I’m appearing at a DSI Comedy Theater, tonight, and sharing stories about Human Resources. My anecdotes will ‘inspire a world of absurd scenes, fully improvised by the most aggressive improv comedians in North Carolina’.
Should be fun.
It’s Friday, so I want to talk about your favorite comedian, your favorite funny movie, and how you define humor. What’s funny?
I want to know what makes you laugh, and more importantly, what is totally out of bounds. Is comedy timeless? Is there something that’s considered funny by most people that you think is stupid?
Drop it in the comments, yo.
{ 52 comments… read them below or add one }
People falling down.
Midgets.
Monkeys.
And, yes, trauma to the groin.
Good luck tonight, L-Root!
Monty Python is the best. Are the best. Was the best? Eh, whatever. They’re hilarious.
@Rick Did you know that midgets is verboten? Little people are trying to strike that word from our vocabulary? I think trauma to the groin in a little fun, but dudes LOVE that kind of stuff. Why is that? PS — Thanks, this is low risk for me — I tell stories and the comedians are the ones who need to be funny. I just need to show up!
@Ben Eh, they’re okay. I think Monty Python seems dated!
@Laurie By dated, do you mean they’re all dead?
Most, but not all. 
“We need more cowbell” from SNL. Gets me every time.
favorite funny people: chelsea handler, bill murray, pablo francisco
favorite funny movies: caddyshack (possibly the best movie ever)
things that are funny: stories about smart people doing dumb things (like falling down)
good luck tonight!
Funny to me often equals offensive to others. I’m not easily offended at all and I love to see boundaries pushed and crossed. I won’t get any more specific at risk of offending someone. Favorite comedian in this genre, Louis CK! Movie, “Waiting.” These things are likely the cause of my foot-in-mouth syndrome.
I also enjoy subtle, non vulgar dry wit a-la Brian Regan and slapstick a-la Chris Farley (RIP). In real life, seeing people trip and fall makes me wet my pants (am I evil?)
In the HR world, you make me laugh and so does Animal, Jerry Albright, Maren Hogan, Sandra McCartt, Heather Bussing, Venting HR Guy and Ben Eubanks.
Will you have video of tonight’s comedic interpretations of outrageous HR stories?
midgets-yes, I’ll use that word-are funny
larry the cable guy – his voice/accent kill me no matter what he says
people falling down – I’ll help you up, after I laugh
the unfiltered things that toddlers say – amazingly funny
Monty Python – timeless!
Mel Brooks – even funnier than MP
Last night I saw the 1980 movie “Airplane” with Leslie Nielson, Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Robert Stack….Hilarious!!! Especially the scene where the woman gets out of control and everyone gets on line to b*tch smack her!!! or the scene where they talk “jive” or the scene where the blow up pilot gets his cheap thrills on the stewardess….too dang funny….and Yes, I may be dating myself too.
Oh geez – you beat me to it! Yes, Airplane is awwwwwwwwwwesomely funny!
I also like Ron White’s comedy, take a few tips from watching his shows. HIGH-larious! (i’m pretty sure he is high most of the time!)
Just be your funny self that I know you are, I laugh at your posts daily!
I would do something a la Top Ten thing Never to Do in an Interview, Reflect on the worst HR experieinces, comment on current events like Jonandkateplus8 that kind of thing.
Break a leg,,,,,,as they say.. I know you will do great. If someone videos the show, make sure you post it! Also, add MrScrubby somehow!
The classic movie clip that will get me to laugh every time is from “Young Frankenstein.” Where Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle sing “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” As soon as Wilder pauses and Boyle sings loudly “Ooooper Doooooper!” I lose it.
Comedians: Jeff Dunham (and his full cast of puppets, especially Achmed the Dead Terrorist), Eddie Izzard, and George Carlin (RIP) make up my top three, but in no particular order.
Also hilarious: Japanese Game Shows.
Funny is hard to define as I can appreciate the Marx Brothers, Woody Allen, and Danny Kaye as much as the Farrelly Brothers, Monty Python or Will Farrell. Do not care for the Three Stooges. And I do not get Dane Cook.
Good luck tonight.
me-I don’t consider myself a hilarious person but I know how to make myself laugh and I put that at the top of my priorities.
jakeandamir.com-those two crack me up.
South Park-A quality show that makes fun of EVERYONE in today’s society to show how ridiculous we all are.
I watched Airplane, for the first time I might add, this week. LOVED IT! I’m going to join Shawna and say some of the material I find funny is a bit offensive to the sensitive; Bill Maher, Carols Mencia. I do love James Gregory though, he tells the “good ole southern” jokes/stories without making me want to stick a hot poker in my ears like Larry the Cable Guy; sorry Tim.
