What Is Funny?

Whatever "funny" is, it's highly personal, possibly generational, and undefinable, for the most part.

You may think the Three Stooges are funny while your friend thinks they're just dumb. You may howl at Adam Sandler's antics while your spouse cringes. And you may rent "The Hangover" and end up watching it by yourself, receiving some arch looks that signal, "What were you thinking?"



My spouse and I are lucky in that we share the same sense of humor in most cases. Still, I find Gilbert and Sullivan hilarious, and he encourages me to find someone else to share that particular experience with. In an audience in London, where I saw "Pirates of Penzance" for the umpteenth time, a woman behind me told her husband when it was over, "Well, that was just silly."



If it isn't funny, then it's silly. I find many of the so-called hilarious mystery novels of today silly.

What's the difference between the antics of Keystone Kops and some feather-headed fashion plate solving crimes by accident? I don't know. It's just my sense of humor. Funny, isn't it.