Silly and amusing banter

I LOVED the chicken song, and Spitting Image

I also like Monty Python's The Galaxy song - it's very long, but the last bit is my favourite:

So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth;
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space,
'Cause there's bug**r all down here on Earth!

TheCatWoman said:

it's easy to overstep the mark and become offensive or use it as an excuse for bullying

Yes, I've witnessed that happen a few times here in this online community.

There are some members here who I know are unlikely to take offence if I tease them. With members that I don't know as well, or may be likely to take offence, I just won't go there.

Oh dear! I knew there was a reason why I shouldn't have quoted those lyrics, and then written that post about my silly socks. I have now made a mental note to return the deck chair to my garden, and to never attempt to paint my left knee green again (or any other colour). 

Joking aside, I am in agreement that similar people do tend to gravitate together, and also that this community offers space for everyone here and that it does go in cycles.

BeccaLovesBreakfast said:

I can laugh for ages with my friends over something stupid, and we will stop and look at each other and convulse in fits of giggles again.

It's great when that happens.

Laughter can be so infectious. I love it when one person ends up in a fit of giggles, and it then sets others off into fits of giggles.

Like you, I have been in situations when I've written something intended to be taken seriously, which people have laughed at. It tends to happen if I have written about something that has annoyed me, and I've been told that it's because of how I have phrased things. I try not to take offence though, as I too can be prone to laughing at things that other people had intended to be taken seriously.

Is it really all that strange though that you had found yourself having similar thoughts?

Either way, I had considered it a most wonderful thing that a handful of us happened to be online at the same time, were on the same wavelength, and had been able to indulge in some silliness. 

Please don't judge me, but the lyrics you quoted take me back to watching Soldier Soldier on TV, and later listening to Robson & Jerome albums... Yes, I know it was The Drifters who had originally sang the song.

I can be quite good at banter, but it's easy to overstep the mark and become offensive or use it as an excuse for bullying, especially when you have no vocal tones or facial expressions.

A lot humour I don't get whether it's online, face to face or on telly, often I simply don't understand the references.

It's an act. So, you might as well make it entertaining.

The best lines being "stick a deck chair up your nose" and "paint your left knee green" (is that why your sock keeps falling off that foot?)

Similar people gravitate together. I personally think - there's space for everyone here. This place goes in cycles like everything in life. Im an old timer. I remember the days BEFORE the "good old days". 

Humour is SO important in life... but subjective. It's nice to see some light heartedness after the recent headaches we have all encountered here.

I personally often find it difficult to work out when someone is joking, even when I have their tone of voice, facial expressions and body language to try and work it out. Online where there is only words it is even more difficult. 

On the reverse side I've had people reply jokingly to things I have said in seriousness, and it gives me a sickening pang each time I read it, and think that what I originally wrote was wrong because someone is joking about it.

I'm not a joyless person though, I just tend to take things quite seriously. I often don't understand the joking around or why other people find certain things funny. If I try to join in, it just feels unnatural and they ignore me or shun me.

I can laugh for ages with my friends over something stupid, and we will stop and look at each other and convulse in fits of giggles again.

In the spirit of this thread however, I will share a joke. "Why was six scared of seven? Because seven ate nine."

I loved Knock, Knock who’s there? 1970.

How strange, I actually thought last night, “this is how the site used to be.” 
I know it is sometimes seen as adolescent behaviour, but it’s a release from life just for a short while, or when life seems pants!

 When this old world starts getting me down
And people are just too much for me to face
I climb way up to the top of the stairs
And all my cares just drift right into space

Debbie said:

Those were the days, my friend.

I thought they'd never end, I would laugh forever and a day.
 I would snort with laughter. I would cry with laughter.
 I would then ache and blame it all on you.
 

Those were the days, my friend.

While I'm not disagreeing with your viewpoint about some people having an axe to the grind because they have possibly been bullied, there are all sorts of reasons why humour can sometimes be lacking within this community.

One thing I have come to realise since being a member here is that some people can really struggle to understand any form of humour whatsoever. There have been a few occasions when I have attempted to make it clear that something I've posted is not intended to be taken seriously, and then I've received serious replies that almost cause me to feel guilty for having a sense of humour.

Thank God someone else has a sense of humour, here.

I was a Wuss as a young boy; too sensitive. But, eventually, I learned to grow up and Become a Man; taking things in the chin.

Some people seem to have an axe to grind, regarding the bullying they received, and take it out on one-and-all.