Third Wheeling

As Mull, my IEP conversation partner, has yet to email me back, I decided to accompany Caroline McGraw as she met with her partner, Chen, at McAlisters.

It began as awkwardly as you would imagine: Caroline and I at one table, Chen alone at another table on the other side of the restaurant, and no one else in McAlisters. After about 10 minutes had passed, we realized Chen was Chen and we finally joined him. The seating arrangement enhanced my third wheeling, with Caroline and Chen at one two-person table and me, alone, at the table next to them. So that was fun. I felt like this:

As the conversation progressed, however, I felt as though I became less and less of a third wheel, which was nice. By the end, we were a wonderful trio; I had successfully implanted myself into their relationship. Success.

Talking to Chen was fascinating. From China, his life back home is very different than what we can imagine here in the United States. We discussed how he knew no one in China that had siblings, but he had always wanted one himself. He told us how everyone lives in apartments with multiple generations of their family and everyone works (i.e. no stay-at-home moms). Chen talked about how much more approachable people in the US are and how one never chats with someone they don't know.

We also discussed his adaptation to American culture: attending football games, living in Brachman, American food, etc. He told us about the large Chinese community that lives in Arlington and how to find authentic Chinese food. I didn't have the heart to tell him I don't like Asian food, sorry Chen.

Chen was very proficient at English, though a handful of times Caroline and I had to repeat or rephrase what we were saying. He mentioned how English is much easier than Mandarin, one of the most difficult languages to learn. Caroline and I realized how grammatically incorrectly we spoke on a regular basis. The amount of slang we utilize and how quickly we speak was increasingly evident as the date progressed. You don't realize how bad you are at something until you try to teach it to someone...

I learned a lot talking to Chen about the differences between China and the US. It made me feel so lucky to live here, where our families are our choice and you can talk to a stranger on the street. Though Chen is not my real conversation partner and I am anxiously waiting by my laptop for a reply from Mull, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting with him and, who knows, maybe I'll crash their next date, too!

Reading Comic Relief

Uncomic Relief

For a book about comedy, Comic Relief is remarkably dry. And "dry" is putting it nicely.

Maybe my expectations were too high. Maybe this is my fault. I had hoped to be laughing to the point of tears, reading about different ways to evoke laughter and what people find funny, viewing examples and reading jokes. Instead, I find myself falling asleep after two pages of Morreall's saga. You'd think that a man who has spent his life researching humor would add a little comedy to his book. But you'd be wrong.

The only cognitive dissonance I experienced during this read was from dashed hopes about comedy in Comic Relief. 

I understand and value the theories on humor and the research Morreall has done. Educationally, I understand why this book is important and why we are reading it. Learning about Aristotle, Plato, and Hobbes' views on humor allows us to better understand comedy throughout the past 2500 years. But at what cost? I am not asking for a lot here; I'm very easy to please. A little pun every now and then or a even a simple sarcastic comment at the end of the chapter would make this book more enjoyable. 

Furthermore, Morreall's favorite past time seems to be repeating himself. One could condense this book into half its size and it would still hold all the necessary information. Clearly "short and sweet" does not apply to theories of humor. 

What confounds me the most, though, is how he blatantly ignores every tactic of evoking humor. Morreall goes on for pages and pages about how to make someone laugh, but he fails to give it a whirl himself. I'd love to see him attempt to be a eutrapelos and utilize bons mots or flyting. But alas, Morreall is content with researching and reporting on humor as opposed to trying it out himself. 

Humor plays an invaluable role in my life. I approach every situation as a new opportunity to laugh and use comedy to cheer up, simmer down, distract, and entertain my friends and myself. I will laugh at just about anything, often at inappropriate times (sorry, social norms). But you know one thing that makes jokes un-funny? Dissecting them down to the bone and explaining why you should be laughing. I remain extremely uninterested in exactly what aspect of the joke makes me laugh; all I know is the joke is funny. And I think we should leave it at that.

I have hopes and dreams. But I have let any positive expectations about Comic Relief fall by the wayside. Maybe I have become too pessimistic about Morreall's well-researched report, maybe too cynical in my old age (I recently turned 20). But I am now asking, begging, even, to be proven wrong.

In conclusion, I think I will help Morreall in his eternal quest to answer the question "what's funny?". Not this book.