Dancing, Gravity, and other things that can ruin an evening

1) The Joke: From Class
Question: Whats worse than biting in to an apple and finding a worm.

Answer: The Holocaust.

Certainly, there was a fair bit of laughter at this joke, and that might be because of Release Theory (raises a decidedly uncomfortable and catastrophic event). However, I personally find myself to be, generally speaking, to buy into the whole incongruity theory bit. And certainly, there are few things less congruous than the grave misfortune of biting into an apple to discover it is the home of a worm, and the Holocaust. Setting these two things side by side serves to starkly portray gargantuan the difference in scale between the two negative occurrences in a way that one can not help to laugh about. I guess it is ultimately something of a mixture between release and Incongruity.

This weekend, in accordance with assignment given to me by this class, I sought to observe and record an event that was humorous. Knowing full well the gravity and seriousness of the subject matter, I sought to empirically asses the relative 'funniness' of each event I witnessed according to a strict eight category rubric. Comparing the results of my data collection, I would then select the anecdote which received the best score on my rubric and then report it as diligently and objectively as possible... realizing this was ridiculous, I instead decided just to type up an account of something that happened Saturday night.

T'was the 25th of January and I was tending bar at a fraternity the name of which does not bear mentioning. Invigorated as they were with the evenings festivities, a quartet of girls decided to dance on the bar. This bar was not, as you can imagine a long, stately, or even particularly clean one. Rather it was short (only about five feet long) and only about a foot and a half wide. The bar had been carved from some dark wood and was, at one point in its life, a regal bit of furnishing, but now those halcyon days had passed and it was dingy, pock marked, and vaguely sticky. In short, the bar is not an ideal surface for dancing. However, this was not an issue for these four, and they climbed up upon the surface, amidst cheers and a few concerned looks from some of the brothers, and proceeded to dance. They might have been stopped, had one of them, not thirty seconds after climbing up, danced wholly off the bar and come crashing down on a folding chair situated to the right of the bar (intended to block people from walking behind the counter). Thankfully, only the chair (and very likely the girl's ego) were harmed, however, there was a chorus of laughter and even the odd photograph. To me, this can only be a manifestation of Superiority Theory, of people laughing because, no matter how many mistakes or slip ups they had doubtlessly made in the course of the day, at least they had not fallen on their posteriors in front of a crowd of revelers whose focus had been centered on them.

Things I find Funny:
1) Mitch Hedberg
2) Douglas Adams
3) Really really Bad Movies
4) Lists
5) Jon Stewart and Mr. Steve Colbert.