Yesterday unclebob linked to dangerspouse, a relatively new site. His writing style can be similar to unclebob. I laughed almost to tears at this one. Who knew fart jokes work in print? If you�re looking for funny, go check it out.

I�m very interested in what makes something funny. Not just because I love to laugh and read funny things� there is also a psychology to funny. The construction of a good joke or a humorous column or routine is complex. There are rhythms involved, social conventions, exposition and exaggeration. Good comedy is a combination of talent and skill.

Not everything that is funny when performed is funny in print. Sarcasm doesn�t work well in print. It is usually conveyed with a tone of voice, one so recognizable that you could use nonsense syllables and still convey �sarcasm�. But there is no convention for communicating that tone in print. To use sarcasm requires the reader to have a familiarity with the writer�s normal views on the subject. Then the sarcastic statement has to either be extremely far from those views or from the socially acceptable views of society (see robinsmith) to be understood as sarcastic. Usually it can�t be done, especially in short messages like an Email. People try it at work and it usually results in a misunderstanding.

Social context can mean a lot to what�s funny. What works with one audience can get your ass kicked with another. That�s where culture comes in. Obviously there are things that are funny in America that aren�t funny in Iraq. But that difference can found within America too. The difference between funny or not varies with audience. Even with me, there is something that apparently Americans find funny that I don�t. Phony phone calls.

Howard Stern loves them. Crank Yankers made a show out of acting them out with puppets. But I just don�t find them funny. I guess I sympathize with the victim too much. Here�s a person just trying to get through their day, usually at work, and they are being used as the butt of a joke. Because they are at work, the victim is usually forced to treat the caller with respect. The caller doesn�t play by that rule, and it�s probably that unfairness that I dislike. But I seem to be out of touch, because some people love phony phone calls.

The only ones that I can take are the new brand where the caller only uses pre-recorded phrases to simulate a phone call from Arnold Schwartzenegger or Lee Ermy, for example. There the caller is at disadvantage too: his vocabulary is limited. I�m always rooting for the callee to figure it out or ask something that can�t be answered with the recordings.

The subject of what is makes something funny fascinates me. I wish I could write funnier things here, like uncle bob or dangerspouse, instead of navel-gazing drivel like this. But, you have to find your own voice I guess. Expect more of this sort of crap before it gets better.