Cunning Linguists
As a comedian I take a lot guff (guff, I say!) from some of the other stand ups I know and am friends with. Oh, I dish out more than my share of sharp tongued quips too, but one of the areas I take the most guff is a topic hotly contested in the comedy community.
The subject of puns.
I am pro-pun, ever since the Roe-Salmon Supreme Court decision (pun count: 1). Many comedians, including one horrible person named Jay Runner, say that puns are not funny. That they are the lowest form of comedy. That every time a pun is made an angel gets AIDS. I disagree. I love puns.
My theory is that my Jewish roots led me to my appreciation of puns. Jews are God’s chosen people (or at least that’s what we tell ourselves), and everyone knows that God loves puns. Don’t’ look at me like that, I have documentation. For example, all of the championships leads me to believe that God’s a Yankees fan, so he began the Old Testament like any other baseball fan starts a big story: In the big inning… (pun count: 2).
An appreciation of puns is necessary in life. Normally no one would find certain news stories funny, but the story I heard recently about the electrician, once charged with battery (pun count: 3), died before being recharged (4). Reactions were both positive and negative (5).
Many people think puns are for the average folk, but think they’re just being mean (6). A pun is often considered obvious humor, since the person relating it is merely balancing the humor in it on a twist of a word's meaning or sound. Children love this type of obvious humor and can laugh at it without rapprochements. Adults on the other hand are more likely to have a twinge of envy, and ‘why didn't I think of that?’ It is this envy in adults that subconsciously causes them to groan upon hearing a pun. As time goes on, it can only be hoped that we adults will eventually learn to react more like a child and less like a groan-up (pun count: 7).
So Reuben, how can I be as flippin’ sweet as you are with puns? Well, I wouldn’t call my self the greatest, but I am pretty punny (pun count: 8). Here are the recommended ingredients: Quick setup, or pun-ctuality (9) is very important. Typically, proper names should not be used because the listener might not recognize the name, though if you have a name specifically designed for pun usage (like… Reuben) then feel free. But these are only in certain cases, so familiar references should usually be the sources of the humor to reach their full pun-tential (pun count: still 9, that one was kinda weak). Lastly, you should see the spark in the listeners' eyes as they ‘get it.’
I hope you found this enlightening. I will see you folks later. I have a Buddhist friend who just moved here and I’m helping him find a new dentist that will let him not take the pain killers. He’s trying to transcend dental medication (10).
(Also, the title of this blog entry is a pun too. Think about it for a moment, then turn the pun count up to 11. Oh yea, that’s was awesome.)
The subject of puns.
I am pro-pun, ever since the Roe-Salmon Supreme Court decision (pun count: 1). Many comedians, including one horrible person named Jay Runner, say that puns are not funny. That they are the lowest form of comedy. That every time a pun is made an angel gets AIDS. I disagree. I love puns.
My theory is that my Jewish roots led me to my appreciation of puns. Jews are God’s chosen people (or at least that’s what we tell ourselves), and everyone knows that God loves puns. Don’t’ look at me like that, I have documentation. For example, all of the championships leads me to believe that God’s a Yankees fan, so he began the Old Testament like any other baseball fan starts a big story: In the big inning… (pun count: 2).
An appreciation of puns is necessary in life. Normally no one would find certain news stories funny, but the story I heard recently about the electrician, once charged with battery (pun count: 3), died before being recharged (4). Reactions were both positive and negative (5).
Many people think puns are for the average folk, but think they’re just being mean (6). A pun is often considered obvious humor, since the person relating it is merely balancing the humor in it on a twist of a word's meaning or sound. Children love this type of obvious humor and can laugh at it without rapprochements. Adults on the other hand are more likely to have a twinge of envy, and ‘why didn't I think of that?’ It is this envy in adults that subconsciously causes them to groan upon hearing a pun. As time goes on, it can only be hoped that we adults will eventually learn to react more like a child and less like a groan-up (pun count: 7).
So Reuben, how can I be as flippin’ sweet as you are with puns? Well, I wouldn’t call my self the greatest, but I am pretty punny (pun count: 8). Here are the recommended ingredients: Quick setup, or pun-ctuality (9) is very important. Typically, proper names should not be used because the listener might not recognize the name, though if you have a name specifically designed for pun usage (like… Reuben) then feel free. But these are only in certain cases, so familiar references should usually be the sources of the humor to reach their full pun-tential (pun count: still 9, that one was kinda weak). Lastly, you should see the spark in the listeners' eyes as they ‘get it.’
I hope you found this enlightening. I will see you folks later. I have a Buddhist friend who just moved here and I’m helping him find a new dentist that will let him not take the pain killers. He’s trying to transcend dental medication (10).
(Also, the title of this blog entry is a pun too. Think about it for a moment, then turn the pun count up to 11. Oh yea, that’s was awesome.)
reubs wrote this piece of shit at 9:22 PM
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