Experts Disagree on How Long "Gag" Can Be Funny
With so much of our contemporary culture in the throes of postmodern irony, a heated controversy persists among scholars as to how long a "gag" or inside joke may remain funny. Intrigued by this problem, I interviewed several experts in the field. My first visit was to the Shtick Institute of Irony at Yale University, where I interviewed Doctor Jonas Gherkin:
MMOC: So, professor. Let's say I had a friend who criticized the order of a list only to find out later that it was alphabetical. How long could I tease him or her about it? You know, mentioning "alphabetical order," "alphabet soup," "Alpha-Bits," that kind of thing. Does this gag have legs?
Gherkin: No. Techinically speaking that gag isn't really even funny the first time, it's what we call "snarky." On subsequent repeats it becomes obnoxious.
Seeking a second opinion, I put the same problem to Professor Sandra Honkenberger, who holds the Vinkas Gudasnod Chair of Inside Humor at Harvard. After cleaning the white-wine shpritzer that exploded from her nose, she replied:
Honkenberger: Wow! That gag will never grow old! I mean, it's all a question of frequency of course. But if you keep it down to once a month or so there's no reason it can't keep trucking to the end of this life and into the next. I mean, write it into your will! Have your children tease his or her children about it!
So there you go. An intense debate requiring more study. Perhaps government funding would help.
MMOC: So, professor. Let's say I had a friend who criticized the order of a list only to find out later that it was alphabetical. How long could I tease him or her about it? You know, mentioning "alphabetical order," "alphabet soup," "Alpha-Bits," that kind of thing. Does this gag have legs?
Gherkin: No. Techinically speaking that gag isn't really even funny the first time, it's what we call "snarky." On subsequent repeats it becomes obnoxious.
Seeking a second opinion, I put the same problem to Professor Sandra Honkenberger, who holds the Vinkas Gudasnod Chair of Inside Humor at Harvard. After cleaning the white-wine shpritzer that exploded from her nose, she replied:
Honkenberger: Wow! That gag will never grow old! I mean, it's all a question of frequency of course. But if you keep it down to once a month or so there's no reason it can't keep trucking to the end of this life and into the next. I mean, write it into your will! Have your children tease his or her children about it!
So there you go. An intense debate requiring more study. Perhaps government funding would help.
posted by Madman of Chu | 7:10 AM | Permalink
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11 comments
11 Comments:
I did some research of my own, Madman. I quote from the universally acknowledged bible on the subject of gags and inside jokes, Dr. Chortle's "The Running Gag: Decorum In The Balance".
In Chapter 6, entitled "How Long Is Too Long?", Chortle speaks profoundly in stating that, "One must always be supremely conscious of the life span of one's gag. The danger is that in over-extending the viable use of an inside joke, the joke purveyor or "funster" runs the risk of plying a gag that no longer carries its whimsical weight, as it were. As such, the said joke purveyor, rather ironically, becomes the unwitting subject of his own gag. He will have "gone to the well" one too many times only to find it dry and consequently the joke will be on him. How does one know when the well is dry? I'm a firm believer that the heart will tell one."
Proceed carefully, Madman. Look in your heart.
Dear Wonderdog,
On a site named "What's the Rumpus?" there is only one answer to the injunction "Look in your heart:"
"What heart?"
(insert demonic laughter here)
Excellent, Madman. I was rooting for you to go there.
I'll bet you think you raised hell.
Hello?? Anybody paying attention? My last comment was an invitation for someone to continue the Miller's Crossing quotation game . . .
Eddie Dane: How'd you get the fat lip?
Tom Reagan: Old war welt. Acts up around morons.
Dear Kate Marie,
I confess, I recognized the quote (Vera), but I can't remember Gabriel Byrne's response. I'll have to go home and fast forward through the DVD tonight...(yes, I own it)...
Dear JTR,
Not to get too Borgesian on you, but if the postmodernists suppose postmodernism to be totally true, they're the biggest clowns of all.
Okay, I've waited long enough -- in vain.
The response to "I'll bet you think you raised hell" is "Sister, when I've raised hell, you'll know it."
To JTR and Irieeyes,
...uh...
the bong went thataway...
I have a question how did you get your blog so detailed? I have to make a blog for a class and I really enjoy how you had the
"word of the day" question. If you could help me get my blog to be a little more detailed then hopefully I can get a good grade on the assignment. I would really appreciate it! Thank you!!
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