people don't think of as comedies? 

Just like reading, I laugh at a lot of stuff. I am not a fan of the long set up though. 

[Ryan]

A good sense of humor means you can recognize humor in situations and can insert humor appropriately in conversations.

People with no sense of humor are hard to deal with. People that try to make too many jokes are equally annoying.

[mmhmm]

Sept 26, 2014 8:14:20 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

Okay, Apple, what the hell was a horse doing in what looks like an ER hallway?

It's an ox, zib. It somehow got into a hospital in Brazil. 

[mmhmm]

I was just sitting here imagining this:  As nursing supervisor, I get a call saying: You have to come NOW! There's an ox chasing the staff down the utility hall!

Umm, I've gotten some weird calls, but that one ... 

[Deleted]

I have a friend that laughs easily.

 I don't mean annoyingly or phony just that she finds humor in things easily and I like that about her.

My husband is like this also.

I might find those things humorous also but will probably just smile more than laugh out loud.

I wish I was more like them.

[justme]

To me it boils down to - do I find you funny and do you find me funny? Because if you don't find me funny...well you probably won't want to hang out with me after a short while. 

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

Sept 26, 2014 12:21:04 GMT -5 Bob Ross said:

You know what's not funny?  Puns.

I suspect a lot of people around here are into puns.

Yay! A Bob Ross sighting. I don't care for puns either. My humor is more on the wry or sarcastic side. It's the way I deal with drama or awkward situations, and can find humor in almost any situation to make a wisecrack about in order to ease any tension.

[zibazinski]

Sept 26, 2014 19:24:02 GMT -5 mmhmm said:

Sept 26, 2014 8:14:20 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

Okay, Apple, what the hell was a horse doing in what looks like an ER hallway?

It's an ox, zib. It somehow got into a hospital in Brazil. 

I'd have loved to make THAT 911 call.