No fun my babe no fun
I shave my head pretty close – every couple of days. I was walking home the other day, and a car drove by. The window was down and the person in the passenger seat said in a pretty low voice, almost under his breath, as they passed by me (so that I wasn’t even able to see them): Where’s your hair? I thought it was really funny then, and I am still laughing about it tonight. I don’t really know why it was so funny – that is what I will try to figure out here.
I was thinking that maybe it would kinda be like seeing someone walk down the street otherwise fully clothed and accessorized, but without any pants on. No, no, forget that, I don’t know what I was thinking. It would be more like passing some ordinary stranger walking down the road, someone with a home and kid and job or something, and with something like mockish snideness (said almost to yourself or whoever you are with, but so the person could possibly hear you or might interpret it as not meant to be heard clearly) say something like: Where’s your ghettoblaster? Something really incongruous like that. (I was trying to think of something that people without cars carry around to make themselves seem badass.) I guess it could also have just been a really stupid joke – like seeing a blind person and, in that same manner, saying (with a snicker): Where’s your vision? Otherwise, I guess it was funny that they didn’t just yell “hey faggot!” or something. They actually did a little bit of research; they dug up something in the couple of seconds that they had to prepare.
Whatever. You may ask: why the hell would someone think about some stupid nonsense as someone saying “where’s your hair?”, let alone write about it and think someone might think it was funny or interesting? When reflecting gets to that point, it isn’t fun any longer.
October 28th, 2008 at 12:40 am
Very nice topic. I that the fact that someone would randomly ask, “where’s your hair” as they drive by a bald person on the sidewalk is quite damned humorous. I found myself laughing about it just after I typed the last sentence. And I think it is appropriate, for the sake of justifying the causes and dynamics of defining “what is funny” and “why it’s funny” to elaborate.
First off, in comedy, there tends to be an element or style of comedy that causes audiences to react differently than they do with “slap-stick humor” – where the joke is told by setting it up and then delivering the punch line. But in this case, the randomness of the person who felt so inclined as to mutter, “where’s your hair” to a bald passer by is an element of comedy that really has no set up, or delivery, but the reason WHY it’s is so funny requires thought. At first, upon learning what was said to the bald person, we think hmm…not that funny…”where’s your hair?” obviously the person has no hair…why is that funny?? But when we put MORE thought into it, we ask ourselves WHY would that person even ask that question to a bald person on the sidewalk?? When we dive into the mind of the person asking the question, “where’s your hair” and ask ourselves WHY that person would ask such and question…we really can find no answer…no logical reason…no motive…no significance…AND THAT is why it is funny! Because, when we dive into that person’s mind who asks that senseless question to try and find a motive…we conclude that there is no motive…the person is mindlessly asking an irrelevant question for no purpose…and because this is sooo nonsensical – IT’S FUCKING FUNNY!!!!