That entire list sums it up pretty well.
I will echo the disdain of Nostalgia Critic/That Guy with Glasses. His type of "humor" is the type that, apparently, a lot of self-proclaimed nerds consider the pinnacle of comedy, or it's at least their preferred flavor. It's the exact type I despise. It's so transparent and disingenuous. The primary characteristic is hyperbole, especially with regards to reactionary expression. But it's exaggeration for exaggeration's sake. It reminds me of the humor of an insular ten year-old; just strikes me as very immature and 'safe'. It
generally feels to me that the hyperbole is there to mask a lack of self-confidence. The more extreme, outlandish and disconnected the exaggeration is, the less confidence the person has. I have quite a few acquaintances who fall into this category. When it fails to spark a laugh, they tend to then dive into irreverent alliteration, falling from ten years old to five years old in a desperate attempt to maintain or gain social standing.
I love
that part of it, when it backfires and they just dig themselves into a deeper pit in the Land of Awkward. I just let it happen and remain quiet. I want to see how far they're willing to dig. I'm not going to laugh just to be polite, fuck 'em. I love it when confidence is effortlessly broken by reality.
I tend to find realistic scenarios funny. I don't like exaggeration for the sake of it. I like constructed things, anecdotes and the like, that allow you to create a picture in your mind and visualize the situation.
Also, people who
try to be funny aren't. The aforementioned over-exaggerating type of people above fall into this category, but so does anyone who does something for the sake of it, trying to force humor. Instead of the difficult and intelligent route of construction and creation, they go for what's perceived to be easy. Or they're too dumb to do anything but.
Eddie the head said:
It's always sunny in philadelphia. . . . . . God, why is a bunch of narcissists doing a dumb stuff funny? The only joke is they all suffer form the Dunning?Kruger effect.
I agree. The characters' motivations are increasingly trite and feel very forced. However, there are a few scenes that are among the funniest I've ever seen on TV. The way they're acted and nuanced is spot on. They don't have much to do with the overall plot (i.e. the scheme or situation the characters find themselves in) and are fairly contained. It's annoying to me that the show can have these little gems of incredibly well portrayed interaction that's genuinely funny, and yet the overall show/episode plot is just absurd to a frustrating degree.