Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Grow up. Take the knife out.


So I found out something today that seriously bummed me out. I got really excited for a few minutes, and then my hopes were dashed like a line on an Indiana Jones map. But we’ll get back to that in a minute.

First, you know what my favorite joke is? Here you go:

Q: “What’s the best time to go to the dentist?”

A: “2:30.”

Think about it for awhile. It’ll come to you.

I tell you this joke to begin to attempt to convey the sheer ridiculousness of my sense of humor. If Janna had known how utterly absurd my sense of humor is, I sincerely doubt whether she would have accepted my marriage proposal. In fact, I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t have.

I’ve never met a pun I didn’t like, and I like them all the more if they are juvenile and silly. Even my eight-year-old thinks my sense of humor is immature.

Here’s why.

When I was a teenager, I watched a lot of television. I had this 15-inch Sony that sat on top of the dresser in my bedroom. That TV saw me through a whole lotta great Nintendo and a lot of fantastic television. And the greatest channel on TV in the early ‘90s was, no doubt, Comedy Central. Comedy Central was fantastic. That’s where I discovered Jake Johannsen and Mitch Hedberg. It’s where I first saw Whose Line is it Anyway (the British one, with Clive Anderson). It’s where I was exposed to the Holy Grail of my kind of comedy (which deserves its own post eventually), Mystery Science Theater 3000, maybe my all-time favorite TV program. And, it’s where I first saw The Kids in the Hall.

This leads me to my big disappointment today. I found out that KiTH are touring! For the first time in many years, all five of them are together and touring the country. Great news! Except… they played Nashville two weeks ago. Two freaking weeks ago. Total dismay.

Anyway, back to high school. Back then, KiTH was appointment viewing for me and my buddy Adam Armstead. It was the water cooler conversation at school the next day (the metaphorical water cooler, of course, Lake Howell High School had no such amenities. Perhaps the water fountain…). The polar opposite of SNL, KiTH was a show that I could identify with. While SNL (which I loved too, but in a different way) was a collection of the cool kids doing all the things that became cultural vernacular, KiTH was the fringe of comedy – five buddies who did completely inappropriate and hilarious things that nobody else thought were funny. And, although I could go on and on about my favorite sketches (Chicken Lady, Cabbage Head, “I’m Crushing Your Head!”, etc), I’ll just show you my all-time favorite. This sketch is manna for the soul for people like me – people that get frustrated by stupidity. And, it’s about Citizen Kane. This is absolute comedy perfection. If you don’t laugh, you can have your money back, I promise.

2 comments:

tamsaunt said...

I laughed!

Capt. Flipout said...

I had to say it out loud.