It's funny but it's not

This has been currently getting a lot of play, getting posted on Reddit and, therefore, Boing Boing two days later. I put it off and finally watched it, and about five minutes in, realized this was the perfect ending to my vacation.

But what happens here, besides being funny at first, and then uncomfortable, then REALLY uncomfortable, then just weird, then almost funny again, is it reminded me of something.

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Peter Serafinowicz is one of the funniest people out there, but he's also super uncomfortable. The guy is always skirting the line between funny and creepy. Look at one of his music videos:



Which, really, if you think about it, has a long tradition in British humor.



Maybe it's because it's an island nation with an ancient monarchy, that's also hung up about etiquette. Who else does that describe?



And I'll tell you, the first thing that popped into my head when I saw that was:



It's been said that humor is the relief we feel when a conflict has building tension in our minds. Which may also explain nervous laughter; after all, the failure mode of horror is comedy.

I'll leave you with one last little bit. I saw this in the theaters when it came out. I was probably too young to really understand the implications, but I do remember everyone laughing at the end of this scene. I mean, uproarious laughter. It's not funny, really, if you think about it, but it is.



What did Mel Brooks say? "Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die."