My fave funny peeps: Will Ferrell, Jim Gaffigan, Brian Regan, Eddie Izzard, and Kathy Griffin.
My fave funny films: Old School, Elf, Shawn of the Dead, and Clue (Is anyone funnier than Madeleine Kahn? I don’t think so. Add Tim Curry and you have stoopid funny.)
What’s funny? Anything stupid or really witty (a la Stewart and Colbert). You won’t find me in the middle. It’s either really stupid like Will Ferrell running naked through the streets or really sharp wit that gets me.
Things to watch that ALWAYS make me laugh: Wipeout (nobody should even pretend like they don’t love that show), the Alec Baldwin Saturday Night Live DVD, and any episode of SNL’s pisstake on Celebrity Jeopardy. The most recent one with Tom Hanks had me rolling. Hulu it, I say!
Knock ‘em dead Laurie. Hey, live stream it!
Ok, my fav comedienne is Lisa Lampanelli. She is dirty, far from politically correct, and DAMN FUNNY!! I also like Artie Lange and Chris Rock.
I love to laugh at the guys in the Jackass shows/movies: Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Steve-O. The Hangover and Zac and Miri Make a Porn were absolutely hilarious.
I don’t find anything over the line or at least not yet. No offense to anyone, but I don’t feel I have hit that age where I become “conservative” with regards to humor and honestly, I hope I don’t. Not much offends me!! I believe some of what I like is because I have to be SOOOOO politically correct in my career and job that when I love the politically incorrect to just crack my ass up!!!
Break a leg, L!!
No one has said 30 Rock yet? I hold firmly that is the funniest thing on TV now. Tracy Morgan steals every scene and is the most ridiculous human alive. Tina Fey’s writing style is so deadpan and down right hilariouis.
Also I find that working in HR, the only things that make me laugh have to be ridiculous situational humor, or outright wrong and filty (i.e. Jim Norton, the Opie and Anthony show, et. al)
Good luck tonight Laurie!
I’m so old school – Madeline Kahn is definitely at the top of my list. Lily Tomlin and Steve Martin. I like my wit like I like martinis – dry. I also love a good, well done double entrendre. (See under: Are You Being Served and Mrs. Slocombe’s cat.)
I agree with H Aria – stupid and witty (a la Colbert, Eddie Izzard and Stewart) is made of win.
Also enjoy some raunchier, shocking comics (Kathy Griffin, Margaret Cho and Jim Jeffries).
Also: The Carol Burnett Show. Shamefully underappreciated. And some of the funniest moments are watching the players try not to break up.
You never know what will make people laugh. My best friend is a professor with a PhD and more academic papers to his name than you can shake a stick at. And he LOVES slapstick, fall-down-go-boom comedy. Laughs hysterically at videos of people lighting their own farts. (Srsly, there’s like eleventy videos on YouTube of people doing this.)
Ok, so I also have to add one more that really makes me laugh. I love The Howard Stern Show and Bubba the Love Sponge. Ok so I am female and I love the raunchy. Sometimes, I get so caught up in the dryness of some of my working environment that I need to really let loose and laugh. These two shows make me laugh like no one is watching and make me feel like I don’t have a care in the world. My soap-operas so-to-speak.
I know I posted specifics of things that make me laugh, a more broad definition of comedy to me is, off the wall wierd/insane and random swearing. I am juvenile what can I say I don’t want to be old.
After coming home to a husband and two boys (under 4, mind you) watching The 3 Stooges every night this week…I am over it. I never got it and the immersion technique doesn’t work like it does for learning a new language!!!
That said – JERRY LEWIS. Seriously. Way before my time, but if you go back and watch some of his earliest movies…my god, so funny!
@Patrick – Classic! Are You Being Served. British humor is the best! You have to be totally on your game to get the full effect. And Carol Burnett!!!! Yes, yes, yes. The green velvet, curtain rod dress gets me every time. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
Three Stooges
The Simpsons (window of 3-4 seasons especially)
Anything Mel Brooks has done.
Jim Carrey’s standup and his days with living color (b4 he went mediocre hollywood).
Those excellent years of Warner Bros. cartoons.
Monty Python’s “Life of Brian”.
A good, deadpan joke.
Sarah Palin (well, any republican right now)
So many great things have been mentioned so far!
To add in my own favorites…anything silly, situational or dorky will make me laugh. My all time favorite would have to be Jim Gaffigan. Love him! Also, Jeff Dunham’s “Peanut”, anything Tina Fey – especially when she’s Sarah Palin, Brian Regan and anyone on The Office or 30 Rock.
spinal tap
Here is the list of what I find funny…
TV shows: Wipeout (can’t help it – I love the big balls), Late Night with Craig Ferguson, SNL, Curb Your Enthusiasm (Yeah, it is coming back for another season) and 30 Rock.
