Not so funny

Seeing as the book is called “50 Funniest American Writers”, I would have thought that these short stories would be laugh out loud funny.  I would even take a little chuckle or an ending with a twist. The first story we read (The Ransom of Red Chief) about the little boy who was a terror was a funny story. Even though it was not laugh out loud funny, it fell into the category of a cute ending that makes it memorable. To me, it is the kind of story I will look back on and think ‘that was funny’. And that is all I am really looking for at this point.

But these two stories that I read today were not great. I would categorize them as women complaining and less as humorous anecdotes about their life. While the first story did have a few laughs, the second was just plain awkward. Dorothy Parker’s short story ‘The Waltz’ begins in a light mood that had potential. I could hear this woman racing through dozens of thoughts, jumping around to different places. It appeared to me as the type of thing a woman does when she is nervous or feels uncomfortable. Most people would feel those emotions in her given situation-dancing with a stranger.

The first hint of humor I found in this story was through her sarcasm. I am a fairly sarcastic person and surround myself with people who find sarcasm as a form of humor and who do not take it in a nasty manner. But there are some people who do not find it funny, and instead find it mean. While reading the first few pages of this story I was inclined to think of her sarcasm as the former. For instance, when she is commenting on what else she was supposed to do when someone asks her to dance I found that true and funny. She says, or more correctly she thinks, “What can you say, when a man ask you to dance with him? I most certainly will not dance, with you, I’ll see you in hell first.” (p. 72). This is the kind of response a person would say to a friend when they are justifying an action that they did not want to do. There was no polite way to get out of that situation so she had to be polite by saying yes. I found her response sarcastic, which is where the humor is brought in. Someone who has never been exposed to sarcasm as a form of humor may find her remarks solely harsh. Those cultures in different parts of the world, other than here in the US, may not understand sarcasm and thus would find this story mean.

Another element of humor in this book was the juxtaposition. While she thinks to herself that him stepping on her hurts a great deal, she tells him it did not hurt and that is was her fault. The nicety she attempts to put of brings a few moments of laughter to this story. Exaggeration is another area that is explored to create humor. When the song keeps going, she begins to feel irritated about the length of the song. At one point she comments about “the thirty-five years this Waltz has lasted” (p. 75). The song has obviously not lasted that long, but her desire for the song to end makes every second seem like years. I think I found this part funny, because it could easily happen to me, or to anyone really. We have all attended meetings or waited for someone and felt that time was not moving at all. That feeling of the event never ending makes us exaggerate. That is what this author is feeling during this dance.

Up to this point in the story, the woman appears irritated and thus comes across as funny. But she soon turns in to a jerk who is just plain mean. When she begins to think about going back to the table and no long dancing she says “ I’d probably have to talk to him” (p. 76). Now that is just mean. At this point she is just complaining about anything she can. She needs to stop because she puts herself in a negative light. What has this guy ever done to her? Nothing, except be courteous.  From there, it just gets worse. She complains the rest of the pages and is a liar when she ends by saying she is sad that the band is stopping. I do not like complainers.

The second story is not much better. Nora Ephron rambles on for twelve pages about how she has small breasts. She does not say anything funny and is just awkward. She reveals personal information about faking cramps and about the first guy who touched her. Honestly, I did not like this story either. I think she should have written this in her diary and not published it. I am unclear as to why anyone would classify this as a funny story. It is just one woman complaining. The only slightly humorous part is when she tells of her friend who thought that breast grow when husbands rub and kiss them. The pure dumbness and random illogical thinking that went in to someone think that was true made me laugh. Other than that, there was nothing redeeming about it.