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Searching for Good Humour


"I own any form of humor shows fear and inferiority. Irony is simply a kind of guardedness. So is a twinkle. It keeps the reader from criticism. Whittier, when he shows any style at all, is probably a greater person than Longfellow as he is lifted priestlike above consideration of the scornful. Belief is better than anything else, and it is best when rapt, above paying its respects to anybody's doubt whatsoever. At bottom the world isn't a joke. We only joke about it to avoid an issue with someone to let someone know that we know he's there with his questions: to disarm him by seeming to have heard and done justice to his side of the standing argument. Humor is the most engaging cowardice. With it myself I have been able to hold some of my enemy in play far out of gunshot."

- Robert Frost, Some Observations on Style



Good humor is hard, and the web is no exception, notwithstanding those brilliant chain emails. But who has time to pan the web for real humor. You can waste many hours searching desperately for that one gram of wheat. I know because I used to do this. Now I don't do it as much.

Also note that this page is mostly about web humor. Serious humor obviously does not belong on a page called humor. If you're looking for serious humor, you'll need to just navigate your way to wherever said artist or writer is located (probably here). Or maybe you would rather just renounce humor altogether and move on?

The Key of Vengeance

= they didn't respond to my friendly email

= they did

= positivity



Humor Writing Sites
this was one of the first nostalgimage sites on the inter net. Ralph Magazine
Web 0.0001, and awesome.

The Believer
Because they are published by McSweeney's Publishing, it hurts me as much as I know it hurts you for me to say this, but this is pretty funny, in its own ?subtle way. "The star-nosed mole has very poor eyesight, even by mole standards."

Lost And Frowned
The list of people funnier than me just got one bigger.

The Unknown
An online novel of interconnected material, a lot of which is very well written. An hypertext novel written in good postmodern spirit. Anyway, this Starbuck's piece is a rather masterful example. Note the use of the bell. Truly flirting with perfection. Their prose is at least as better than Robert Pinsky's disturbingly-sultry-for-a-guy-with-a-slight-lisp not-poet-laureate-anymore voice.
Old Man Murray
This would appear to be a web site about computer gaming. Okay, this is a web site about computer gaming. Do I game? Well, not really. Does the fact that I used to game (when I had youth) cause me to harbor some sort of nostalgic affection for the subject matter, and thus, falsely elevate my opinion of their site? Huh? But I've read one of their reviews on a game I, of course, know nothing about, and I have something to say about this site. These guys are smart, funny and they seem to be a good example of what criticism is all about, criticism and what some 'real Ghost World' kids in 'if not actually than might as well be' rural America can do with the internet. Trapped but untrapped, now they make something out of what only ten years ago would have been nothing, would have been hanging out in a local mall, wearing whatever (for them it's apparently goth whatever) and driving some old beat up car, all summer, in a sort of classic ritual that someone looking in from the outside might be tempted to sell way short by describing simply as 'waiting for school to start again'. They publish criticism. They share. And criticism is, might be, everything, and these kids prove it. Here's a review they wrote, which is downright hilarious. See for yourself. And another. Don't mind if I do. And yes, another. If you see criticism as an all-encompassing force in the universe, like gravity or small packets of nuclear energy, then you should read Eliot whose literary criticism shows us all the way. I wrote the people at Old Man Murray to congratulate them. I heard nothing back. (because these are fucking kids blowing me off). Maybe I'll try again later disguised as Zeus.

Sean Baby
Partner site to Old Man Murray, I guess. This guy writes some funny, albeit angry, sheiit. Here's a piece on airport security, which basically says everything we think but are too 'sophisticated' to say. Latent (but loveable). Juvenile (but genuine). He fills the role.

Crummy
This is a web site made by a twenty-one year old who seems to be smarter than me at twenty-seven (and her only twenty-one). He creates new conjunctions. All I do is steal.
You ought to be ashamed, I said, to look so antique.
(And her only thirty-one.)
I can't help it, she said, pulling a long face,
It's them pills I took, to bring it off, she said.