Funniest movie ever – The Jerk. I can’t watch it without laughing through the whole thing.
Comedians: Eddie Izzard, John Stewart and Jim Gaffigan.
And what others find funny that I just don’t get…
Three Stooges, Kathy Griffin, Woody Allen and South Park.
In my experience, most HR folks have a very sick sense of humor (me included). After all, we see it all. Put a couple cocktails in us and let the funny stories roll. Good luck tonight.
What?!? No Eddie Murphy RAW? Naked bush b*tch, eddeeeee, what have you done for me lateleeee eddeee. HALF! and Eating twister games and etch a scetch instead of McDonalds. LMFAO!!!
And Richard Pryor. Stand up and any movie that he played in with Gene Wilder.
Funny stuff? I loved Ace Ventura- Jim Carrey is a fav. Also, Cary Grant in ‘Arsenic and Old Lace,’ and ‘Bringing up Baby,’ ‘Blazing Saddles,’ oh and ‘Robin Hood Men in Tights.’
@H Aria Alex Baldwin’s Swhetty Balls. OH.MY.GOD.
Oh! How could I forget my local talent? There’s a guy by the name of Paul Keens Douglas here in Trinidad. He’s an amazing story teller and poet…He does a comedy/variety show every year and it is amazing. His routines are smart, witty and culturally appealing w/o being offensive.
@HAria PTL, someone who loves Alec Baldwin. I’ll tell you this much: the fatter he is, the funnier he gets.
@Lisa thanks!
@sara LOVE lisa lampenelli!!
@Dan Whoa, I agree with you 30 Rock AND Tracy Morgan. Great minds think alike. The Kenneth/Tracy love affair makes me want to see them in buddy cop movies.
@Patrick I love Steve Martin. LOVE HIM.
@Sara Honest to god, I’ve never listened to Howard Stern. Not ever. I don’t know why.
@Amy2 I don’t get the Three Stooges, either.
@MattyMat I love the Warner Bros WWII cartoons. Especially the ones that they no longer show due to the depiction of Hitler and Hirohito.
@Angela HOT POCKETS! (& his new special is funny as shit)
@cowtown AMEN! Love the cowbell.
@lisa I love it when smart people do dumb things. So fun!
@Shawna I agree x100. I’m not sure if there will be video of me, tonight. It’s really about the improv. I’m just the vehicle to get the comedians going!
@Tim you had me until larry the cable guy — otherwise we’re cool.
@latina HR “Don’t call me Shirley.” OMG, priceless.
MORE SOON!
Videos of babies talking/acting like adults. get me every time.
Many many good ones so far, but I do not see Office Space or George Carlin??
After reading all these– I have to go on record and agree whole-heartedly with a few more:
Curb Your Enthusiasm (brilliant).
Alot of Seinfeld episodes.
@Michelle — Wipeout (didn’t like at first–like watching a car wreck– but then Michelle’s right– the balls are hilarious).
@teresahrgirl — Alex Baldwin’s Swhetty Balls (I listen to NPR and I was choking on this one– thanks teresahrgirl).
(hey– I’ve met only one woman who liked The 3 Stooges – I instantly asked her to marry me—)
Favorite comedian – George Carlin
Favorite Funny Movie – Clerks
Humor is simply the admission of truth and pain
What’s out of bounds – making fun of anyone that cannot defend themselves.
I will also throw in my favorite venue, Hilarities at Pickwick and Frolic in Cleveland, not only is it the largest comedy club in the US, and has amazing character, but I’ve done some of my best sets there.
This will date me – but when I lived in Atlanta I read the columnist, Lewis Grizzard. Lewis started out as a sports columnist and then ended up in the “People” section of the Atlanta Constitution. He was a powerful writer who could make me laugh out loud and bring me to tears in the same article. He’s probably the one author that influenced my writing style.
Lewis loved the south. He was a UGA grad. He took a job for a Chicago paper – but it didn’t last long. He hated it. He claimed that he was held prisoner of war in Chicago. Covering the Masters Tournament in Augusta during that time, he broke free and came home. Anyone who had unkind things to say about the South, Lewis told them “Delta is ready when you are.” He had heart surgery – a pig valve replacement. After the surgery, he claimed that “everytime I pass a barbeque joint, my eyes would tear up. But at 4 PM every afternoon I had the urge to wallow in cold mud.” On his third surgery, Lewis didn’t make it – he died in 1994. I cried and felt I lost a friend.
In thinking about him and did some research. After more than 10 years, his reputation is looking pretty good. He is being compared to MarkTwain and William Faulkner – for Southern wit. There’s even a one man show that has played for 8 years. (Featured in the Spoleta Festival.)
Lewis wasn’t a red-neck. He was a good-ol-boy. There’s a difference. He said that he was “American by birth, but
Southern by the grace of God.”
