|
Area Man Struggles to get Joke
To the Editor:
Poker-faced Sam Sobrino is in his third week of pondering a joke told to him by his friend Larry Stitch. " I just don't get it. " said Sobrino as he scratched the side of his face. The vexing quip related by Stitch is as follows: How many village residents does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Answer: Only one,.....and it's not funny. Upon delivery the jest provoked peals of laughter from an assemblage of Stitch's aquaintances and an ossified Sobrino. "What's so funny about something that's not funny?" he queried. "That's the funny part." said Stitch hoping to illuminate the bulb in Sobrino's head. "What is?" he retorted. "It's funny because it's making a joke about someone who should have a sense of humor and doesn't. See?" Sobrino now sinking into a chasm of confusion had to be briefed on the history of lightbulb jokes, why they are funny and the overall structure of humor.
"Have you heard of irony?" asked Stitch. "No, my wife does all the laundry." replied Sobrino. "Noooo..." said Stitch cautiously as if gently breaking the news to a traveler who, though bound for Paris, has arrived in Sheboygan. "I mean the humor of the obtuse and absurd, of saying one thing and meaning the opposite." "Oh, so you mean it's funny because it's not funny?" "No, not exactly. It's funny because the humorless man finds it unfunny therefore it's funny."
"Well, that's just plain stupid and I'm still not amused, in fact I'm offended. Why don't you do something constructive with your free time." said Sobrino loudly as he rubbed his temple.
"O.K. let's try again, how about satire?" "Good Year Wrangler 235HR 15," responded Sobrino proudly pointing to the front tire of his '07 Ford Endless Desert Freedom Tsunami. "No, satire as in the use of irony or parody to expose folly or vice." "That's funny?" whimpered Sobrino his eyes migrating together into the pleading stare of a child trying to fathom a deep riddle. "Wow, don't sweat it Sam," cooed Stitch. "You look like the President at a press conference."
Let's start with the basics. I have a ball team Allright and Who's on first, What's on second and I don't know is on third. Got it?" "What?" asked Sobrino. "Second base." Who? No, Who's on first. Who? Yes. Sobrino's eyes narrowed and he said through a curled upper lip: "Maybe you should just leave town."
Malachy Cleary
Cold Spring
| 
