I recently read a post in MEDIUM in which some young person was complaining that her generation is subjected to a lot of bad humor from Boomers, who apparently think it amusing that they love their cell phones too much. What follows was an off-the-cuff response. I omit some initial persiflage and begin where I get to my point. -------------------- Humor in its essence involves the juxtaposition of the living and the mechanical, the organic and the inorganic. Two quick (and timeless) examples: first, the pun. Why are puns funny? Because they use the vital/organic instrument of language in the most mechanical possible way. The vital way of understanding a word — by its meaning. The mechanical way — by its sound. So even simple puns can be funny. Another example: the ol’ slip on a banana peel. Comedian, or unwilling victim, slips on the peel and immediately begins trying to regain his equilibrium. Arms flail about. In desperation to avoid a fall, even a usually gr...
