It Just Is, Okay?
Recently, a friend of mine belonging to a gender other than my own was watching TV with me when I burst out laughing at what we just saw. This was not the discreet chuckle that one employs during brief moments of levity during solemn occasions such as weddings, formal dinners, or signings of treaties between major international powers. What issued from my mouth (and other assorted emitters of sound located on my face) was a 3,000-horsepower snorting guffaw which started some sort of nuclear guy laughter fusion reaction. Within mere seconds, the original mildly embarassing (by my standards) guffaw had blossomed into an uncontrollable spasmodic seizure that forced me to double over and clutch my liver.
"Why is this so funny?!" demanded my baffled associate.
In case you're curious, the video clip in question featured a stink bug and a praying mantis. The two creatures were placed in a moderately sized glass enclosure intended to demonstrate the stink bug's natural defense mechanism against its enemies, whose ranks include the praying mantis. As expected, the larger mantis advanced menacingly upon the stink bug who reacted predictably with its aromatic cloak. What I did not expect to see, however, was that several seconds after the praying mantis had passed out, the stink bug actually managed to pass out from its own stench. It wound up on its back, its legs twitching in the air.
And why was this one of the funniest things I had ever seen in my life? I'm actually at a loss to explain this precisely. It's not just me, either - every guy I've described this video clip to agreed with me regarding its hilarity. Accord from the Other Gender on this issue was not nearly so forthcoming.
"That's the greatest video I've ever heard of," Joe Raysfriend declared, despite not having actually ever seen it.
"You're weird," Jane Raysfriend muttered, rolling her eyeballs far enough to detach her retina.
Is the guy's appreciation of humor so eclectic to encompass such a broad set of elements? Is his taste for funniness so transcendant that it defies rational explanation even by himself?
Don't be ridiculous. Most guys think any kind of scenario involving bodily functions are hilarious beyond belief, or at least male bodily functions. Some age-old insecurities will prevail till the end of time, to the surprise of no one. But even so, this why those of us saddled with Y-chromosomes will find farts, burps, and scratching funny forever. We can't explain why, and maybe it's better that way. If we could, then wouldn't the true spirit of humor be blah blah blah yackety schmakety hey look there's a kid burping out the Preamble!
pb78
"Why is this so funny?!" demanded my baffled associate.
In case you're curious, the video clip in question featured a stink bug and a praying mantis. The two creatures were placed in a moderately sized glass enclosure intended to demonstrate the stink bug's natural defense mechanism against its enemies, whose ranks include the praying mantis. As expected, the larger mantis advanced menacingly upon the stink bug who reacted predictably with its aromatic cloak. What I did not expect to see, however, was that several seconds after the praying mantis had passed out, the stink bug actually managed to pass out from its own stench. It wound up on its back, its legs twitching in the air.
And why was this one of the funniest things I had ever seen in my life? I'm actually at a loss to explain this precisely. It's not just me, either - every guy I've described this video clip to agreed with me regarding its hilarity. Accord from the Other Gender on this issue was not nearly so forthcoming.
"That's the greatest video I've ever heard of," Joe Raysfriend declared, despite not having actually ever seen it.
"You're weird," Jane Raysfriend muttered, rolling her eyeballs far enough to detach her retina.
Is the guy's appreciation of humor so eclectic to encompass such a broad set of elements? Is his taste for funniness so transcendant that it defies rational explanation even by himself?
Don't be ridiculous. Most guys think any kind of scenario involving bodily functions are hilarious beyond belief, or at least male bodily functions. Some age-old insecurities will prevail till the end of time, to the surprise of no one. But even so, this why those of us saddled with Y-chromosomes will find farts, burps, and scratching funny forever. We can't explain why, and maybe it's better that way. If we could, then wouldn't the true spirit of humor be blah blah blah yackety schmakety hey look there's a kid burping out the Preamble!
pb78
posted by pandabear78 at 11:39 PM
5 comments
