On more than one occasion, I've been asked why my site is called Dry Humor Daily. My consistent answer is that lots of people have told me over the years that I have a dry sense of humor. For the longest time, I never really understood what that meant, but I took it as a compliment and just kept being myself. Well, over time, I've come to a fuller understanding of dry humor (or deadpan humor, as some might say) and I'd like to present some of my favorite examples of it over the next couple of days.
First thing's first. Pushing Daisies.
The show was fantastic. It was kind of a mix between a fairy tale and a crime-solving show. It only aired for two seasons (2007 and 2008) before it got cut, but they were two very entertaining seasons. So why the pink slip? Pushing Daisies was unfortunately too quick-witted for the average American. The dialogue is fast-paced and clever. To top it off, the characters have strong vocabularies.
What does this have to do with dry humor? It's all in the delivery. (That's basically what sets dry humor apart from all the others.) There's not really a punchline. Dry humor comes from the context of a situation and relies on things like straight-faced puns. The detective in Pushing Daisies is very good at this. You will find yourself laughing at him, even though he isn't saying anything directly funny. If you have a chance, watch an episode or two. I think you'll like it.
3 comments:
i heard great things about Pushing Daisies. must netflix now.
I loved Pushing Daisies. I miss it!
I watched the first season and thought it was great,,, and having dry humor is a compliment...
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