The Humor Code Read Online Free PDF Page B

Stand-up is one of the country’s most prominent cultural inventions. Thanks to The Tonight Show and Seinfeld , the work of American comedians now influences comedy all over the world. Plus, judging from his performance at the Squire, Pete could use a few tips.
    So, what turned Louis C.K. into Louis C.K. ? How does someone be funny? Is it an innate talent, something you’re born with or thatarises from the right conglomeration of instincts and personality traits? Or is it something that develops over time, either through absorbing the right rules or personal trial and error? And what about other variables to consider, such as childhood baggage and the quirks of various comedy clubs? How do they all influence someone’s ability to be hilarious?
    We’re here hoping that C.K. can provide us with some answers. Heck, maybe the king of stand-up will be so taken with our endeavor that he’ll show us the secrets to being funny. Our quest will be over as soon as it’s begun.
    Knowing that he has only a few minutes, Pete launches into the benign violation theory, but he only gets halfway through before C.K. cuts him off. “I don’t think it’s that simple,” he grumbles. “There are thousands of kinds of jokes. I just don’t believe that there’s one explanation.”
    His research dismissed, his theory shot down, Pete casts about for something to talk about. “So I was actually chatting with some of your fans in the lobby, and I asked them what questions I should ask you . . .” he begins.
    My stomach drops. When an older woman who had made one too many trips to the Paramount’s bar heard we were interviewing C.K., she shrieked out a question. But surely there is no way Pete would ask it.
    I’m wrong.
    â€œSo one woman wanted to know how big your penis is.”
    C.K. cracks the faintest of smiles but shakes his head. “I am not going to answer that.”
    â€œI wouldn’t, either,” Pete responds. “But I’ve heard that if you don’t answer that, it means it’s small.”
    Now there’s no smile.
    Sensing we’ve overstayed, we head for the door. Clearly, we’re going to have to look elsewhere to figure out what makes people funny. So, we figure, why not go where many comedians go to try to break into the big time, to hone their acts and get noticed by agents and talent scouts and TV execs? Why not go where up-and-comers go to become the next Louis C.K.?
    And with that, we’re off to Los Angeles to see how many more people Pete will alienate with penis questions. For science.
    â€œWelcome to the La Scala of comedy,” says Alf LaMont. ‘This is where it all happened.”
    We’re standing in front of the Comedy Store, a black bunker of a building surrounded by palm trees. Beside us, Maseratis and BMWs glide through the night along the Sunset Strip, the billboard-lined mile-and-a-half stretch of pavement curving through West Hollywood that’s always been steeped in a heady cocktail of fame and vice.
    This part of town has long been a place of wise guys and movie stars, beatniks and go-go dancers, groupies and glam rockers—and, here at the Comedy Store, some of the pivotal moments in stand-up history. Los Angeles is bursting at the seams with comedy. There are stand-up shows big and small every night of the week at comedy clubs and improv theaters and cabaret clubs, even in the Masonic lodge of a local cemetery. There are podcast tapings and comedic web-video shoots and several major comedy festivals. There’s even a new academic concentration in comedy at the University of Southern California. The seeds of this bustling comedy scene can be traced here, to this spot, in 1972, with the opening of the city’s first dedicated comedy club.
    â€œAll the other comedy clubs got rid of their history, or never had it to begin with,” says LaMont, head of marketing for the Comedy Store.