"Funny Bone Humor" is an under-appreciated art form in some ways and it is a load of dumb luck in others. People who intentionally look for it/create it, like Steve-O, have had to find the line between pointless pain and humor in order to exploit it. There are tons of fail videos on Youtube which are cringe-worthy and funny; and cringe-worthy and not funny at all. Looking back on recorded media for similar kinds of comedy brings me back to The Three Stooges.
The Three Stooges were an iconic group of slapstick comedians who had their hay-day in black and white. They are the classic humans associated with physical comedy and they were a huge inspiration for the creator of Tom and Jerry. If it weren't for the Stooges there is a chance that the modern genre of comedy wouldn't have become so developed by now. That means that the world could be a less funny place. If the world weren't as funny as it is, a lot of people would probably struggle to cope with life.
In my life there are a lot of examples of this kind of humor. One of my favorite early memories is when my friends and I as kids would practice being hit so that we could be tougher and my friend Tiger punching a tooth out of my mouth. It was hilarious.
I think you're right that The Stooges are probably much more influential than we think, or maybe than we like to think. Slapstick has a reputation for being dumb and juvenile humor, but it seems that in some ways it speaks to something very fundamental.
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