Matt Neuman
My latest little discovery. I've read a couple of his satire pieces, and so far, they seem okay. He wrote back, but it was rather uninspired so

Scary Squirrel * Sniff Petrol


Random Sites
Ze Frank
Very interesting. Very funny site.

Niestat Brothers
Why am I only finding out about this site now?

Bitter Films
Many times, I heap praise on various other people I find inspiring, all the while secretly thinking I could do better if given the chance. Well friends. This is clearly not one of those times. Because his site doesn't have it, here it is. And here is Salvador Dali's proposal to Don Hertzfeldt for an alternate ending.

Gobler Toys
Really cool site. Check it out. My favorite toy is probably the Gobler Wobbler. This is what would have happened had Viktor Schrekengost gone satirical.

Fudtz Sign Language
This shit is whack genius. I don't know who did it, but it's too good for any of us. Shit, I would pay for this.

More Sites

Real Ultimate Power * Only Color * Tiny Little Life


Online Humor Magazines
The Onion
The Bunyon is the very popular satire/parody newsletter. The headlines are very entertaining, but the articles are pretty much not worth reading (with some no exceptions like this one whatsoever). Newsflash (2007): the Onion's Fake Newscasts are actually very good. Click here for more!

Satire Wire
Alternative to 'The Onion'. This article was funny.

Zug Online Magazine
Their HotPad prank was so funny I couldn't decide whether to hit furniture or just cry incessantly.

The Van Gogh Gogh's
The 'Prove Us Wrong' (link defunct) capture(d) the same street energy as Zug's 'Give' section where people's submissions were severely roasted by the VGG editors. "There's nothing more exhilarating than pointing out the shortcomings of others (Clerks)," except perhaps sitting around watching other people do it for you. Their 'humor' essays (c. 2001) were similar but generally superior to those found in 'the Onion' (which is about as difficult as outsmarting Chris Webber). In their piece entitled "Does Naming Your Band After a Place Mean You Suck?," the editors bravely point out that the Mighty Mighty Bosstones do indeed suck. But seriously, it was pretty funny back when.



The Best Live Journals
Kim Jong Il (The Illmatic)'s LiveJournal
Either this is HI-larious, or I'm just stupid.

Billy Fleetwood's LiveJournal
Straight Up Pimpin. Satire of and for the current MTV generation.

Very Important Things
With_Gusto takes old cartoons and ads new captions. Some of them are quite good. Observe right.



Actually Decent Blog Sites
Dong Gresin's Joint
This person really is funny.

Hemlock's Diary
The ravings of Hong Kong's most obnoxious expat. This is a funny blog.

The lower case L...
No, I'm serious. This is great.

< br clairol >

Humorous Shock Waves and Other Little Films
Brad Neely
Anything he does. Is awesome. One of the funniest flash animators I have ever seen. The next god...of flash animation humor thing.

Strindberg and Helium
At coldbacon, we don't 'rate' things, thank you very much. But if we did, Strindberg and Helium would have something like this after it. These clips are perhaps the funniest or at least cutest things I've ever seen on the internet in my life. Y2 Khai
You're stupid if you don't love this. [Review]

All Your Base Are Belong To Us
Fantastic. And this other video too, which my mom likes.

Gonads and Strife
This is hilarious. Apparently, it comes from a site called www.threebrain.com, which I would assume is a good site.

Bearskin Rug
The flash project he did for Born Magazine is monumental. Quadruped seems to be another outgrowth related to his main site, which seems promising.

Home Star Runner
An amusing but flawed example of the strengths and weaknesses of flash cartooning. The person is obviously funny in a sort of Odd Todd meets Dexter's Lab way, but it suffers from what I call 'the inevitable slowness of flash' problem. This is one of their better ones.

Stick Figure Fight #3
This thing is brilliant. I must watch it at least twice a week. [I know one of them isn't loaded anymore, but that's one of you dead for sure.]
It's a Horse! * Boohbah * The Cybernetic Parrot Sausage * Eugene Mirman * Starter Up Stever * Suffusia: A Beautiful Life * Chad Vangaalen * My Own Crap Flash

Flash Hubs
Neave.tv
Only about the coolest thing on the internet right now.

