HUMOR AND AGING

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HUMOR AND AGING

• by Don L. F. Nilsen
• and Alleen Pace Nilsen

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Gerontological Paradox
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THE YOUNG DONT ALWAYS WIN

• A young college kid in a sports car whips into a
  parking lot and sees an older man trying to
  maneuver his car into the only space available.
  The college kid deftly slips his little car
  around the bulky Cadillac and into the space. He
  jumps out of his car and says,
• See what you can do it youre young and quick?

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• By now the older gentleman has his car in
  position to drive into the space, so he puts his
  Cadillac in gear and crunches forward to the
  sounds of breaking glass and metal. He climbs
  out of his newly parked car and says,
• See what you can do if youre old and rich!
• (Nilsen Nilsen 20)

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A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF OLDSTER JOKES

• In 1977, Erdman B. Palmore published a content
  analysis of oldster jokes in Humor and Aging. He
  analyzed 264 jokes about aging collected from 10
  popular joke books. He found that only 25 per
  cent of the jokes presented a positive view of
  aging.
• (Nahemow, McCluskey-Fawcett Mcghee)
• (Nilsen Nilsen 20-21)

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• The top five topics for jokes about the elderly
  were
• 1. age or longevity
• 2. physical ability or appearance
• 3. being old fashioned
• 4. losing sexual ability or interest
• 5. concealing ones age
• (Nahemow, McCluskey-Fawcett Mcghee)
• (Nilsen Nilsen 20-21)

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• Two content analyses of birthday cards showed
  that between one-third and one-half focused on
  age.
• Age was viewed as shameful.
• Over half of the cards dealt with physical or
  mental loss.
• One fourth were about concealing ones age.
• Only ten percent implied that things get better
  with age.
• (Nahemow, McCluskey-Fawcett Mcghee)
• (Nilsen Nilsen 21)

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• A content study showed that oldster jokes told by
  people between the ages of 60 and 90 differed
  from oldster jokes told by the general public.
• For the older tellers, there were no jokes about
  people concealing their ages.
• For the older tellers, there were few jokes about
  the loss of attractiveness.
• (Nahemow, McCluskey-Fawcett Mcghee)
• (Nilsen Nilsen 21)

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• One-third of the jokes told by the older tellers
  dealt with sex.
• The older males told twice as many jokes about
  sex as the older females.
• Themes included
• We need to laugh at ourselves as our abilities
  decline.
• While theres life, theres sex.
• Sex is associated with virility and fertility.
• Its possible to identify vicariously with the
  sexual activities of the young.
• (Nahemow, McCluskey-Fawcett Mcghee)
• (Nilsen Nilsen 21)

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• In a longitudinal study at Harvard University,
  George Vaillant designated humor as one of the
  five mature coping mechanisms available to humans
  for successfully dealing with disadvantageous
  circumstances.
• (Nahemow, McCluskey-Fawcett Mcghee)
• (Nilsen Nilsen 21)

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MAX SHULMANS RULE

• Max Shulman, the author of The Lives of Doby
  Gillis and Barefoot Boy with Cheek, said that if
  he told a joke that made listeners say, Ah ha, I
  know someone like that, he would get a laugh.
• But if he told a joke that made listeners say,
  Oh no, thats me, he would not get a laugh.
• (Nilsen Nilsen 21)

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HUMOR AND THE AGING PROCESS

• Lucille Nahemow suggests that the humor used by
  older people is hard to categorize or pin down.
• But she also says that humor is a vital part of
  the aging process, because it can change our
  perspectives.
• There is a proverb that reads, An old maid who
  gets married becomes a young wife.
• (Nahemow, McCluskey-Fawcett Mcghee)
• (Nilsen Nilsen 22)

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ANOTHER EXAMPLEFIRST PERSPECTIVE

• The doctor of an 83-year-old woman says to her,
  There are some things not even modern medicine
  can cure. You know, I cant make you any
  younger.
• Who asked you to make me younger? she replied.
  I want you to make me older.
• (Nahemow, McCluskey-Fawcett Mcghee)
• (Nilsen Nilsen 22)

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THE OPPOSITE PERSPECTIVE

• A doctor tells an 80-year-old man, Youre in
  excellent health youll live till youre 80!
• Im already 80, says the man.
• See, what did I tell you! exclaimed the doctor.
• (Nahemow, McCluskey-Fawcett Mcghee)
• (Nilsen Nilsen 22)

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THE TAILOR

• Lucille Nahemow tells a story about visiting the
  residents of a senior citizen center.
• An old woman, looking grim, was hemming a square
  of cloth. I sat down to talk with her, and I
  admired her stitches.
• She looked up and said, I am a tailor. For
  sixty years I am a tailor.
• We both looked down at the pathetic cloth with a
  new understanding.
• (Nahemow, McCluskey-Fawcett Mcghee)
• (Nilsen Nilsen 22)

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• Then the tailor looks at Lucille Nahemow and says
  about the crafts teacher,
• She dont know. I let her teach me. Shes a
  nice lady. I make her happy.
• (Nahemow, McCluskey-Fawcett Mcghee)
• (Nilsen Nilsen 22)

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!IM NOT RAPPAPORT

• In 1984, Herb Gardner wrote a play about aging
  entitled, Im Not Rappaport.
• The play is about an aging Black ex-prize fighter
  named Midge, and an aging Jewish man named Nat.

