In 1883, Dudes were funny, and people slipping on banana peels were funny; a dude slipping on a banana peel was hilarious!
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| The "Langtry Twist." The "Dude Kick." The "Vanderbilt Slide." |
Puck, Volume 13, Number 335, August 8, 1883, Page 376.
Even a serious psychologist thought it was funny, even if his explanation of why was humorless.
Wit or humor is an
aesthetic essence expressed by juxtaposition of incongruous ideas. Both wit and humor touch our sense of
laughter.
Nature of the Ludicrous. – The ludicrous takes several forms,
wit and humor. . . . In its essence the
ludicrous is a subtle something, an invisible touch through the incongruous juxtaposition
of ideas or facts. Incongruity seems to be the suggestive, the expressive medium of
the ludicrous. The Broadway dude reduced
to a horizontal position by the innocent banana peel is an incongruous situation
that wakes up aesthetic appreciation in almost every breast.
Charles C. Boyer, Concrete Psychology: An Inductive
Investigation of Intellect, Sensibility and Will, Kutztown, Pennsylvania,
Journal and Patriot Printing House, 1890, page 282.
(For a history of Banana Peel humor, see: A Slippery History of the Banana Peel Gag.)
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