I have to contend with this from two people in our family, my 1/2 brother and my SIL (wife's sister). I seriously doubt if either of them know anyone who is humorous, perhaps, they think that Seniors that have a "sense of humor" should grow up. Don't know, but I've been humorous most of my life. I will say something, jokingly, to my SIL and she will say "CODY!!". I have to immediately say "I was only joking". My wife always tells me just how serious her sister is and has been for years upon years. Way, way before I even met my wife. I firmly believe that I'm the only humorous person my SIL knows. She also sometimes thinks I'm rude and obnoxious, of which neither wife or I see that. All my wife says is, "with Cody, never a dull moment in our household." My 1/2 brother is pretty much the same way. Perhaps that's the reason we don't talk to each other but just a few times a year. He doesn't understand my personality and I don't understand his. Not talking to each other much, really helps when we do talk to each other. Wife and I absolutely love good stand-up comedy, whereas there are those that dislike it altogether. We love watching Jeff Durham and I use to watch the George Lopez Show quite often. Don't bother us if race, or whatever, is put into the comedy. It's all comedy!! So, do you know anyone where a joke will go right over their head? Or, you tell them a joke and they will say "that was rude" or "you're being very obnoxious and arrogant".
o -yes my sil---he has got to be the dumbmess and lazziest man on earth--my grandson--my daughter and myself are having a ball laughing and he dont get it
Not everyone has the SAME sense of humor, which does not mean they don't have a sense of humor but that they are individuals. I can't stand slapstick or any physical "three stooges" schtick; I just think it's stupid. That doesn't mean I don't have a sense of humor.
If a person who is getting older with age can laugh when they look at themselves in the mirror sans clothing, that person has a good sense of humor.
The woke crowd, the politically correct crowd, and the cancel culture crowd (basically one and the same) probably do have sense of humour but their default Art of Being Offended prevents them from laughing. Bill Burr, for example, does not amuse them, whereas he puts me in stitches. Also Louis CK. Also anybody else not afraid to be wildly politically incorrect. My standard is so much simpler than that of the woke: If something is funny to me I'm gonna laugh. If it is hilarious I'm going to laugh even harder. If it is politically incorrect, well, that's just a bonus.
Personally I'm enjoying the Dave Chappelle vs Trannys dust-up after his Netflix standup routine. I have to hand it to him; he's not backing down. (Nor should he; he didn't say anything that a normal person would consider offensive... he's a freakin' COMEDIAN, people.)
My best comedy was always spontaneous and most times not even meant to be comedy. I was at a meeting with a "buckskin" club at which I was a member. One of our members was a full-blood American Indian and a mentor in keeping the old traditions alive. He had a tepee set up above his house where he practiced his drumming for exhibitions. His wife had banned him from practicing in the house for obvious reasons. Well, the "Cheif" as everyone called him, hadn't been at the last two meetings. Since I had been working on a ranch rounding up cattle above his place, I was asked if I knew where the Cheif was. Without thought, I said, "The last time I saw the Cheif he was in his tepee beating on his tom tom." Everyone exploded into laughter and it took me a minute to realize that what I said could be interpreted other than what I meant.
So much "Made for TV" comedy follows a template. There are standard routines and setups (e.g. "The Comedy Triple.") I used to love sitcoms until it got to the point that most things were predictable. And then there's the timing not only of the punch lines, but of the tv shows themselves relative to commercials. I used to watch my neighbor's 2 boys when the parents would have an event to attend or wanted a date night. One such evening they broke out their newly acquired 3 Stooges dvd set. They put in the first one and we laughed at the schtick. They put in the second one and we politely chuckled. They put in the 3rd one and the youngest said "This is stupid," so we went and played Boggle. I've noticed this with other tv comedy stuff: if the commercials don't break up the action [stupidity], it gets real tiring real fast. Watch more than one uncut episode and every episode is ruined forever...the curtain has been pulled back. Timing is everything. Once it's disrupted, the illusion is gone.
Actually, after watching the "three stooges", a couple of times, I felt the exact same way.........totally stupid show! Movies like Trains, Planes and Automobiles can get pretty stupid (except for the end). Will Ferrell's movies are pretty stupid. So, I know exactly what you are talking about.