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• !Nats daughter wants him to live with her, or to
  move to a retirement home, and he explains to
  Midge,
• We got three possibilities we got exile in
  Great Neck, we got Devils Island, and we got
  kindergarten. All rejected.

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• !When Nat does move to a senior citizen center,
  he explains to Midge,
• The day begins at noon there. I must be prompt.
  At 12, guest speaker Jerome Cooper will lecture
  on Timely Issues for the Aging Refreshments
  will be served to anyone whos still alive at the
  end.
• (Nahemow, McCluskey-Fawcett Mcghee)
• (Nilsen Nilsen 22)

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• !The title of the play comes from a vaudeville
  skit that Willy Howard used to do.
• NAT Hello, Rappaport!
• MIDGE Im not Rappaport.
• NAT Hey, Rappaport, what happened to you? You
  used to be a tall, fat guy now youre a short,
  skinny guy.
• MIDGE Im not Rappaport.

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• !NAT You used to be a young fellah with a beard
  now youre an old guy without a beard! What
  happened to you?
• MIDGE Im not Rappaport.
• NAT What happened, Rappaport? You used to
  dress up nice now you got old dirty clothes!
• MIDGE Im not Rappaport. Im Midge!
• NAT And you changed your name too.
• (Nahemow, McCluskey-Fawcett Mcghee)
• (Nilsen Nilsen 22)

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Gerontology Web Sites

• Do you remember these? (Statler Brothers)
• http//oldfortyfives.com/DYRT.htm
• The Fifties
• http//oldfortyfives.com/TakeMeBackToTheFifties.ht
  m
• Laughter is the best medicine
• http//www.caregiverstress.com/2010/07/a-reminder-
  that-laughter-is-the-best-medicine/
• Lookin for my wallet and my car keys
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vpJDNsJEnWqk

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• Mary Maxwells Deadpan Prayer
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vvPFCn3itBFEfeature
  youtu.be
• Music for Old People
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vd_14wbmbM5Afeature
  related
• My Blackberrys not working
• http//www.flixxy.com/my-blackberry-is-not-working
  .htm
• Reagan-Mondale Debate The Age Issue
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vLoPu1UIBkBc

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• References
• Barry, Dave. Dave Barry Turns Fifty, 1998.
• Geist, William. The Big Five-Oh! 1997.
• Klein, Allen. Learning to Laugh When You Feel
  Like Crying Embracing Life after Loss. Norwood,
  NJ Goodman Beck Publishing, 2011.
• Nahemow, Lucille, Kathleen A. McCluskey-Fawcett,
  and Paul E. McGhee, eds. Humor and Aging,
  Orlando, FL Academic Press, 1986.
• Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Don L. F. Nilsen.
  Encyclopedia of 20th Century American Humor.
  Westport, CT Greenwood Press, 2000.
• Platt, Tracey, and Willibald Ruch. Gelotophobia
  and Age Do Dispositions towards Ridicule and
  Being Laughed at Predict Coping with Age-Related
  Vulnerabilities? Psychological Test and
  Assessment Modeling 52 in press.

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• Platt, Tracey, Willibald Ruch and René T. Proyer.
  A Lifetime of the Fear of Being Laughed at An
  Aged Perspective. Zeitschrift für Gerontologie
  und Geriatrie 43 (2010) 36-41.
• Proyer, René T., Willibald Ruch and L. Müller.
  Sense of Humor among the Elderly Findings with
  the German Version of the SHS. Zeitschrift für
  Geropntologie und Geriatrie 43 (2010) 19-24.
• Richman, J. The Lifesaving Function of Humor
  with the Depressed and Suicidal Elderly.
  Gerontologist 35 (1995) 271-273.
• Ruch, Willibald, and L. Müller. Wenn Heiterkeit
  zur Therapie Wird. Geriatrie Praxis Österreich 3
  (2009) 22-24.
• Ruch, Willibald, René T. Proyer and M. Weber.
  Humor as Character Strength among the Elderly
  Theoretical Considerations. Zeitschrift für
  Gerontologie und Geriatrie 43 (2010) 8-18.
• Thorson, James A., and F. C. Powell. Women,
  Aging, and Sense of Humor. HUMOR International
  Journal of Humor Research 2.3 (1989) 243-255.