Frazz by Jef Mallett for September 18, 2015

You think coach was joking? Shows how smart you two really are.

Frazz didnt say if people had less, only if they worried less about the money they had.

Steven,point well taken…

In Realsville the guys who eschew gelt are the same guys who want yours. That makes it the oldest joke.

I do get what Jef was aiming for in today’s effort. But, it feels a little forced. Frazz’s sentiments are of course good ones (albeit difficult ones) to follow.Coach Hacker’s joke, while funny, does not fit really well as a reply to what Frazz said. So, it seems a bit stilted and forced.Caulfield’s “timing” of the interval from statement to joke is kind of funny too. Even though, the reality is that how soon a joke follows a statement is going to of course be about a lot of factors, including the personal comedic timing and delivery style of the jokester. Caulfield’s conclusion is therefore (of course) on shaky ground at best. I know that the conclusion is meant to be superfluous anyway, so that is ok. The rather sad aspect though is the idea that Frazz and Caulfield both seem to want to rate jokes on a “lameness” scale as well. “Lameness” as a concept is a rather negative, rather derogatory sort of term. Jokes are typically between friends and as such, it feels to me rather judgmental to try to have a lameness scale attached…. it seems sort of mean to me. I doubt Jef meant it in this way, but it does come across that way to me.Jokes occur in all manner of forms… sophisticated, corny, silly, wry, etc. They are meant to illicit a feeling of fun and/or camaraderie between friends.

There are two levels of funny in my book. First: Did I laugh? Second: Did it make my mom laugh so hard that tears ran down her leg?

Lamest joke punchline: “Why the long face?”

Night-Gaunt…. I agree with you that the Coach’s response does not look “forced”. What I meant is that the relationship between Frazz’s statement and Hacker’s flippant joke seems forced. I mean it does not seem a really obvious sort of statement that would garner such a flippant reply.

Puma: you really need to remember yourself as the guy who recently said, in effect, that you can’t read a comic strip character’s mind. It makes it all the more difficult when you’ve decided in advance what you’re going to find; it also makes it that much easier to find what you want to.