I don't understand jokes

[Oz67]

I don't understand jokes, and if I do understand that something is a joke, I don't understand that context.

 

[Levitator]

You've never laughed at a joke? Or maybe you notice different jokes than most people. That's a common problem; that people are looking past each other even though they're both present in only slightly different ways.

"Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me"

-- Roland Orzabal

 

[Levitator]

“we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.” ;
“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice, “You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t ' have come here.”
Alice didn’t think that proved it at all; however, she went on; “and how do you know that you're mad?”
“To begin with,” said the Cat, “a dog’s not mad. you grant that?”
“I suppose so,” said Alice.
“Well, then,” the Cat went on, “you see a dog growls when it’s angry, and wags its tail when it’s pleased. Now I growl when I’m pleased, and wag my tail when I’m angry. Therefore I’m mad.”
“I call it purring, not growling,” said Alice.
“Call it what you like,” said the Cat.

-- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

 

[Fino]

I don't know why people are laughing half the time. I've gotten used to it.

 

[jsilver256]

I can get obvious jokes like knock-knock. I can get puns, albeit a little slowly. But sarcasm is not something I can get, I interpret it literally 95% of the time. And most adult jokes are along the lines of being sarcastic.

 

[Levitator]

One of the things that clued me in that people are emphasizing very different things in interactions was the success of the TV show Friends. Most of the raucous laughter is totally out of place to me. They're generally cracking up about some twitch or gesture made by one of the characters, and I get that they expressed surprise or confusion, but I don't understand why it's hilarious. It was funny enough, though, to be wildly successful for ten seasons.

 

[jsilver256]

Oh my gosh. I never found Friends funny and I was so confused why everyone loved Friends. Now it all makes sense.

I found Big Bang Theory somewhat funnier but I liked the science stuff as well.

 

[Jumpinbare]

I would say that I do get the humor of most jokes, and enjoy them, but to actually laugh at one usually requires something very unexpected.

 

[Ghostinthemachine]

I don't get a lot of subtle jokes in tv shows,things like friends and Seinfeld are beyond me but slapstick and obvious like on the buses I get

 

[Levitator]

Oh my gosh. I never found Friends funny and I was so confused why everyone loved Friends. Now it all makes sense.

I found Big Bang Theory somewhat funnier but I liked the science stuff as well.

I think I liked the intent behind BBT more than the implementation. I don't think I'd get into it, but it was nice to see a friendly representation of introverts, and an attempt to view them sympathetically as inwardly ordinary people who are just eccentric. It was a vast improvement over the 80s and 90s tropes which consisted of cruelty and disdain disguised as comedy, and which surely had an impact enabling and encouraging the rotten way kids treated each other. Those characters were totally two-dimensional, and their only plot purpose was to humiliate themselves.

 

[thejuice]

I like slow paced dry comedy, even if I don't get everything first time. If it's fast paced sit com stuff I struggle to keep up and the canned laughter hurts my ears! I don't like anything that tries to be too clever.

 

[thejuice]

Friends I would kind of zone out but its still quite nostalgic

 

[thejuice]

People would often wonder if I liked what they were watching because I would never laugh even if I got the joke. This disguises wether I got it or not! So instead of looking stupid, I look like an aloof snob... I'm sure theyd figure it out eventually.
In general it is hard to get me to do more than a very quiet snort. Probably because comedies are overwhelming for me. I really can't be bothered with them most of the time. When I was young I would look to see if my brother would laugh to know when to laugh. That annoyed him.

 

[thejuice]

I can get obvious jokes like knock-knock. I can get puns, albeit a little slowly. But sarcasm is not something I can get, I interpret it literally 95% of the time. And most adult jokes are along the lines of being sarcastic.

Living in Britain, this island is obsessed with sarcasm and irony. It's pretty wearing having to translate it all the time. I remember the first time someone explaining it to me and thinking what is the point of saying the opposite of what you mean? (I do understand now)

Someone once said, cuttingly, "you don't get jokes do you?" And they laughed at me which was nice

 

[Levitator]

People would often wonder if I liked what they were watching because I would never laugh even if I got the joke. This disguises wether I got it or not! In general it is hard to get me to do more than a very quiet snort. Probably because comedies are overwhelming for me. When I was young I would look to see if my brother would laugh to know when to laugh. That annoyed him.

After everything I've been through, I try to be not-repressed, and to laugh at whatever, or yell something out whenever, and it's evident to me I have no idea whether I't going to come out too loud or too doofy until I do it, and that's fine. At least I know myself, and I don't have to wonder why I'm always on my own. There's a reason. Not a good one, but whatever. You can always hope to meet someone else who is the same, but not if you don't put yourself out there as you are.

 

[thejuice]

If I laugh at a joke I got, that means I'd have to fake laugh at the ones I didn't in front of other people you know? Or maybe I'm overthinking.

I'm never myself around other people, unless I've had a drink and I don't drink anymore.

 

[jsilver256]

I had always thought my inability to enjoy comedies was a deaf thing (I assumed the humor was in the delivery), but I polled my deaf social media group and they like comedies just fine. Live and learn.

 

[Levitator]

I had always thought my inability to enjoy comedies was a deaf thing (I assumed the humor was in the delivery), but I polled my deaf social media group and they like comedies just fine. Live and learn.

It depends on the type of comedy. "Friends" is striking to me because it was a type of comedy which was wildly popular, and which, as a hearing person; I'm pretty much completely "deaf" to that kind of comedy. I perceive it as people laughing endlessly for no discernible reason. Partly, you can chalk that up to the use of "LAUGH" signs with studio audiences, but it fails to explain how the show lasted ten seasons. The lesson can be boiled down to diversity. Also, go find a kind of humor that's funny to you. I think Monty Python is hilarious. There are lots of standup comics who are very funny to me, but it's a more conceptual kind of humor. "Friends" is all gestures and facial expressions, and for me, it brings into relief where a blindspot of mine must be. It's startling how much I do not get it.

 

[Levitator]

I don't get a lot of subtle jokes in tv shows,things like friends and Seinfeld are beyond me but slapstick and obvious like on the buses I get

I actually got Seinfeld a lot better than Friends. Seinfeld was described by its creators as being "a show about nothing". I would observe that it was actually a show about irony and being constantly defeated by trifles or "nothing", and I assume that goes hand in hand with being "situational". I get why Seinfeld is supposed to be funny, but I actually found it depressing simply because it was too realistic.

 

[jsilver256]

It depends on the type of comedy. "Friends" is striking to me because it was a type of comedy which was wildly popular, and which, as a hearing person; I'm pretty much completely "deaf" to that kind of comedy. I perceive it as people laughing endlessly for no discernible reason. Partly, you can chalk that up to the use of "LAUGH" signs with studio audiences, but it fails to explain how the show lasted ten seasons. The lesson can be boiled down to diversity. Also, go find a kind of humor that's funny to you. I think Monty Python is hilarious. There are lots of standup comics who are very funny to me, but it's a more conceptual kind of humor. "Friends" is all gestures and facial expressions, and for me, it brings into relief where a blindspot of mine must be. It's startling how much I do not get it.

Makes sense, and yes, Friends/Seinfeld were the most difficult comedies for me also. HIMYM too. Monty Python movies are probably the funniest movies I've seen. I liked Hot Shots and Problem Child as a kid, but these are pretty slapstick/obvious.