Humor Dissonance: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
So a fictional setting has, as a plot point, something that is supposed to be very funny. The other characters treat this joke or show within a show as the funniest thing they have ever heard. The problem is, due to [[Sturgeon's Law]], few writers can actually write a joke that funny, and even a competent writer will have difficulty living up to the hype the characters give it. As a result, the joke just isn't that funny, and can become cringeworthy much more easily because the show is presenting it as the pinnacle of [[humor]].<ref>Or [[humour]].</ref> This is one of the cases where [[Take Our Word for It]] would have been a better way to present the story element.
Of course, this can be [[They Plotted a Perfectly Good Waste|done deliberately]], for example to make the audience think "My god, what kind of [[Crapsack World|twisted world]] is it where ''this guy'' is considered ''funny?''" Or, could also be either played for laughs or to present everyone as sadistic if laughter would actually be considered [[Dude, Not Funny|a downright inappropriate response]] to something.
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{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* ''[[Lucky Star]]'': Konata decides to have a staring contest with Tsukasa and Kagami while at a fast food joint. The two of them burst into laughter at Konata's ability to stare unflinchingly, and tell Miyuki about it when she returns from the restroom. At their request, Konata (unwillingly) shows it to Miyuki, and Miyuki and Kagami make fun of her by suggesting she mention it while applying to college.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* In an issue of DC's ''[[Countdown]]'', Donna Troy calls Jason Todd "Re-Todd", [[Don't Explain the Joke|a pun on "retard"]]. Kyle tells her "good one", with a goofy expression as if it was an expert burn. Not only is a lame joke, it's entirely out of character for Donna and Kyle.
* Apparently a common deal with the [[Harvey Comics]]' character Jackie Jokers. [http://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/stupidcomics38.html Some examples are further down this page.]
{{quote|One thing Jackie does provide is an example of how to live for aspiring young comedians. For example, Jackie teaches us the number one way to stay focused and confident is: surround yourself with people who are REALLY EASILY AMUSED.}}
== [[
* Sometimes seen in bad [[Fan Fiction]] as well; In Stephen Ratliff's '[[Marissa Picard]]' stories, Marrissa Picard's pranks are seen in-universe as hilarious (except by the bad guys) but come across to many readers as banal or heartless.
** Plus, some would qualify as [[Too Dumb to Live]] if people were in character—I mean, pulling a [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Klingon warrior's]] pants down?
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* In ''[[Showgirls]]'', there is an overweight performer at the strip club who makes a string of self-depreciating jokes. While the patrons of the club are in stitches, the jokes themselves are painfully flat.
== [[Literature]] ==
* In Book 3 of the ''[[Inheritance Cycle]]'', ''Brisingr'', Eragon and Arya witness a group of spirit orbs turning a lily into a gem. Eragon points out that they literally gilded a lily like the phrase "gilding a lily" and thinks it's the funniest thing ever. Arya is only vaguely amused.
* Sometimes done deliberately in [[Discworld]]; most of the narration is absolutely laugh-out-loud, split-your-sides, pee-your-pants hilarious, but what characters point out as a joke is often just an [[Incredibly Lame Pun]], [[Running Gag|Or Play on Words]].
* An in-universe example occurs in ''[[Harry Potter and
** In ''[[Harry Potter and
*** Considering at this point they don't her like this has some....implications
== [[Live
* ''[[iCarly]]'' uses this in regards to most of what goes on the web show, although the incident that inspired the show had some fairly funny insults towards the [[Sadist Teacher]]. One episode two characters saying "Mom..." "No!" 10 times in a row on their Web show was presented as an example of their humor surpassing everything on TV.
* One of the causes of the downfall of ''[[Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip]]'': the fact that characters constantly refer to the sketches in the [[Show Within a Show]] as hilarious, when more often than not, they fall flatter than Kansas to the people at home.
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* There was an episode of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' where Data was trying to learn what humour was. Some of the jokes in that episode were meant to be funny, some of them were not. Any correlation between whether or not a joke was supposed to be funny and whether or not it actually was funny is entirely coincidental. ([[Fridge Brilliance|No wonder Data has so much trouble understanding what humour is.]]) Of particular note, this joke which Guinan absolutely '''''insisted''''' was absolutely hilarious, and the only reason Data wasn't in stitches was because he's a robot;
{{quote|'''Guinan''': You're a droid and I'm a 'noid (pronounced to sound like "Annoyed")}}
** It's even worse, As [[SF Debris]] pointed out in his review of the episode (The Outrageous Okona) the joke that appears is actually a rewrite, the original joke (which he actually reads out) is even worse: ''My job here places me under some obligations, like a vow of secrecy. I can't repeat anything I hear or see. Now the obligation of the patron is to tell the truth otherwise I'm being placed under a commitment to keep a secret about nothing. That's not fair, it's called wasted honour. Do you understand?'' Yeah really, that's the joke, check it [https://web.archive.org/web/20150809014019/http://blip.tv/sf-debris-opinionated-reviews/tng-the-outrageous-okona-review-5167604
*** What makes this really bad is that Guinan is played by [[Whoopi Goldberg]]. Couldn't they have just asked her to adlib? Chances are it'd at least elicit a chuckle or two!
** On the other hand, Data's ''failed'' jokes, which are ''supposed'' to be unfunny to demonstrate his failure to understand humour, are, if not actually good, at least capable of eliciting a smile, and at any rate are better than the jokes that the audience is ''supposed'' to laugh at.
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* The Joker played with this in ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]'' with an episode where he took a studio audience hostage and hooked Batman up to an electric chair. The chair was directly connected to a "laugh meter" and since he knew he would never get the audience to laugh legitimately, he pumped in laughing gas and had Harley read from the phone book.
* This is mostly averted in ''[[The Fairly OddParents]]'' where Timmy wishes he was the funniest person on Earth: His dialogue doesn't change at all and everyone is simply magically forced to laugh at it. This trope shows up briefly with the jokes the supposedly funny kids tell at the start of the episode, though.
* Every single episode of ''[[Widget, the World Watcher]]'' (not to be confused with a [[Widget Series]]) [["Everybody Laughs" Ending|ended with everyone laughing]] at some "cute" thing someone said that was distinctly not even remotely funny.
* ''[[The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack]]'' has an entire episode of this trope, beginning with Peppermint Larry telling some jokes consisting of truly awful puns and continuing into a joke-telling contest between Larry and another character. Eventually said other character speaks ''[[Rapid-Fire Comedy|entire sentences]]'' in [[Hurricane of Puns|nothing but puns]], soon after which it curves in on itself, implodes, then becomes genuinely funny.
* ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' has [[The Quiet One|Ferb]] going up on stage and saying "So, how about that airline food?" This prompts everyone in the audience to burst out laughing, pound their fists, and even overturn a table because they find it so funny.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Laughter Tropes]]
[[Category:Informed Attribute]]
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[[Category:Audience Reactions]]
[[Category:Unexpected Reactions to This Index]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Dissonance Tropes]]
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