BITING HUMOUR
I am a humorous person. I love cracking jokes. I like making people laugh or smile. Sometimes I succeed and it makes me smile inside when I am hearing genuine laugh after a deliver a punch line.
A TV host asked the Topp Twins, NZ great comedians, “What is the secret of how you make people laugh.” The Topp Twins look at each other and answered in unison, “Timing”. It is true. The punch line has to be delivered in the right time or else you blew it. However there is a kind of humor that I believe would never be in the right timing and that is BITING HUMOR.
Biting Humor is a kind of humour that is funny and painful at the same time. It is a humour gained at someone else’s expense. There was a time that I was not so conscious about the kind of humour that I deliver as long as it’s a joke. “It’s just a joke.” But then when I get to see the importance of connections to people and to see a better view of the reason that I am no different from them and we have all feelings, I learned to be careful to whatever humour I would launch. Sometimes there a couple of slips in the tongue but realizing the mistakes right away I would apologetically excuse myself in any way. Sometimes, one need to put it in the level of relationships in which biting humour can be served among yourselves exclusively but then it is still a grey area and TIMING is important factor. You never know if someone has woken up on the wrong side of the bed. That’s not a good timing. You know that it is bad when you receive biting humour and it hurts. It is not good when you go home feeling so upset after being bitten by ridiculous remark however jokingly it was being put up. There was one time in the mall I was with someone when we bumped into a common friend. The common friend casually said to my friend, “What happened to you? You’re so ridiculously thin.” We all smile with the comment and blah blah blah, hahahahaha. And then after we parted ways, “Am I really thin? Is it that bad?”. That thought lingers almost forever.
There are numerous stand-up comedians who resort to making jokes in the expense of few of their audience. They pick one or two in the audience whom they would make fun with and they will bring the whole house down. Everyone has a good laugh including the ones who were laughed at. It is okay? Or is it? I have watched a DVD of Ellen de Generes (I love her) doing stand-ups when she was younger. I had a blast watching that. I have never seen any instances in that show that she made negative jokes at the expense of others and she is hilarious. See, joke can be still cracked good without biting. Ricky Gervais hosted Golden Globes in January 2011 and he made offensive joke to the likes of Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Tim Allen, Bruce Willis, Steve Carrel Robert Downey Jr and Sir Paul McCartney. That was very low. It was uncomfortable and awkward watching the expressions of these celebrities on TV. I mean what’s the point?
Yes, biting humour is funny and painful at the same time. Usually, negative humour attacks someone’s mistakes, weaknesses or eccentricities. In the normal environment, usually it looks like it is done affectionately with a backhanded compliment. However it can still be hurtful. Beyond the surface, most of the times negative humour is rooted with jealousy, competitiveness or one-upmanship. On the surface, it looks harmless and playful jesting but I can lead to insecurity in our relationships. Being criticized or “put down” under the cloak of a joke eventually makes us feel unsure of ourselves and what others think of us.
A TV host asked the Topp Twins, NZ great comedians, “What is the secret of how you make people laugh.” The Topp Twins look at each other and answered in unison, “Timing”. It is true. The punch line has to be delivered in the right time or else you blew it. However there is a kind of humor that I believe would never be in the right timing and that is BITING HUMOR.
Biting Humor is a kind of humour that is funny and painful at the same time. It is a humour gained at someone else’s expense. There was a time that I was not so conscious about the kind of humour that I deliver as long as it’s a joke. “It’s just a joke.” But then when I get to see the importance of connections to people and to see a better view of the reason that I am no different from them and we have all feelings, I learned to be careful to whatever humour I would launch. Sometimes there a couple of slips in the tongue but realizing the mistakes right away I would apologetically excuse myself in any way. Sometimes, one need to put it in the level of relationships in which biting humour can be served among yourselves exclusively but then it is still a grey area and TIMING is important factor. You never know if someone has woken up on the wrong side of the bed. That’s not a good timing. You know that it is bad when you receive biting humour and it hurts. It is not good when you go home feeling so upset after being bitten by ridiculous remark however jokingly it was being put up. There was one time in the mall I was with someone when we bumped into a common friend. The common friend casually said to my friend, “What happened to you? You’re so ridiculously thin.” We all smile with the comment and blah blah blah, hahahahaha. And then after we parted ways, “Am I really thin? Is it that bad?”. That thought lingers almost forever.
There are numerous stand-up comedians who resort to making jokes in the expense of few of their audience. They pick one or two in the audience whom they would make fun with and they will bring the whole house down. Everyone has a good laugh including the ones who were laughed at. It is okay? Or is it? I have watched a DVD of Ellen de Generes (I love her) doing stand-ups when she was younger. I had a blast watching that. I have never seen any instances in that show that she made negative jokes at the expense of others and she is hilarious. See, joke can be still cracked good without biting. Ricky Gervais hosted Golden Globes in January 2011 and he made offensive joke to the likes of Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Tim Allen, Bruce Willis, Steve Carrel Robert Downey Jr and Sir Paul McCartney. That was very low. It was uncomfortable and awkward watching the expressions of these celebrities on TV. I mean what’s the point?
Yes, biting humour is funny and painful at the same time. Usually, negative humour attacks someone’s mistakes, weaknesses or eccentricities. In the normal environment, usually it looks like it is done affectionately with a backhanded compliment. However it can still be hurtful. Beyond the surface, most of the times negative humour is rooted with jealousy, competitiveness or one-upmanship. On the surface, it looks harmless and playful jesting but I can lead to insecurity in our relationships. Being criticized or “put down” under the cloak of a joke eventually makes us feel unsure of ourselves and what others think of us.
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