I know it's a guy thing, but...

[qwlauren35]

What is the appeal of the Three Stooges?

Why is it so funny to see three men hit each other and slap each other?

BTW: "It just IS!" is an acceptable answer.

[leftieNanner]

1. I never really thought they were funny

Nor Bob Hope.

[Glorfindel]

2. I have never liked them, and I can remember watching 3 Stooges shorts

in the theater long before we got a television (1954). I think the sheer horror of the fingers in the eyes was what bothered me the most.

[Mister Ed]

13. Same here. Even as a young boy of 4 or 5, they turned my stomach. n/t

[kysrsoze]

3. The hitting/slapping part isn't what's funny. It's their ridiculous ideas and situations they got

...themselves in. Some of the jokes and scenes are hilarious, like when they end up performing surgery or the episode about the icemen when they have to bring giant blocks of ice up a hill and wind up baking a giant cake with bad results.

Maybe it is a guy thing, but it's funny, physical comedy even without slapping or poking each other.

[LakeArenal]

5. I think the eye poking is supposed to be funny.

[LakeArenal]

4. My guy thing doesn't think slapstick is funny at all.

[CentralMass]

6. Some food for thought.

[pnwest]

10. Tried to watch, didn't make it past

the phone booth. Just not funny

[Newest Reality]

7. From my understanding...

Back in their day, slapstick was common. Although we might rightly object to the cruelty, I think it was a form of catharsis.

Common folks, who might have been experiencing abuse at work and in other ways, may have had a form of schadenfreude and a sense of relief, as in, oh, it's not ME for a change. At least, that's one way to look at it.

A bunch of our ancestors were hanging around the home tree when, suddenly, one of us falls out and drops to the ground, breaking his neck. The rest of us look around and at each other, shocked. However, we all get this sense of relief that, hey, it wasn't ME! There may have been a form of early laughter as a response, but not making fun of it.

[Aristus]

8. I outgrew the Three Stooges by the time I was seven or so.

Even as a rambunctious six year-old, I found the constant violence repellant.

[underpants]

9. Stupid physical comedy. Still love it.

[Clash City Rocker]

11. I don't enjoy laughing at people

Last edited Wed Jun 24, 2020, 04:42 PM - Edit history (1)

I never got “I Love Lucy” for the same reason. Most of the laughter was at someone else’s expense. I would just feel sorry for the person. I never found it funny.

It’s possible to do physical comedy that isn’t cruel, but it’s more challenging. Dick Van Dyke could do it, Red Skelton could do it, Bill Irwin is great at it. A great clown is priceless, because there are so few.

[3catwoman3]

17. Oh, I am so glad to find that I am not the only person on the planet...

...who did not love Lucy.

Even when I was quite young (born in 1951), I was bothered by a woman having to act stupid in order to have a career. I didn’t like it that Lucy had to be devious or manipulative to get her husband to do something, not the overacted bawling/crying the character would employ.

[Clash City Rocker]

19. I call it cruelty humor

It hasn’t changed over time, either. Shows like Cheers and Friends started out as positive and fun, then devolved into cruelty humor. Later shows like The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Arrested Development were more sophisticated and therefore more interesting, but still depended a lot on laughing at the misery of others, which never appealed to me. I’m glad others can identify with what I feel, to some extent at least.

[3catwoman3]

20. I pick up worms off the sidewalk after a rain storm...

...and put them in the grass so they won’t dry up and die. I put spiders outside. I guess I’m a big softie.

Mosquitoes, flies and stinging insects get no mercy.

I will own up to happily indulging in some schadenfreude over Trump’s failed Tulsa rally.

[madamesilverspurs]

12. The stupidity was THE turnoff when I was a kid.

Cleverness and creativity are far more appealing. Stupidity is still a massive turnoff, witness Trump voters.


.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

14. I'm a guy, and I never found it funny.

Even as a child, I didn't like to watch it.

I watched more episodes after I was older, thinking that I must've overlooked something as a kid. Nope.

[3catwoman3]

15. I cannot abide the 3 Stooges and never could.

Don’t care for other slapstick, either.

[ploppy]

16. I don't understand many things in this world.

One of those is the 3 Stooges and I'm ok with that.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

18. I've never thought they were funny, even as a kid. They just seemed stupid.

Laurel and Hardy and Abbot and Costello cracked me up but the Three Stooges just seemed dumb and loud.

[Fla Dem]

21. I don't know if it's a guy thing. I liked the 3 stooges when I was a kid.

I out grew them as I got older. Maybe that’s the difference, guys don’t out grow them.😂😆

[Dagstead Bumwood]

22. Yeah, never understood the appeal.

For old time comedy give me the Marx Brothers or Abbot and Costello.

[Laffy Kat]

23. Guys seem to enjoy slapstick more than women, IMO.

That said, I do love the Marx Bros. Go figure.

[Tikki]

24. I am a lady..I found humour in the Three Stooges as a young girl.

I still watch fttt and still find some humour.

They were not just about hitting. They were like tiny goofs.

Tikki