The Closest Yet to That Promised Knock Knock Joke

Back in undergrad, I thought about doing my honors thesis about humor. I am fascinated by what people find funny, where that comes from, how a sense of humor is "installed," for lack of a better term. For myself, I know that no one can make me laugh more than my dad and my sister. Well, that's not entirely accurate; it's just that no one can make me laugh as consistently and as comfortably as my family. We share the same sense of humor, because I learned funny from my parents.

In my family, there is nothing so sacred that it can't be laughed at. The night before my mother's funeral, my dad was telling MOTH and me about a conversation he and my mom had had with a group of friends about dating again after losing a spouse. My dad's response? "I'll see who shows up at the wake."

Lest you think that humor a little too black, I will point out that it wasn't just Dad. Picture this: my mom and I are out shopping for blenders after an appointment with her naturopath, who has advised daily smoothies with various supplements. Mom has started yet another chemo regimen, after yet another earlier medicine worked for a while, then stopped working. There's a short list of chemotherapy drugs that can be used for her, and she's more than halfway through that list. But she's willing to try other things, too, so we're out shopping for blenders. Amid comparing puree speeds and ice crushing capabilities, Mom looks at a couple choices and says, "Well, heck, it's not like I need the lifetime warranty. Where's the one that's only good for a year or so?"

All this is not to say that we didn't all do (and continue to do) our fair share of crying, as well. But what I saw growing up was that if you could laugh, you could survive. And that, if well-timed and witty enough, a snarky comment could form a connection that transcended awkward, sad, or difficult moments. (See also: Tankbaby's birth. I have been pushing for two hours after about nine hours of labor. My friend E smooths my hair away from my face, rubs my back, and gently whispers, "Is there anything you need that you don't have right now?" I whisper back, slighlty less gently, "A fucking baby.")

Henry Rollins does a spoken word piece about music as the great equalizer, basically saying that "If you dig the Ramones, and I dig the Ramones, as far as I'm concerned, there's no problem we can't work out." I agree, but also feel the same way about humor. If you love this, if you can't stop hitting repeat on this, if you are clapping in your own living room during this, and if you walk around quoting this, you're very likely My Kind Of Person. If, on the other hand, you love "Jackass," well...we probably would have to work to find some kind of common ground.

(Am now secretly terrified that all four of my readers are stalwart "Jackass" fans and I have alienated you all.)

So, if you were making a list of "Dat's Some Funny Shit,Yo," what movies/TV/books/blogs/etc. would you include? What has informed (or malformed) your particular brand of humor? What falls in the category of Sorry, I Just Don't Get It? Any deal-breakers (for example, "If I found out you loved/hated __________, you would be dead to me.")?