Discipline and Ducks

So in my search to find some more ways to distract myself, I came across this little gem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQXg-ng_osM

An excellent study of humor is ever I saw one. This video is a great example of an appeal to different senses of humor that various people may have. It shows 7 different versions of how the same incident could turn out (granted they are extreme versions).

Each version could appeal to a different sense of humor, and all of them rely on cognitive shift. The premise of the entire video is to catch the audience unawares. Whether it's the father acting like he's going to shoot the kid, being a spider-thing coming to eat him, or playing the nice guy just to turn around on his word, the big idea is that the audience isn't expecting a father to treat his son in such a way for what was obviously a harmless accident.

To me it seemed like the different shifts that were presented in each of the instances could appeal a semi-large audience. While this is certainly not the funniest video I've seen, it definitely had some points where I laughed to myself just because it was so ridiculous. I suspect that much of our class, if not the audience at large, would find at least one instance they would find humorous, and if I'm wrong then that just speaks to the vast variety of forms of humor there are. Some people will only like certain forms, and other people will appreciate other forms more. This doesn't mean anyone is right of wrong (humor-wise anyways, society-wise is a different matter entirely), it instead just means they have different preferences for things they find to be funny.

Now for a video that I think is universally hilarious:

http://screen.yahoo.com/baby-duck-tries-stay-awake-115302107.html

Hope every one has some great finals and manages to stay awake for their finals!