[Kransha]

(Sorry, I could not resist the pun in this post title. It called to me, like a stray donkey in Birmingham after hours [note: this joke is not meant to be understood])

Humor is, as it has always been, a rather touchy subject. I wish to point out a little fact, relating to said 'quick' humor. In Threads such as those mentioned, there is always good intention, but many do not actually read the threads for purposes of enjoyment, they simply post, hoping to get a laugh, or credit, or up their post count. I respect trying to get an honest laugh, but a thread ceases to be a humorous one when no one simply sits back, reads it, and has a nice healthy fit of guffaws. That is why the strength of really intellectual, humurous threads, should never be overlooked. Certain types of humor can still be funny and fitting, even if they are not as apt in a certain situations.

Over the centuries, many authors and playwrites and poets and that ilk have defined humor in all its forms. Good humor has wit, sometimes sardonicism, and is understandable to most. A joke should be intelligent, but not so intelligent that it is lost upon the boorish serfs (read: inside joke). It can be, under circumstances appropriate, of course. The following are examples of categorical humor.

-Shakespeare, William, the globally renowned playwrite and sonneteer, perfected some of the first high humor, as he was writing for a high humor. Many of his works included 'low' humor, but only to appease the 'low' sort. In a way, even his crude humor was aptly placed and spaced, thus making it 'high' 'low' humor. If a Barrow-Downer must stoop to the level of primitivity where humor is concerned, keep in mind, perhaps, the incredibly vulgar sequence from Henry V, which is one of Shakespeare's most R-Rated comedic montages but managed to retain its classical nature. I doubt any Barrow-Downer would EVER be forced to go so low, but if one must, it is not impossible to still be side-splittingly funny and clever in one's crude humor. Just keep the expletives to a minimum, thank you.

-The art of the sketch should also be kept in mind. Par example: Monty Python, over the years, compiled a mound of near-infamous sketches, many filled with random, crude, low-class humor. The sketch art form could be crucial for B-Ders, though, for it is longer, more verbose, and, despite the inclusion of inside jokes and randomness, can be made both funny and thought-provoking. Script-format sketches typed into threads have often spawned some of the Barrow Downs' famous one-liners, and etcetera. This too can be used sparingly as a device.

-Dark humor too has its place, as does political humor, but neither should be allowed to become controversy, unless that was the focus. I suggest a lack of political humor, and use the times as a tool, rather than the administration of the times. This is, of course, Tolkien discussion, but parodying the world around us is not irrelevant to Tolkien. Tolkien's works take place in a different world, one which is constantly parodied by the modern world. Since we are semi-inhabitants of Tolkien's world, it is only fair that we get to parody the world which parodies us, eh? If one is to do this, do your research where you can, unless your remark is off-hand. It would be good to study the work of Jonathon Swift, or perhaps Evelyn Waugh. If you're going for modern ironicism, cynicism, or darker variety of comedy, check out Orwell when you can, or maybe Douglass Adams.

-The humor that I believe has it's place fully on the Downs is the genuine, clever wit that is present in comedy on a whole, as posted above. Mark Twain had this in excess and used it, though he also parodied the world around him, much to the joviality of his readers. Strive for this, my brethren, for it is what should be striven for, I suppose. This humor can be brief, can be concise, and is rarely directed at a trivial subject unless it is meant to complicate said subject. This wittiness should ne'er be spared, unless a situation's application would be totally, brutally innapropriate.