The franchise for the homeless guy...signs.

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by GordonJ

I think I am more quick witted than funny, and that doesn't always play well in some areas. Sometimes it comes across as "smart ass" and you know the old saying...Everyone likes..........but no one etc., etc.

I'll stick to performing my art on this and other forums. Now don't tell me writing isn't an art. I consider forum posts as PERFORMANCE ART.

Hi Gordon,

My wife (who you've met) is quite quick-witted. But not everyone appreciates it...

That's because her razor-sharp wit can sometimes be quite "cutting"!

People who are a little bit pompous tend not to like having their balloon pricked...

But, the humble types usually love it... and enjoy contesting with her in a battle of wits!

So, she is a bit cautious about who she shares her humor with - until she knows them a little better. Not everyone reacts positively!

So, of course, not all humor works with everyone...

I've been studying humor...

There's usually surprise, with any kind of humor! Something unexpected!

One thought I've come to recently is I think there's usually some empathy...

It could be empathy for the "victim" of the joke, or empathy for the person doing the complaining (sometimes both are the same)... It can even be empathy for yourself, if you're the butt of the joke yourself!

But I do feel humor works best when there is some empathy happening somewhere at some level...

For example, the homeless sign guy's (hilarious) sign, "My EX got the Mansion & Mercedes" - we empathize with the poor guy whose wife got his super-wealth! (Which is also a crazy surprise!)

Best wishes,

Dien