Remember when it felt like Atlanta was the Rodney Dangerfield of cities, walking around with a giant “Kick Me” sign on its back?
Well, the joke's on the rest of America now. Using a newly developed "humor algorithm" (HA), experts at the University of Colorado, Boulder's Humor Research Lab (HuRL) have ranked the 50 funniest cities in the country — funny, in this case, being a good thing. To the surprise even of HuRL's top banana, Atlanta came in third, just behind Chicago and Boston — and three fat spots ahead of that city that thinks it invented laughter, New York.
"I didn't say to the lab, 'Run this again, this can't possibly be true!'" Peter McGraw, an associate professor of marketing and psychology at CU's Leeds School of Business, laughingly recalled. "I do have a new appreciation for Atlanta because of the project."
To read all about why Atlanta’s so darned funny, go to our premium website for subscribers, MyAJC.com
