by Joshua Simmet

Created on: June 22, 2009

When is humor not funny? When the joke is over the top, done with bad timing, unnecessary or just downright stupid. Many times a normally humorous joke can come across as crass or bad when done in a certain setting, or at a certain time. Humor is used to create a good feeling in a person and so everyone should strive to keep their jokes in good taste.

Ever heard of "the line"? The one that should never be crossed? Well sometimes it is perfectly fine to cross the line. But most times the line is there for a reason, like a speed limit. It's ok to speed when a child is on the way, but should be avoided when just out for a jaunt to get bread. The line exists for a reason and should be held to like a law.

With jokes timing is everything, there is usually a fairly small margin of error for a good joke. When that margin is missed even by a little, but honestly if it's missed it's usually missed by quite a ways, then that can ruin an otherwise hilarious joke. Another thing that makes a joke not funny is when it has to be repeated four to five times, at that point it's no longer funny; it's just annoying.

Ever been joking with some friends and you finish one topic and begin to move on to another when all of a sudden one of "the guys" chimes in with a completely unnecessary joke pertaining to the previous topic? It's not funny is it? Such jokes should be avoided at all times.

People say that it is never ok to laugh at an injury. I disagree. I believe that it depends on the nature of the injury. If the injury is caused in a car accident or a tragic fall down a flight of stairs then the injury is not funny. However if the injury is caused by a clever combination of a see-saw, four hundred pounds of dead weight and a helmet to cushion the crash landing that is the inevitable result, then yes it is rather funny, maybe not right when it happens but maybe during that recovery time in the hospital. However practical jokes that end in injury are not funny. When that brick that was supposed to raise the bucket to dump the water on the targets head breaks the string it's tied to, the resulting concussion is not humorous.

Jokes that target a person's race, beliefs, job, or any disability is also almost never funny. Sometimes a person will make a joke about one of those things pertaining to themselves, at which point it is probably ok to make a little light about it. However making such jokes with the express purpose of making someone feel bad or embarrassed about those things is not funny, rather it is simply cruel.

Humor is more than just a good way to make people feel better, in many ways it is like an art. And as such it should be treated with all the respect of an art. Don't miss use it, make good jokes, be on time, and don't just single out someone because of a certain characteristic.

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