The Internet’s Influence on Comedy: How Online Humor is Redefining What We Find Funny
In today’s digital age, the internet’s impact on our daily lives is undeniable. One area where this is particularly evident is in the world of comedy. The internet’s unique brand of humor, characterized by absurd phrases and joke formats, has not only changed the way we laugh but also how we communicate. This online humor has now migrated offline, influencing the way comedians and ordinary people alike express themselves.
At the heart of this phenomenon is the trend of omitting connective tissue words, reducing ideas to their most absurd and barebones form. Phrases like "Everything’s computer," "Trump take egg," and "Luckily, I have purse" have become commonplace, often leaving listeners both confused and amused. This type of meta-comedy, which laughs at the ridiculousness of a sentence when stripped of its extraneous parts, has become a staple of online humor.
Comedian Caleb Hearon, host of the popular podcast So True, is a prime example of this trend. Hearon, who rose to fame online, frequently uses truncated phrases in his comedy, often targeting political figures and power structures. By stripping away articles, conjunctions, and even logic, Hearon’s jokes hit faster and harder, making them more effective at highlighting the absurdity of the issues he’s addressing.
This brand of humor is not new, but its internet-driven iteration is distinct. It’s a defense mechanism, a way of taking the power away from serious issues by making them sound ridiculous. In the face of rising right-wing administrations, absurdist humor has become a chaotic counterpart to the earnest optimism of previous eras. By laughing at the absurdity of language, we’re able to cope with the absurdity of the world around us.
The impact of online humor on comedy is undeniable. It’s changed the way we consume and interact with jokes, making them more concise, absurd, and effective. As the internet continues to shape our lives, it’s likely that this brand of humor will only continue to evolve, influencing the way we laugh, communicate, and think about the world around us. As Kevin Malone from The Office once said, "Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?" In the world of online humor, it seems that fewer words can indeed be more.
