The Risk of Humor

When I think of all the dumbest things I have ever said, a great majority came from me trying to be funny. With all the comedians out there, it seems like they keep saying worse and worse things. Why is that? Another question I would pose, why do people base jump? Why do people skydive? Why do people bungee jump?

Often times, trying to be funny involves risk, whether being embarrassed or being offensive. Yet, I feel the rush of a great joke when it lands. Now, I'm particularly a fan of dad jokes, but sometimes they get tiring. Their reactions are rarely memorable. And they usually only work once (my wife cringes every time I repeat one of my go to jokes to a new person). In fact, most jokes usually only work once. So, in order to get the rush again, funny people try to push new boundaries. Just like a skydiver wants to try to get closer and closer to the ground before he opens a parachute.


I do know the rush, I have been funny once or twice in my life. Now, I'm rarely one to push boundaries--maybe I'm not desperate for the rush--but I still think of those great moments of humor I had, and smile.

In high school, I was a bit of the class clown. In English class, our teacher wanted to show us the proper use of commas. He asked me when my birthday was. Naturally, I said November 13th. Then he asked “What year?” I said, “Every year.” The class erupted in laughter. The teacher slapped himself on the face. I felt so clever… So, great… Maybe a bit cocky. But to be honest, I stole this joke, so it wasn't originally mine, but the timing was perfect. The feeling was such a rush.

Another time, while I was in basic training--a very risky place to try to your sense of humor--I remember another great moment of comedic triumph. Our drill sergeant had our platoon lined up. He was doing his drill sergeant thing, getting into people's faces, and trying to intimidate. He went to this particular soldier (a soldier who everyone knew had a colonel dad). The drill sergeant directed a question towards this private. “Privates,” he said, “Do you know what Rank has the highest percentage of crossdressers?”

Out of nowhere, I blurted, “Staff sergeant, drill sergeant?”. (For context, drill sergeants are the rank of staff sergeant.) All the other privates couldn't help but laugh. With a big smile on his face, the drill sergeant made me do a whole bunch of push-ups. The punishment was totally worth the consequence. It was worth the risk. 

The last moment of great comedic risk I will mention also comes from the army. We have this particular section Sergeant who found creative ways to smack soldiers in the nether region. Now, whenever we had range assignments in the army, there was a lot of downtime. And one of the ways we would kill time was by doing impressions of other soldiers. While we were waiting for night shooting, this particular Sergeant wanted someone to do an impression of our platoon sergeant. I stood up and said, “I could do an impression of you sergeant.” He said, “Ok Wengert, let’s see what you got.” So, I stood up and asked my section sergeant, “Can you be a private?” And he agreed. I yelled in a voice that resembled a South Park Impression “Private! Get into parade rest!” He stood with his legs apart in his hands behind his back. With a flick of my wrist, I smacked him in between the legs. Again, I got gobs laughter from all the other soldiers. Even this particular Sergeant started laughing. And he didn't even make me do any push-ups. I guess if he could dish it out he could take it.

With all these instances of comedic risk-taking, I could see where they might not have gone well. And I can certainly share a lot of stories where such attempts at humor did not go well. It's tough to guess what people will laugh off, or what people will take too seriously. 

Thus, sometimes I think it might behoove us to understand when people are trying to make jokes, they may not always trying to wound (clearly some are). They are simply seeking that rush. Does that mean we need to laugh at bad attempts at humor? No. The moments people don’t laugh are learning experiences. If a joke doesn't work they will know it didn’t work. However, that doesn't mean we need to tear them apart because of their attempts. Is there a difference between trying to make a joke and actually being offensive? Probably, but again will tearing into them cause them to want to be less offensive? 

Perhaps, the cure would be a higher form of humor… What’s that look like? I don’t know, maybe we need to throw out some comedic risks… Or maybe more dad jokes.