Orgins on My Sense of Humor

So the other night I got to thinking about my childhood.  Mostly I starting wondering why my sense of humor turned out the way it did.  The simple answer came to me pretty quickly.  It's all because of the 8" black and white tv.  Let me explain.  When I was about 7 or 8 years old I went climbing in the attic.  Hey, it was a rainy fall day after school.  I was bored, and the attic had one of those pull down ladders.  How is a kid supposed to resist?  So amongst all of the old silverware, photo albums, wedding presents of no use, sat a tan and black tv.  Sitting proudly and with a small amount of dust in the corner.  At this point of my life the house only had one tv.  It was in the living room.  I felt like I had found an ancient treasure.  Looking back now, it was a half broken little tv.  It was missing one of the dials, and the antenna was broken off.  None the less I snuck that tv into my bedroom, and hid it in my closet. 

It took a little work.  I used a wheel from a Lego kit for the dial, and a clothes hanger to get some reception.  From then on, I was doomed.  I should explain.  OPB, the Oregon branch of PBS would play 3 shows back to back late on Friday night.  Benny Hill, Monty Python, and then Black Adder.  Other nights had Monty Python, and other BBC classics such as, Are You Being Served or Faulty Towers.  At that young of an age I was missing most of the meaning to what I was watching, but the slapstick, sarcasm, and dead pan delivery started to imprint themselves.  This wasn't jokes you could tell or explain to other kids.  In middle school it was finally ok to talk about Monty Python.  But Black Adder? Who was that? 

For years I watched these shows, slowly absorbing the context.  Learning the British sense of dark humor.  Becoming one with that 'how do we get to die today' sense of joy in the face of the macabre.  At this point I was reading more and more.  I picked up a very worn copy of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy from the bookshelf.  So obviously that was right up my alley at this point.  So I read them all.  Learning the Douglas Adams use of absurd similes.  The world of the insane as viewed through the eyes of the dull.  Then I found a simple CD.  A older recording.  It was "The Year That Was" by Tom Lerher.  A simple set of songs, played on the piano.  Sung by a math professor.  A witty math professor.

These things just kept adding to each other.  Everything funny I still see through that prism.  And looking back there are some great memories.  In my bed on a rainy October night, watching John Cleese do a silly walk.  Feeling like I am watching something hidden, something special, something from far away.  That static filled tiny black and white screen was able to take me some where more special than the 40" hdtv in my place now. 

I think it is interesting where our senses of humor come from.  A lot from our parents, and a lot from our friends.  Most from those little things we find for ourselves without anyone showing us the way.