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SiriusShenanigans t1_ixenrc8 wrote

My philosophy of humor class in college was a treasured memory. The professor would make us watch the weirdest YouTube videos and if anyone laughed he would pounce on them and demand us explain ourselves. Truely the peak of academics. Explaining why a joke is funny kills it, but having to do so academically makes it horseshoe back around to being funny again.

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rattatally t1_ixexeeg wrote

Why does that make it funny again? Can you explain?

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My3rstAccount t1_ixfgzhe wrote

You realize what you missed and it becomes funny. You're essentially learning someone else's humor.

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MaxChaplin t1_ixh85ro wrote

Explaining a joke is cringe. If someone kills a joke, they're being annoying, but if someone is forced to kill a joke then they are the one being humiliated.

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bildramer t1_ixi66q0 wrote

If a professor started asking me why I'm laughing at a YTP I'd just leave.

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ImmoralityPet t1_ixh030d wrote

I'm imagining Joe Pesci as that professor.

"Like funny how? Like a clown?

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SiriusShenanigans t1_ixhc3xa wrote

This is exactly how it went down. Our intro to relief theory was with our professor going "why is this funny? You laughed at this man. He is hurt, is pain funny to you?"

When the video in question is that of a man wrapping his dick in tin foil and sticking it into a electrical socket and incongruity theory is not helping because shit goes down exactly as you would expect for a man sticking his dick in an electrical outlet.

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My3rstAccount t1_ixfgwin wrote

I always said the funniest jokes are the ones that need explaining. It means you missed something.

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jaaval t1_ixgylyz wrote

Any joke is improved if you follow it up with “and this was funny because…”

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