High-wire humor

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If it's a penny for your thoughts and you put in your two cents worth, then someone, somewhere is making a penny. Steven Wright

I think that most people that know me would say I have a pretty dry sense of humor. Teachinfourth is a particular friend of mine and I think he would probably admit that my wit and the Mohave Desert have a lot in common. I recognize that my humor can be a bit of a high-wire act sometimes, but generally I like my sense of humor although it does make me kind of a humor snob. This means that I may not enjoy certain types of comedy as much as others might. The Three Stooges for example have always been a bit of a mystery to me. But on the other hand I get a kick out of deadpan Steven Wright says things like “Don’t you think it’s wrong that only one company makes the game Monopoly,” or “Ever notice how irons have a setting for permanent press? I don’t get it.” Now I’m not necessarily saying that one type of humor is better than another. There is certainly a time and place for slapstick – who doesn’t like Lucy working the chocolate conveyor belt? But all in all I am just the kind of nerdy dork that would pick a funny little independent movie – probably British - over a Jim Carey Blockbuster. I like wit and irony. I love it when the state fair has a cow sculpted entirely out of butter. A Butter Cow – how ironic is that? Or the butter last supper with actual butter on the table right between butter James and butter Paul. Even annoying irony makes me smile. Like my colleague at work that always hangs out in my office, interrupting my work to complain about the woman that keeps hanging out in her room and interrupting her while she’s trying to work – now that’s comedy.

I’m always on the lookout for life’s little ironic moments and I witnessed a great one this last Friday evening. I was driving along a pretty busy main artery of the city and noticed I was following the Geico car. You know, it was a car with a big Geico appliqué on it so the whole thing was a rolling advertisement for Geico Auto Insurance. We were approaching an intersection and evidently the Geico car, no doubt feeling secure in their insurance coverage, decided that the yellow light was just a suggestion and sped forward to try and make it through the light before it changed. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite fast enough and it got in a little fender bender with a car coming the other direction. That’s right, the Geico car – an automotive monument to the importance of auto insurance had a car accident. Nothing too serious – no one was hurt, so I was able to laugh about it without the guilt – and that’s how I like my irony served my friends.