Never thought we’ ll have things to write and fight about every fortnight.
But yes, we just completed 20 episodes of our column He says, She says.
This time we fought over who’s funnier — men or women?
I’m sure all you guys who have read about Shonali’s meeting with John Abraham will know who makes you laugh and how. He he!
He says:
A friend had this theory. He said men are funnier than women. They have this knack of making people around them happy. And not in the gay sense of the word.
Yes, we are NOT talking about the four men in the car who were feeling Happy until Happy got up and ran away. He he!
See, see… you say He He, not She She!
What I’m trying to say here through these really sad jokes is that men don’t mind playing the fool. They don’t mind being called the clown.
So my friend said: “Think of one person who makes you laugh the most.” I did. “Now, was that a girl?” he asked. And No, it wasn’t. I must admit here that I do have a few women friends who make me laugh. But only because some of them, like ‘She’, often are victims of the practical jokes.
I play on them and some others, because they do not know they are funny in a bumbling-goofy sort of way. But no woman is as funny as any guy can be. Being funny is a guy thing. That’s because men have a bolder sense of humour. They are more adventurous in going for the jokes. They can be quite irreverent.
Like Cyrus Broacha once said (like he would remember even if he did): The reason you find me funny is because I try hard. If I try 100 lines in an hour and you laugh at least 10 times, you find me funny. How will you be funny if you don’t even try?
That’s the problem with women. They like to play it safe. Yes, She would like to believe women are sophisticated and classy. But there is a difference between being witty and being funny. We’re talking about the funny here. Let me now demonstrate that women cannot be funny and can make you laugh quite unwittingly.
Read the following.
She says:
And that’s precisely the problem with men. Their dreadfully juvenile form of slapstick haw-haw humour. (No one says ‘hee hee’ unless they’ve just had all their teeth knocked out.)
Want a classic example of male humour? My ‘funny’ co-writer slunk off with my cell phone at a recent party, and text messaged a random collection of people, including official contacts, saying “I think I’m falling in love with you.” Now, about one dozen men are convinced I secretly carry the torch for them, and I’m getting exceedingly strange looks wherever I go. The last time he hijacked my phone, he messaged ‘Burp!’ to half my contact list. Think that’s funny? You must be male.
Hit yourself on top of your head with this newspaper for me, please.
Groan. Why must all men be boys?
The difference between men and women, when it comes to a sense of humour, is the fact that women are far more grown up. I know a number of really interesting women, who are simply hilarious when they start telling stories — a number of which, by the way, are centred around men and the ridiculous things they do.
Because, women are funny in an intelligent sort of way.
And it’s not always bookish humour. I went to a girls’ boarding school where an average prank took at least half an hour of careful planning, whether it was the creation of a bewildering ‘apple pie bed’, which included zanily folded sheets to confuse the victim, or midnight feast replete with talented mimicry. The equivalent at the boys’ schools was grabbing a junior and flushing his head in the toilet.
And that’s the difference between men and women, when it comes to humour: women are funny because you laugh with them.
Men are funny, because — well — just look at them.
MADRAS INK. 