Comedy IQ

[Captroop]

I made an observation recently watching standup on Comedy Central, and I wanted to see if you all agree or disagree.

It seems to me, that people make fun of people just slightly dumber than them. Right? To find comedy in some group of people, you have to be as smart as they are to understand them, and then be at least slightly smarter to find absurdity in their actions. People don't often mock those smarter than them, because they don't really understand them enough to find the comedy. Converely they don't often mock people a lot dumber because it just seems mean. Accepted?

So by extension, you can use someone's sense of humor; who they mock, as a rudimentary guage of intelligence.

To whit:

• Dennis Miller, Lewis Black and Jon Stewart make fun of politicians, business owners, lawyers, and other intellectuals. A pretty smart group of people, making them arguably in the top percentile as far as intellect goes.
  
  
• Ron White, Wanda Sykes, and Dennis Leary make fun of politicians, but they don't seem to hit the other intellectuals; probably putting them on par or slightly below that rung.
  
  
• Jerry Seinfeld, Dave Chappelle, Bill Cosby, and Dane Cook mock the middle class and every day people and situations, making them slightly smarter than the average person.
  
  
• Jeff Foxworthy mocks rednecks and hillbillies, but tends not to hit the middle class, putting him just below that mark.
  
  
• Ralphie May and Larry the Cable Guy make fun of dumb people, and not much else, so their IQs are probably slightly lower than average.
  
  
• And Carlos Mencia makes fun of retards...... so yeah.
  

[neverlosethefeeling]

I can see that, but it's also pretty obvious that those people are catering to different demographics--could be because the two things are related.

Needless to say, those are some hilarious people no matter their IQ. Just add Lewis Black to that top tier.

[Captroop]

I went back and forth on Black. Couldn't figure out which tier to rank him in, but I'll give him the nod.

[necroplasm]

I agree. As long as Carlos Mencia is down at the bottom, then it's right.

[dimbee]

Carlos Mencia also plagiarizes other comics' jokes, so it's hard to get much lower and dumber than that.

[neverlosethefeeling]

I went back and forth on Black. Couldn't figure out which tier to rank him in, but I'll give him the nod.

Atta boy. "Red, White, and Screwed" was downright hilarious to me. I love that guy.

[neverlosethefeeling]

Carlos Mencia also plagiarizes other comics' jokes, so it's hard to get much lower and dumber than that.

Dane Cook has taken a lot of junk for that too. I don't know if it was ever fully proven one way or another.

[Scrumtrilescent]

I <3 John Heffron. It's a guilty pleasure.

[CarolinaKid704]

I can deff understand where our getting at with this thread. Just watch Celebrity Apprentice and see how 'Sinbad' relates or tries to relate around those around him. Great guy, funny guy but he probably ranks right there with Carlos Mencia.

[pstall]

I think this is a good assesment. One caveat. It also shows the humor in hitting those just below you because your peers or those above you will either dog you or fire you.

Or never hire you.

[mr beauxjangles]

Must spread rep. Interesting observation. :thumbsup:

[Captroop]

I <3 John Heffron. It's a guilty pleasure.

My favorite right now is Drew Hastings. Absolutely hilarious, and very smart. But it's hard to rank him in my system because he is a self-depricating comic.

[pstall]

I agree with Drew Hastings.

[dimbee]

Just look up "Carlos Mencia stealing comedy" on youtube and judge for yourself