Larry Kruzan on tue 22 jun 10
I think that I have a sense of humor. I also like to inject a humorous line=
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or two in my emails. Many have commented that they have gotten a chuckle f=
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rom some odd thing that I have said or illustrated. My father was a master =
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at the fine art of dry humor and it was one of many gifts that he passed to=
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me.=3D20
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The one thing that he always pointed out to me was that humor can be funny =
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for a short time or forever. Knowing the difference separates rude, clumsy,=
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country bumpkins telling jokes for shock value from comedians whose work w=
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ill be treasured for generations.=3D20
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The first type of comedian focus their attention on the physical, religious=
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, genealogical or regional characteristics of a group of people contrasting=
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those differences against another group. Disparaging the first , group aga=
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inst the latter. Setting one group as superior, more beautiful, smarter, cl=
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oser to the one =3DE2=3D80=3D9Ctrue=3DE2=3D80=3D9D god than the other. Beli=
ttling of on=3D
e group for the yuck - yuck of the village idiots.=3D20
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The second type of comedian (the artistic comedian) focuses their attention=
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on the tragedy of the human condition. A condition that is commonly shared=
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among all of us. The practitioner of humor as an art form neither assaults=
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or insults the targets of their humor, instead they share the condition, r=
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aising it upon their own shoulders, often collapsing under the load themsel=
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ves as they turn the point onto themselves. In that collapse we glimpse the=
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humor of our lives and share the moment with the teller.=3D20
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Like the pursuit of the perfect pot, the perfect joke or bit of humor is a =
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goal of many artists, some are masters with years of experience behind the =
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syntax and rhythm. =3DC2=3DA0 Carefully building to a crescendo, one step a=
t a =3D
time until a key phrase is tripped and the whole collapse into rolling heap=
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s of laughter as the listener suddenly sees themselves in the humor. All do=
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ne while practicing the physicians=3DE2=3D80=3D99 credo =3DE2=3D80=3D9Cdo n=
o harm=3DE2=3D80=3D
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Not too long ago, I spent a couple hours with some 12 year olds watching ol=
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d videos of a master of this art, Red Skelton. As the kids laughed and roll=
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ed on the floor it was so oblivious that they =3DE2=3D80=3D9Cgot=3DE2=3D80=
=3D9D most of=3D
the humor even though it was 50 years old. No language filter was required=
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as Red did not have to be crude to be funny. Sex was not the subject of hi=
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s humor although it was elemental in many sequences without being turned to=
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gutter humor. It was art.=3D20
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Sadly, we have incorrectly come to accept the concept of =3DE2=3D80=3D9Cthe=
ten w=3D
ords you can=3DE2=3D80=3D99t say on TV=3DE2=3D80=3D9D are the heart and sou=
l of humor. =3D
Still more sadly, many do not realize the difference between humor as art a=
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nd humor as a ass.=3D20
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Larry Kruzan=3D20
Lost Creek Pottery=3D20
www.lostcreekpottery.com=3D20
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