2020-07-25

【Aiden in English】

        I recently wrote a small paragraph as an example to my 2020 summer writing class. It went like this.

        I’ve always had this heavy question weighing down my conscious: Where do our boogers go? As children, we constantly took care to excavate the tunnels, cleansing them of gold and other nuggets of inhaled particles; however, as teenagers, such meticulous cleaning occurs at a much lesser rate. This tendency raises the question: Where do our boogers go?

        Do they disappear? That can’t be true. They must go somewhere. Do they burrow into the pores, never to be seen again? That also can’t be true, because such behavior would likely be harmful to our health, and doctors would encourage people to search for jewels like brushing teeth. 

        This is indeed a mystery for the ages. Only the wise and powerful Google can solve this very scientific inquiry.

        Of course, this paragraph was meant to be educational in only the writing department (I’ve edited the language and removed any intentional errors I placed as a part of the lesson); however, I very much enjoyed writing about this topic. It’s funny, at least to a young audience, but I can easily see John Mulaney performing stand-up with a similar theme, using a 1950s voice and rocking a 1960s suit.

        The topic of this blog (thank you for reaching this point) is how I recently discovered an innate nature of humor. Although many of us have reached this conclusion subconsciously at a very young age, perhaps even preschool, I’ve never put the thought into words.

        Humor is found at the edge of knowledge. Stuck at home due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I’ve watched countless stand-up specials, from the hilarious and fluffy Gabriel Iglesias to the equally-as-hilarious but much, muuuuuch more straight-forward Pete Davidson. It amazed me at how well the crowd followed their thoughts: one used childish accents to set moods and characters, the other invoked a saltine-cracker-level of dryness that had me rolling in fits. Yet in both instances, the comedians always seemed to be on the knowledge level of the audience.

        So back to my point on my lesson for the class. The humor within the paragraph would’ve easily been extinguished with an efficient search on Google (though your friendly FBI/NSA agent would be given quite the surprise). Instead, I approached the topic as an unknowing student much like those of my audience. While normal people might not find such writing funny, I was able to draw laughter from my class of immature 13 year-olds. 

        A doctor would’ve quickly shot down my inquiry with a simple response, but what’s the fun in that. Looking back on every stand-up ever, it appears each has taken the stance to not know any more than their respective watchers. This way, when a scenario is developed, the comedian holds equal views as a generic audience member. 

        When we were all kids, the funny class clown (because there often are not-funny clowns) always had a knack of making everyone laugh. In my particular case, the designated humor figure was a part of the gifted program, but he always displayed intentional signs of averageness. It wasn’t until middle school that I realized that there is no way that humor can be achieved from the perspective of a smart comedian, and it wasn’t until now that I could put this idea into words.

【红霞译文】

        最近我为自己开设的2020年夏令班写了如下小段作文范例。

        我意识到自己始终被这个沉重的问题所困扰，鼻衄究竟哪去了？儿提年间，我们不停地挖鼻孔，总要把金子般的尤物及其填塞物扫除干净；可一旦到了青少年时期，我们不再忙着坚壁清野，问题在于：鼻衄到底去哪了？

        鼻衄消失了？肯定不对，它们一定呆在什么地方，难道躲进鼻孔藏了起来？肯定也不对，这样势必危害到我们的健康，而医生免不了鼓励大家像保护牙齿一样保护身体。

        这确实是千古之谜，唯有神通广大的谷歌才能解决如此科学的问题。

        当然，上述短文仅在写作教研室才具有教育意义（我已经修改措辞并去掉了用于教学而故意添加的错误）；然而，我非常爱写这种题材，至少年轻听众喜欢，在约翰·木兰尼的单口秀中我很容易找到共鸣，他操持上个世纪50年代的语调，而且身着60年代酷肥西服，很有派头。

        这篇博文的标题（感谢你读到这里）是关于近来我如何发现幽默天性的，尽管不少人也许早在幼儿班就已经下意识地感觉到，但我从未用文字表达内心想法。

        幽默处在知识的边缘。被新冠肺炎疫情困在家里的日子，我看过无数个脱口秀专场表演，从哗众取宠的加百列·伊格莱西亚斯到同样搞笑却又更…更…加爽快的皮特·戴维森，包罗万象。令我惊喜的是，有多少观众迷翻版山寨品：有人靠幼稚的口音拿捏情绪和塑造性格，也有人用威化脆饼的清赏干货来打动我，综上两个例子，喜剧演员恐怕一直都要诠释观众认知的素材。

        继续谈论我课堂上的话题，段落中的幽默经不住谷歌上高效搜索（尽管让和蔼可亲的美国联邦调查局/国家安全局特工大吃一惊）。如同班上每位同学，我也不熟悉这个话题，虽说老百姓并非对写作感兴趣，但本人还是能从一个13岁、乳臭未干的写作班上找到知音。

        医生本来可以用简约答复即刻回绝我的质疑，但这么做乐趣何在。回顾每场单口秀，似乎人人都对幽默小品没有过多了解，因此当节目进行到一定程度，喜剧主持人会像普通观众那样体验相同感受。

        小的时候，班上滑稽小丑（因为常有无趣小丑）总有让人开怀大笑的诀窍；在我的特例中，颇具代表性的幽默人物来自资优班，他总是喜欢用鄙俗的风调来表现诙谐。长到初中，我开始意识到幽默没法仅靠聪明的喜剧演员单方面努力。直到现在，我才能将思想转化成语言。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2019: Nanjing—Ever Cry, Never Life(南京—话别无长夜)

2014: YMCA Camp—Outdoor Pool-3(基督教青年会营户外戏水池之三)

Crosslink(相关博文):

11th Grade(高中三年级)