MONKEY BUSINESS!
No one really knows when humor began. In prehistoric times one would be hard pressed to think of something ticklish to the funny bone. Perhaps the Flintstones might qualify but they’ve been in reruns long enough for Fred to actually have evolved. Of our past primitive ancestors, it could be that Og dropped a boulder on his best friend’s foot in Stone Age times and found reason to laugh at his buddy’s unfortunate pain. Og was always a bit of a slapstick kind of a caveman.
Man dragged himself away from the apes which might have been a mistake in retrospect since all good humor is known as monkey business. Then he learned to stand erect and not only could he reach the berries on low hanging branches of trees, but he could also see things from a different perspective. Of course the berry eater is the forerunner of your neighbor Hal who is hell bent on getting all of society eating tofu and plates of green sprouts every night. Hal also wants you to drive cars that make no sound at stop lights and to make sure that you do not use any trees for toilet paper; perhaps there is a use for old dead plant leaves after all.
Regular prehistoric man developed a taste for meat and blood. He enjoyed hunting and sinking his teeth into the hide of some defenseless critter (usually a weaker specimen named Blain) and ripping the flesh away from the bone as he devoured his prey. What could be more humorous than that? Actually Mr. Meat and Potato’s predator in modern times is better known as Mr. Couch Potato. He gets screamed at a lot by his lovely mate and he no longer drags her by the hair into the cave if he knows what’s good for him.
Still somewhere along the way from there to here man not only learned how to relieve tension with laughter, but actually perfected pushing each other’s buttons to make one another lose control in a fit of convulsive laughter. Who can resist the gentle sound of gas being passed in a church mass or some other solemn ceremony? It has sent many a teary eyed saint out the holy doors gasping for air at some nonsensical thing that we use as tension relief and define as humor. Of course our evolution to a high society of civility necessitated a highbrow sense of dignity and things to laugh about which is how we got Gilligan’s Island in the 1960’s. Yeah everybody was goo goo over Ginger, but what about Mrs. Howell? She was loaded, quirky, and a lot closer to the grave. In any event ya can’t keep a Ginger without a sugar mama like Lovey to foot the bill!
So refined did we become in our design of humor that people specialized in the field. I’m not talking about the court jester who was as much juggler as funny man. He was the guy who often found the last laugh was on him as he was being dragged off to the lion’s den in the coliseum for making fun of Mrs. Emperor’s watermelon smuggling figure.
The comedian rose in esteem as a purveyor of humor, societal commentator and artisan in his own right. Henny Youngman could deliver one-liners so badly that it was funny. Charlie Callas was adept at making faces and sound effects to go with them. No one beat the rapid fire delivery of Jonathan Winters or Robin Williams in their stand up comedy prime.
Nothing feels better than laughing. Well maybe what happens after couples undress does; and in many households that still involves a lot of laughing! The golden age of television ushered in specialists whose job was to make thousands laugh. There’s quite a bit of money in humor, and that’s no laughing matter.
Not much brings instant and short term escape like a good belly laugh or a side splitting few moments of watching someone else’s unintended suffering. That can be the only reason why shows like “The World’s Funniest Home Videos” still exist. People are replacing professional comedians these days as inspiring certain humor. Invariably that means your next door neighbor rides his bike down the hill, hitting a pothole and taking a spill headfirst into a thorn bush where the wasps nest is locked in a fierce battle with fire ants colony. The victims resulting wiggle-fest sets you into a full roar. While your neighbor wails and performs contortions including rhythmic howls from the repeated countless stings per second, the buzzing hum sends milk spewing from your nose like it is being shot from a newly untied garden hose. You just stand back laughing hysterically at his welt-ridden body. Who knew the guy could move that fast? Looks like a stunt from "Survivor" or some other reality show. To make it funnier of course, the neighbor is wearing a monkey suit.
Man dragged himself away from the apes which might have been a mistake in retrospect since all good humor is known as monkey business. Then he learned to stand erect and not only could he reach the berries on low hanging branches of trees, but he could also see things from a different perspective. Of course the berry eater is the forerunner of your neighbor Hal who is hell bent on getting all of society eating tofu and plates of green sprouts every night. Hal also wants you to drive cars that make no sound at stop lights and to make sure that you do not use any trees for toilet paper; perhaps there is a use for old dead plant leaves after all.
Regular prehistoric man developed a taste for meat and blood. He enjoyed hunting and sinking his teeth into the hide of some defenseless critter (usually a weaker specimen named Blain) and ripping the flesh away from the bone as he devoured his prey. What could be more humorous than that? Actually Mr. Meat and Potato’s predator in modern times is better known as Mr. Couch Potato. He gets screamed at a lot by his lovely mate and he no longer drags her by the hair into the cave if he knows what’s good for him.
Still somewhere along the way from there to here man not only learned how to relieve tension with laughter, but actually perfected pushing each other’s buttons to make one another lose control in a fit of convulsive laughter. Who can resist the gentle sound of gas being passed in a church mass or some other solemn ceremony? It has sent many a teary eyed saint out the holy doors gasping for air at some nonsensical thing that we use as tension relief and define as humor. Of course our evolution to a high society of civility necessitated a highbrow sense of dignity and things to laugh about which is how we got Gilligan’s Island in the 1960’s. Yeah everybody was goo goo over Ginger, but what about Mrs. Howell? She was loaded, quirky, and a lot closer to the grave. In any event ya can’t keep a Ginger without a sugar mama like Lovey to foot the bill!
So refined did we become in our design of humor that people specialized in the field. I’m not talking about the court jester who was as much juggler as funny man. He was the guy who often found the last laugh was on him as he was being dragged off to the lion’s den in the coliseum for making fun of Mrs. Emperor’s watermelon smuggling figure.
The comedian rose in esteem as a purveyor of humor, societal commentator and artisan in his own right. Henny Youngman could deliver one-liners so badly that it was funny. Charlie Callas was adept at making faces and sound effects to go with them. No one beat the rapid fire delivery of Jonathan Winters or Robin Williams in their stand up comedy prime.
Nothing feels better than laughing. Well maybe what happens after couples undress does; and in many households that still involves a lot of laughing! The golden age of television ushered in specialists whose job was to make thousands laugh. There’s quite a bit of money in humor, and that’s no laughing matter.
Not much brings instant and short term escape like a good belly laugh or a side splitting few moments of watching someone else’s unintended suffering. That can be the only reason why shows like “The World’s Funniest Home Videos” still exist. People are replacing professional comedians these days as inspiring certain humor. Invariably that means your next door neighbor rides his bike down the hill, hitting a pothole and taking a spill headfirst into a thorn bush where the wasps nest is locked in a fierce battle with fire ants colony. The victims resulting wiggle-fest sets you into a full roar. While your neighbor wails and performs contortions including rhythmic howls from the repeated countless stings per second, the buzzing hum sends milk spewing from your nose like it is being shot from a newly untied garden hose. You just stand back laughing hysterically at his welt-ridden body. Who knew the guy could move that fast? Looks like a stunt from "Survivor" or some other reality show. To make it funnier of course, the neighbor is wearing a monkey suit.
posted by Giosue' Santarelli at 12:01 PM
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