Jailhouse Humor Lesson

Ever watch a comedian deliver a genuinely distasteful, cringe-worthy joke?  And in that split second before your filter kicks in telling you not to laugh, your body takes over and it just comes out?  You can’t stop it.  You turn to your companion and say something like, “Oh, that’s just so wrong!” or “I know I shouldn’t laugh, but…”

Humor is about context and nothing drives that point home like spending some time behind bars.  It might take you awhile, you may need a period of adjustment not to feel guilty laughing at something that’s way inappropriate.  But if you can get past the awkwardness, then you’ll be laughing, and that can make life in here feel a little more normal.

Here’s an example from my early days as a guest of the BOP.  I’m in a holding cell with another guy who seemed as confused as I was, and then we are joined by a talkative older dude who would just ramble on making somewhat entertaining random comments.  And then a fourth guy enters, sporting a black eye and a heavily bandaged hand.  Blood dripping from the bandage.  I suggest that the guy should call for a nurse.  So while he’s out of the cell getting fixed up, the Old Timer tells us that somebody had been on the news last night for getting in a fight.  Before he can finish the story, the guy with the bandage returns.  He seems nervous and says he needed to talk to the police and explain that the fight was over an ex-girlfriend.  The other guy had pulled a knife (hence his bloody hand) and he had acted only in self-defense.

Nothing funny here, right?  But then comes my introduction to jailhouse humor, courtesy of the Old Timer, who had seen the news story about the fight.  He explains, “The way I see it, you get into a fight with a dude, he pulls a knife and you get it from him?  Maybe you stab him 1, 2, 3, maybe even 4 times and you can call it self-defense.  When you get to poking him 43 times, that argument goes out the window!”

After a momentary pause, I will have to admit that all four of us started laughing.  In the outside world, of course, getting stabbed that many times is no joke.  But in jail, well, I’m learning what that old phrase means:  “If you don’t laugh, you’re gonna cry.”  Not funny, no way, I get that.  But at that moment, in that context, with that deadpan delivery?  Well.