What Makes Comedy Funny? Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

WHAT MAKES COMEDY FUNNY - PART 3

A Multi-Part Series by America’s Funnyman, Artie Bremer

Why Is Reader's Digest the Source of All Humor in America?

Hey, folks - America's funnyman, Artie Bremer here continuing our columns dedicated to the examination of what exactly makes the comedy funny.

Today, we're looking at the underground source of many Americans humor.

Is it Johnny Carson? Nope, outlasted him.

Is it MAD Magazine? Ho, ho, ho - not quite. What stand-up American reads MAD Magazine?

Then is it Bruce Vilanch? Nope, he can't write for everyone.

So, tell us Artie, what is this underground source?

Reader's Digest.

Are you all slapping your head in disgust at not getting that? Well, next time read the title of the column you're reading more closely! <ZING!>

As you may already know, Reader's Digest will pay $400 big ones if you send in a humorous story to their "Humor in Uniform," "All in a Day's Work," "Campus Comedy," or "Life in These United States" columns. The "Laughter is the Best Medicine" column, on the other hand, is a completely different animal and one of the many things we'll go over today.

 

"Humor in Uniform"

What does "Humor in Uniform" suggest to you? Perhaps the wild antics of a fire department official? A meter maid and the wacky stories of finding corpses in trunks? No, sir. "Humor in Uniform" is dedicated to stories of our Men and Women in Uniform in the Armed Services.

A typical story might start out with, "it was a lazy afternoon at Ft. Bragg when the desk sergeant noticed an odd smell coming out of the mess tent..." The story then continues around to talking about something wacky that happened on base, typically involving something completely undecorous that happened to someone who's life is based on decorum.

That's what's so great about military humor. Everything in the military is based on order and, of course, comedy is the antithesis of order making army stuff ripe for jokes. There are a lot of places that have learned this lesson - ever heard of "Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.?" There you go.

So, if you're in the military or have ever been in the military, "Humor in Uniform" could be the absolute source of all of your humor. Instead of telling boring stories about your experiences learning to drive a tank, borrow one from "Humor in Uniform" and you'll be the life of the party!

 

"All in a Day's Work"

Funny stuff happens on the job every day of the week, but because it happens to you, you might not realize it. If you're a plumber and you've ever found a drain clogged with a rolled up copy of Field & Stream, that might've been an eye-rolling experience for you, but to the readers of Reader's Digest this is a roll-on-the-floor-laughing experience.

When you read "All in a Day's Work," it's like looking at the magnificent melting pot of America by way of the different jobs people do. There are factory workers, flower sellers, phone marketers, the ever-present plumbers, and smalltown grocers populating the columns. That's where the real humor is.

Everybody wishes they were sitting on an idyllic island in the Caribbean sipping on a fruit drink while watching surf roll in, but instead everyone has to go to work and they all have a miserable time of things. This column is a way to commisserate on a national level with every single other blue-collar working man in the country.

So if you have a job that stinks, read a couple of the stories in "All in a Day's Work" and it may well give you inspiration about the kind of funny story you could pull from your own career which would make it that much more interesting.

 

"Campus Comedy"

What's funnier than a snooty, tenured professor who gets his comeuppance from a smarter co-ed? How about a tale of dorm room hijinks that inevitably ends up with people running up and down halls naked? That's the golden stylings of "Campus Comedy."

Just because something is called "Campus Comedy" does not necessarily imply that it is high-minded humor by any means. While yes, some of it is rather cerebral it is never inaccessible. In other words, you don't have to have a college degree to get the jokes, but in some cases it helps.

There is a rumor that the urban legend surrounding the psychology professor who gave the one word final exam stating "Why?" that resulted in the one "A" coming from the student who answered "Because" was actually first published in a "Campus Comedy" column in Reader's Digest. This story has been used as a joke, but also as a teaching tool. It makes you think.

"Campus Comedy" may well be the smartest humor in Reader's Digest, but some of it is more than just comedy. Some of it just makes you think. That's the stuff you can use in your own life and to educate others.

 

"Life in These United States"

This column is probably the single most "relateable" of all the comedy found in Reader's Digest. Not everyone's been to college, been in the military, or ever worked a job. But, all readers of Reader's Digest understand the importance and meaning of being American.

"Life in These United States" covers day-to-day things such as mother-in-law problems, pet foibles, wacky things/truisms that your kids teach you - stuff all of us can relate to. It is practically the Norman Rockwell painting of Reader's Digest humor columns.

The next time your kid does something that makes you laugh, take a minute and think to yourself: if I shared this experience with the readers of Reader's Digest would it make them laugh, too? If the answer is yes, take another minute to write it down and send it in. That's what it means to be American. We have a shared heritage and a shared feeling of family that translates into the humor we all love.

If you are a shut-in or someone without family, "Life in These United States" allows you to have these shared experiences in order that you may live vicariously through the lives of others. Take pride in knowing that the next time you lie to the census taker, you can regale him with stories about "Cousin Timmy's bicycle" or that time "Aunt Linda got lost in South Carolina and had to stop at the rustic drugstore."

Perhaps he'll look a little less suspiciously at you.

 

"Laughter is the Best Medicine"

The title of this column says it all doesn't it, folks? Laughter truly is the best medicine. I told you all that "Laughter is the Best Medicine" was different from all the others and it is. Why? Because it is work taken from professional humorists and writers such as myself, Artie Bremer.

If you cruise along the column and look at who the joke is attributed to, does it say "from Anne in Provo, Utah?" No, no. More typically it will say "from Milton Berle's Joke File" or "from Henny Youngman." Those are the professionals and their humor is the kind of thing that raises the bar in every Reader's Digest.

Whereas with a column in "All in a Day's Work" you realize that the situation is based in reality, "Laughter is the Best Medicine" allows you to transport yourself into the realm of surreality (think of me as your surreal estate agent <ZING!>!

So much can be taken from this column that you should practically have to pay more for magazines that carry the column and less if it's torn out.

While stealing someone's wacky tale about having a dog that chased pizza delivery trucks is funny, nothing breaks 'em up at the water cooler like a funny joke about a dog walking into a bar and ordering a spritzer. Whoa! - your friends will say.

This isn't something that <insert your name here> saw in real life and is reporting. No, he's coming up with a surrealistic fictional narrative to make us all laugh. <Insert your name here> not only cares about making us laugh and not boring us with tales from his own life, but he's also creative. Don't you want to be <insert your name here>? Well, I guess you are!<ZING!>

Anyway, there you have it - 5 columns from Reader's Digest from which people all across the country derive jokes and anecdotes that add to the spice of life.

If you, too, want to live the good life and dream of a Comedy Writing career, you should pick up a subscription to Reader's Digest!