"Better to be a confined than a finished idiot". We are not going to lie, we all receive them (and maybe even send them). What are we talking about ? (Rotten) jokes. With the containment decreed due to the epidemic of coronavirus which shakes the country, the French of all ages do not hesitate (but then not at all) to exchange daily via the instant messaging loops of the tens and tens jokes, puns, diversions, humorous videos and humor sometimes heavy or bold. Or both. Tagada tsouin tsouin.
There is the video of Winnie the Pooh who discovers that he no longer sees his sex because he has grown during confinement. There is that of this flying plane. But no, in fact it was the TV and the porthole with a simple bowl! There is also Bernardo who asks Zorro how he put on his mask. We are not going to list everything. Biba has already compiled a list of the best jokes (229!) That are currently playing on the web. But why are we doing this? While we had planned to re (read) the complete work of Zola at the beginning of confinement, we split our pear (or so it is the nerves that let go) on stupid videos from around the world. So confinement, time to joke? Frédéric Pouhier, author of the 1,000 best valves in the history of humanity (First) answers questions from 20 Minutes.
Do you notice a revival of the joke right now?
It's obvious. We are in the English logic of "laugh because it is serious". Faced with gravity we do not take ourselves seriously and it is also good to laugh at the situation. It's incredible the number of valves that are currently exchanged, with a good level. It is also the first time that there is a common experience of this level. Half the planet is confined and experiences the same thing: not being able to go out, being stuck with children, the story of virtual aperitifs. We laugh at our situation, our galley. We are all confined, therefore all potentially concerned by jokes. It is a unique situation. And we have time! And the time spent in front of the screens has surely doubled.
Are we laughing at universal things?
Yes, there is a universal side to the experience which is quite rare. Because humor is not universal. What makes the Japanese laugh, for example, doesn't make the Europeans especially laugh. And vice versa. There is rarely a unifying humor for the whole planet. We French, we are close to Anglo-Saxon humor even if the forms vary. Right now there are very good French videos going on and comedians who have adapted with real work, a real experience.
Is the containment situation good for a joke? Is it a good source of inspiration?
Containment has the same basis as a play or sitcom with a unit of time and a unit of place. We have only one place where everything happens, with funny events and reflections that we would not have had in normal times. Everything is amplified right now. And it's pretty intergenerational. Everyone will send the same jokes. There is just the medium that changes: Facebook for the over 40s. Twitter and Instagram for thirties. And TikTok for those under twenty.
Will confinement remain a marker, a reference event in humor, a running joke ?
Yes, there will be something left. I think that at the moment there are thirty or forty writers only in Paris who write a scenario on confinement for series or films, plays or books. It will remain as something that has marked an entire generation. It will be a strong marker, especially in humor. In ten years, there will obviously still be valves on TV, in the cinema, on stage, in reference to this moment.
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- Humor
- Joke
- Covid 19
- Society
- Coronavirus
- Containment
- Paris