Chicago is (scientifically) the best at humor

Back in April, Chicago was ranked the funniest city in America by the Humor Lab - yes, that exists.

"Researchers hailed Chicagoans for their witty banter and observational humor, specifically citing the local penchant for poking fun at the brutal weather and the CTA."(Tribune)

Yes, I believe that, certainly. And if you know about Second City or if you IMDB some of your favorite comedy movies/sitcoms/SNL, you will find that Chicago has a reputation of creating clever folk.

The thing that (non-Humor Lab tested) I would add to the comic commentary is that this Midwestern Urban Mecca has mastered the ability to laugh at themselves. I mean, come on, here's what they deal with here: occasionally and/or chronically suffering sports teams, persistently corrupt politicians, winter, the CTA, WINTER - Chicagoans need humor.

People go to work in this mess.

This is public art.

White guys wearing Broncos beanies preside over Chinese New Year.

They laugh at themselves. And they do it well and with a laid back attitude that says, "Of course that happened and yeah, I'll laugh about it, because what else is there to do." And then they move on. 

Atlanta, with its #3 spot on the Humor Lab List, has humor; but its comedy is, by contrast, necessary because of the things we.just.can't.get.over.already. (The Time's list specifically points out the high number of race related jokes, for instance.)

And beyond the chronic issues facing ATL (traffic, anyone?), my opinion is that Southern culture does not lend itself to laughing at oneself. (This is also an untested hypothesis except through the years of being my mother's daughter. Yes, Mom, I did do that one thing 15 years ago. Let it go.) I would imagine that Southern jokes are more outwardly pointed than Chicago humor.

I read in an article recently that a touring comedian loves doing shows in Chicago, rather than L.A. He pointed out that the audience in Chicago is more real. Regular, non-agent, non-industry citizens go out to comedy clubs here. And they get it.

On Friday, I went to the Chicago premier of They Came Together (Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd spoof romantic comedy) at the Chicago Critics Film Festival. There were moments when laughter drowned out the sound of the movie. Afterward, the director David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer) joked that when the film was tested with "less smart and less funny regular people...people in L.A. not Chicagoans" there was a lot more silence. To get the humor across, the film added more scenes that spoon fed the spoof in it all.

I would argue that Chicagoans would have gotten it without Amy saying, "It's like a cheesy romantic movie, except it's not a movie." But that's just me. This city's residents are used to laughing at themselves. Spoof is what they do.

PS Go see They Came Together in June. (If you understand absurdity and enjoy Poehler and Rudd.)