Yes, Maysoon is good. i appreciate her ability to make fun of herself. She is funny.

i read the paper suggested by Kurt and the writer suggests that humor is a different experience in each culture; there might be a similar concept in each culture for humor, but what makes people laugh, the concept of what humor is or what is a good sense of humor is different. Also, Some of what makes people laugh is learned not innate.

Personally, i did not enjoy Chappelle until i lived in Detroit; his humor was a learnt experience.

The paper is a great read.

I was intrigued by the idea of researching laughter and humor. Therefore, I did a little reading: there is an International Society for Humor Research that met in Spain earlier this year. There are of course researchers and scientists who study laughter and the culture of laughing.

I found this paper to be insightful, not only for its content but also for its general review of others' thoughts on laughing: Laughter: Nature or Culture? by Moira Smith of Indiana University. There is laughing and then there is humor. And in between as agents there are peoples and cultures.

I wonder how is it possible that persons from different cultures could find Chappelle brilliant or DeGeneres hilarious?