Enjoy a little Lewis: http://tinyurl.com/lwzcsq
Good luck tonight, Laurie!
So many great things have already been mentioned that I won’t go too into reiterating – Carlin, Izzard, Farrell, Wipeout, Stewart, Colbert, etc.
@cuz – Does it go to 11?
The only thing I find un-funny – actual or suggested pedophelia and injury to children – I’m a Mom and that gene got activated when I popped out the first kid – other than that, have at it.
Oddly, though I REALLY am ROTFLMAO at Wipeout and I like the physical humor of Will Farrell ala Taladega Nights and Chris Farley ala SNL and Tommy Boy, I do not find the Three Stooges funny in any way. But then I’m a girl.
Break a leg tonite! And not tripping over the cat before the show…though, that might be funny if you get it on film and post to vlog…
Oh – and how could I forget – one thing that I haven’t seen mentioned that is still top of the funnies:
The Princess Bride
I find most of what has been listed here as funny, but I can’t believe no one listed farts! I know it’s immature and I don’t care, there is nothing that can make me laugh until I cry or laugh at the most inappropriate time (like a funeral – yep, I’ve laughed at a funeral because of my dad’s unfortunate encounter with a bowl of stew the night before) than a good gas passing.
And Wipeout’s big balls. And SNL’s Dick In A Box.
Four words: Put, ze candle, back!
Mel Brooks just gets it right. And Gene Wilder is an incredible actor.
OMG, y’all. These are great. I’m wiped from the show, tonight, but each comment deserves a response. I’ll catch you tomorrow. You guys crack my shit up.
Much as I hate to admit it: Mel Brooks. I grew up when Blazing Saddles was brilliant high art. I always liked the scene in “Spaceballs” where Rick Moranis (DarkHelmet) orders someone to stop the hyper hyper hyper drive and they use the “Emergency stop – Never Use!” button.
I also like Eddie Izzard and Brian Regan!
So we’re lal dying to know about your comic debut? What gives?
@KFP I don’t know who Ron White is… let me look him up!
@Shennee Thank you. It was easy to get up there and just talk. I didn’t need to be funny — there’s nothing worse than trying too hard, IMHO, and I didn’t want to be one of those people. I just smiled and told stories. I think it worked out okay.
@HRPuter solid list including Ooooper Duper! I wonder if Mel Brooks is lost on younger fans?
@akaBruno I am so/so on Woody Allen. I hate that NYC neurosis stuff. Maybe it’s because I am from Chicago??
@Nick South Park? HELL YES.
@cuz Spinal Tap. 11. Yes it goes to 11.
@Karen I loved Robin Hood Men in Tights. Forgot all about it!
@FormerHRB I love the etrade commercials, too. So funny.
@CoolAid I think someone said George Carlin but I agree with you on Office Space. Brill.
@MattyMat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi_c6D8SPcE
@Puf “Humor is simply the admission of truth and pain.” So true. I really admire you for following your comedic dreams. I stood on stage, last night, and felt my knees go weak. You are my hero.
@Sue I’m watching right now — so far, so good. I love the southern stuff & the Chicago jokes because I have some experience with it.
@LowTotem I think you’re right that physical comedy is so funny — within bounds. I’m with you on the three stooges, though. I just don’t get it.
@Jackbuilt Farts, balls, and dick in the box. I knew you’d bring it classy-style!! (I love all three.)
@TimG Seriously, I love brooks/wilder, but I am wondering if that kind of comedy is going out of fashion. Also, I loved Spaceballs. Can I get an AMEN from someone?
@Mike YEAH SPACEBALLS!
@Sue More tomorrow on my debut.
DID I GET EVERYONE???
I’m amazed that no one has mentioned the British version of The Office. Comic genius. Toe curling, excrutiating but hilarious. Like watching a car crash in slow motion. An HR nightmare but oh so true. As for stuff I don’t get – am I the only one who thought Seinfeld was rubbish?
Favourite funny movie would have to be Life of Brian, followed by Airplane and Blazing Saddles. Anything policitcally incorrect makes me laugh. I’m sorry, that’s just the punk HR in me!
@NZ I loved the British version of The Office. Good call!
I know it’s Monday, but F@%k it – going to weigh in anyway:
-The Office for sure (either version)
-Inside jokes
-Anything Joss Whedon does
-The grammatical explanation of the word “ta&*$@ac from Bon Cop/Bad Cop
-And – and I know this is a bit mean, I do – but the Parents Just Don’t Understand column on Collegehumor.com (http://www.collegehumor.com/tag:parents-just-dont-understand/articles)
Oh yeah, and commercials! Especially the Dos Equis commercials with The Most Interesting Man in the World and the ones for the mobile internet service with Bill Reilly in them.