Fifi Festival
Many flash vids.

Flash Art Sites


Art Hubs
K10K

Rhizome (and my now rejected proposal to them)

Individual Art Sites

Exploding Dog
This site rules. Here, a guy named Sam makes cartoons based on subject lines that people email in. This guy really is too good for the internet, but that's changing. Sam's art reminds me of Roy Lichtenstein's pop art as much as anything in its humorously embedded melodrama (see pensive II and melodramatic). In some ways, it's more useful to me because there's great flexibility of interpretation, there's more of it, and best of all, it fits on my screen. I don't think I could even get a Lichtenstein in my appartment. Also notice the actual names of the .GIF's. Sometimes their names add new meaning like variations on a theme. For example, the file name for "we will fight and I will win" is fightyou.html. Fight me? Where did that come in? Well, I think it adds more to the fun. Here are some of my favorites: Hilarious I, Hilarious II, Totally Brilliant I, Totally Brilliant II, Strange but Rich, Pensive I, Pensive II [the caretaker], Satirical, Melodramatic, Triumphant.

Exploding Puppy
Of course.

Pupae
This Is My Boy! Or girl! I have no idea, and the name doesn't help. But this person is doing exactly what I would do if I had emotion.

*update: there is now a personal story here. and this (girl or boy; i don't want to spoil the suspense) definitely will NEVER speak to ME again!!! wow! no, for real. and it's because of something i did. actually, it's because of something i DIDN'T do. even more interesting! don't you want to know? i would want to know if i were you.

Kellotron: Site of Kelly Goeller
Up and coming? Surely. I'm sure i've said that before and people have gone all corporate never to be seen or heard from again outside of Macy's and then in certain circles. But no. This one may not. This may be the one! Surely. I have to go mail a letter now.



Comic Strip Sites
XKCD * Too Much Coffee Man * Pokey The Penguin *

Cultural Hubs
Flak Magazine
Great site for reviews of film, writing, television and the web.

Nerve
This site is interesting because it's like, how on earth can they still be in business. The site is basically for people who are obssessed with sex. Wait. What am I talking about? Of course it's still in business. The reason it remains on top, however, is because the contact page shows a bunch of good looking young people, which you could theoretically be friends with. Riiiiight. It describes their college credentials in detail and with a light touch. And that my friend, in these sore and troubled times, is enough. They also have a muy popular personals section, some of which are actually real.

Internet/Design Sites
Zeldman
Classic site. Here's a funny piece he did on web logs.

Shirky
This is a guy who writes serious essays about web from a social, political, cultural perspective. I've read a little of it, and he seems pretty smart. I'm sure he's boring in real life, but I'll probably never know.

Lab 404
Curt Cloninger's always evolving site about site design.

Sites That Are Selling Shit That Is Hilarious
Jim Benton
Is hilarious. Put head deep your butt!


Interesting Sites (may or may not have anything to do with humor)

The Smoking Gun
This is an intriguing site. Did I say intriguing? I meant interesting. This is an interesting site.

Serial Killers
A biography at Rotten.com. Macabre and fascinating.

Listen To Me
These people wrote extensively about Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Sealab 2021, and Space Ghost. They are obviously smart. I will have to check out more of their site later. You may do so now if you wish. 'Listen To Me' is, I suspect by pure coincidence, what Frylock says to Master Shake one time as he raps the side of his cup/face with his fry arms.

Texas Department of Corrections (Last Meals)
Whoa. Also another country.

Flabber
Okay, this is a small but cute little payoff. Go to this ?whatever country it is web log. And look at what their version of 'comments' is. It cracks me up enough that you have to see it too now.

Engrish
How can something so wrong feel so right? Ask Sofia Coppola.


More Links
the funniest part of this is the fact that we find out that it wasn't even her boyfriend's camry at all. it was just some camry that was parked there. now that's funny.
Links to People's Personal Pages

Links to Online Literature Magazines

Now Defunct Web Sites (The Graveyard)

My Own Collection of Stupid Internet Humor




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