Last week in class we reviewed and analyzed Shaggy Dog Stories. This proved to be an interesting and amusing class, as we were able to have a few laughs, a few groans and a whole lot of eye rolls at the humor behind these stories. After reviewing the stories posted here I have determined what I believe the ranking of our classmates will be for them. In order from funniest to least funny I believe the ranking will be:
1 - String
3 - Ghandi
4 - Bears
2 - Chrome Plate
Overall, these stories are quite similar in length, making it hard to use that as a determining factor in ranking. Also, they are all centered around a final play on words (as opposed to the panda story that used a grammatical error as its punch line). These two things in mind, I will discuss my reasoning behind the ranking of the stories.
I will begin by explaining why I believe the second story will be voted the least funny of the bunch. One of the characteristics of the stories that we discussed last week was connection to the audience. This can come across in setting (the way the panda from the one story was in New York), characters, etc. The relatable feature that I chose to focus on in this story was the final line, the play on words. While it was amusing, and while the play on words itself is a component of the story we discussed as creating good humor, it bore a striking resemblance to the final line of a story already ranked low in the first discussion. Similar to the story about chess players that we went over, the final line entered around a play on words with a holiday theme. The reason the class mentioned that this wasn't too funny was because the time of year we were reading it was not appropriate for a good laugh. Someone mentioned (I forget who off the top of my head) that, had it been nearer to Christmas, the joke would have come across as more amusing. Due to this fact, and largely this fact alone, I have ranked the hollandaise/chrome plate story the least funny of the bunch.
Now, as for the funniest, I have gone with the first story: the story of the string. I'm not going to lie, I've heard this one before. It actually ranks as a personal favorite of mine, and has been a joke I've often told to the amusement and frustration of friends and co-workers. Personal bias aside, I still think this one would be ranked highly by classmates. My main reasons for thinking this are in the ridiculous components of the story, as well as the slight conflict. First, the story is quite silly and imaginative. To picture a piece of string entering a bar, ordering a drink, being rejected, and then coming up with a plan is pretty wild. It is one thing to picture a snake with a lever, a panda with a gun, or a bear swallowing a man but it is another thing entirely to anthropomorphize a piece of string. I believe the humor of this story comes from the fantastic and ridiculous fact that the central character is something we use to tie up bundles of newspapers. Next, the conflict adds to how ridiculous the story is. The bartenders explain, quite simply, that they do not serve strings. Thing about this for a moment. Not only do they not act surprised when a string orders a beer, but they already have a rule in place that they don't serve strings (oppression much?). This conflict, as silly as it may be, adds to the humor and the build up towards the final play on words. While the story may not be the lengthiest, per se, it has the most components for an amusing shaggy dog story.
The ranking of second (Ghandi) and third (bears) stories came down to similar features. The play on words with the Ghandi story was so clever and silly that I have to believe it will rank pretty highly (though, due to its short length, I don't see it as being first) and the bear story was slightly more unbearable (pun!) than the rest, though not as removed from the audience as the chrome plate story.
In conclusion, my personal belief with all of these shaggy dog stories is that the humor truly lies i the ridiculous situation laid out before us. If we have to engage in our imagination more, no matter how cheesy the play on words at the end may be, we are more likely to feel satisfied by the joke. Only time will tell what my classmates believe, but I think this is a sound assessment of the shaggy dog stories. On a final note, here is a personal favorite shaggy dog story of mine from over the years.
"A man was dating a woman named Lorraine for years. After some time he realized that Lorraine wasn't who he thought she was and he grew frustrated with her. One day, while sitting at a bar and drinking his sorrows away, he met a beautiful young barmaid named Clearly.
When he decided to ask Clearly out on a date, she refused. She had seen him around town with Lorraine and didn't want to get involved in another couple's drama. She told him she would only date him if Lorraine was out of the picture.
The man was distraught. He didn't know how to end things with Lorraine. They had been dating for so long that he felt guilty about breaking up with her. One day, he asked Lorraine to go to the park with him, in hopes of figuring out a solution.
They decided to walk along the river, and as they did it began to storm. The wind grew harsh and blew Lorraine back, causing her to stumble and fall into the river, getting swept far away.
The man stood at the riverbed, watching Lorraine disappear into the distance. After a moment he smiled, fate had assisted him in his decision. He skipped away from the river singing, 'I can see Clearly now, Lorraine is gone.'"
;)
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