My son, the Undaling, just reached what I would consider a huge milestone worthy of a prominent mention in the baby book.
At just 2 ½ months old, he has officially made his first attempt at humor.
Sure, there have been many instances of unintentional humor. In the first few days home from the hospital, he was getting laughs for urinating on people at the changing table. Since then, he’s become quite adept at the spit-take, though I don’t think he does it to be funny. This time, I’m sure his joke was intentional.
As I told you a few days ago, the Undaling is dealing with his first cold. The other night, he coughed. I could see the frustration in his eyes every time this happened to him. Coughing is annoying, and this is the first time he’s had to deal with it on this level. I tried to make him feel better by fake-coughing right back at him. When I did this, his eyes got big. I could see his wheels turning as he tried to process what I just did. Then, he looked back at me, opened his mouth and fake-coughed right back. I immediately laughed a genuine laugh, then he smiled knowingly. His attempt at humor had been successful and achieved the desired result, laughter.
In the two days since, he’s experimented with different deliveries of the same joke, as if he’s trying to find his comedic groove. He’s fake-coughed without provocation, caught me by surprise, and gotten laughs. He’s tried the deadpan delivery, where he doesn’t smile back. (This is one of my favorites). He also appreciates hearing my attempt at the fake cough. Even though it’s technically his joke, he seems to enjoy seeing another artist’s take on it.
He’s not yet 11 weeks old, but I would venture to say that his comedic timing is already more refined than certain “professionals” like Pauly Shore and Carrot-Top. He clearly knows his limitations and plays to his own strengths. Since he hasn’t quite mastered the English language, knock-knock jokes are out of the question. He doesn’t have enough control of his own body to pull of an intentional pratfall. However, he does know how to fake cough, and he’s milking it from his audience while he works to develop new material.
Someday, when he’s much older, and he needs a go-to joke that feels comfortable, he’ll probably use the fake-cough again. Henny Youngman said “take my wife, please” right up until the end of his show-business career. Maybe when the Undaling makes the leap to more adult-oriented humor, he’ll experiment with the age-tested technique of combining a fake-cough with the word “bullshit”. Perhaps he’ll work a fake-sneeze into his routine. Either way, I look forward to watching him develop as a child and as a humorist.
I’m proud of my boy today; proud that he seems to have learned already that a good sense of humor is an essential way of dealing with life’s curveballs (like the common cold).
At just 2 ½ months old, he has officially made his first attempt at humor.
Sure, there have been many instances of unintentional humor. In the first few days home from the hospital, he was getting laughs for urinating on people at the changing table. Since then, he’s become quite adept at the spit-take, though I don’t think he does it to be funny. This time, I’m sure his joke was intentional.
As I told you a few days ago, the Undaling is dealing with his first cold. The other night, he coughed. I could see the frustration in his eyes every time this happened to him. Coughing is annoying, and this is the first time he’s had to deal with it on this level. I tried to make him feel better by fake-coughing right back at him. When I did this, his eyes got big. I could see his wheels turning as he tried to process what I just did. Then, he looked back at me, opened his mouth and fake-coughed right back. I immediately laughed a genuine laugh, then he smiled knowingly. His attempt at humor had been successful and achieved the desired result, laughter.
In the two days since, he’s experimented with different deliveries of the same joke, as if he’s trying to find his comedic groove. He’s fake-coughed without provocation, caught me by surprise, and gotten laughs. He’s tried the deadpan delivery, where he doesn’t smile back. (This is one of my favorites). He also appreciates hearing my attempt at the fake cough. Even though it’s technically his joke, he seems to enjoy seeing another artist’s take on it.
He’s not yet 11 weeks old, but I would venture to say that his comedic timing is already more refined than certain “professionals” like Pauly Shore and Carrot-Top. He clearly knows his limitations and plays to his own strengths. Since he hasn’t quite mastered the English language, knock-knock jokes are out of the question. He doesn’t have enough control of his own body to pull of an intentional pratfall. However, he does know how to fake cough, and he’s milking it from his audience while he works to develop new material.
Someday, when he’s much older, and he needs a go-to joke that feels comfortable, he’ll probably use the fake-cough again. Henny Youngman said “take my wife, please” right up until the end of his show-business career. Maybe when the Undaling makes the leap to more adult-oriented humor, he’ll experiment with the age-tested technique of combining a fake-cough with the word “bullshit”. Perhaps he’ll work a fake-sneeze into his routine. Either way, I look forward to watching him develop as a child and as a humorist.
I’m proud of my boy today; proud that he seems to have learned already that a good sense of humor is an essential way of dealing with life’s curveballs (like the common cold).
2 comments:
he is just going to love the hand buzzer and rubber nose I got him for Christmas!!
cricket, cricket....
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