FUNNIEST U.S. CITIES
The Top 10 Funniest Cities, with a summary of each one’s “humor profile,” according to HuRL:
1. Chicago. "Improvisational and situation-based humor, rather than traditional jokes."
2. Boston. "Dry, intellectual humor balanced by low-brow, drunken rowdiness."
3. Atlanta. "Racially charged humor."
4. Washington, D.C. "Political and cynical humor."
5. Portland, Ore. "Quirky, absurd and just plain weird."
6. New York. "Fast-paced and high stress comedy."
7. Los Angeles. "Cynical show-business zingers."
8. Denver. "Laid-back (and pot-fueled) comedy."
9. San Francisco. "Comedic tension between 'liberal' San Francisco and 'high-tech' San Francisco."
10. Seattle. "Snooty, intellectual humor."
Source: “The Humor Code,” in collaboration with the Humor Research Lab (HuRL) at the University of Colorado, Boulder
Remember when it felt like Atlanta was the Rodney Dangerfield of cities, walking around with a giant “Kick Me” sign on its back?
When even the smallest thing — an inch of ice trapping the entire population in its cars overnight, fireworks accidentally igniting Old Glory at a Braves game — was all the late night comics needed to treat this town like America’s goofiest sidekick?
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."
Right back at'cha, professor. At a time when utterly random-seeming "best of" listicles abound, this one carries extra weight because it's solidly research-based. (It comes on the heels of another, somewhat quirkier list compiled by popular real estate blog Movoto that named Atlanta the No. 1 funniest city.) And it pretty much confirms what we already suspected about living somewhere that your neighbor might work for Cartoon Network or on a Tyler Perry sitcom and that could be Chris Rock or Will Ferrell ahead of you in line at Chick-fil-A:
Funny’s in the air here. And it can be infectious.
"Those people who've been coming here the last five years (to make movies and TV series) are going to be funnier than your general populace," said Matt Thompson, executive producer at Atlanta-based Floyd County Productions, which makes the popular FX spy comedy "Archer" and other animated projects. The heavy entertainment industry presence here makes it less likely funny locals will have to leave to find work elsewhere, he suggested, and it raises everyone's humor quotient: "Even if they work on vampire shows, they're going to be measurably funnier than the guys working at Price Waterhouse."
Clearly, though, the most important takeaway from the rankings is how thoroughly Atlanta walloped New York. And Los Angeles, which finished seventh.
"Obviously, the people have spoken," crowed stand-up comic Mia Jackson, a Columbus native and University of Georgia grad now living in Sandy Springs. She makes the rankings sound like the ultimate heckle from the audience to those who'd wrongly insist the comedy universe is still centered in New York and L.A.: "The people said, 'No, New York comics, you're wrong! Atlanta is No. 1!
“Well, No. 3.”
Indeed, it sounds almost too good to be true. Kinda like the notion of a state university-based (and, presumably, funded) “Humor Research Lab.”
Is this for real? McGraw was asked. The lab, the rankings — it’s not all some colossal practical joke you’re playing on America, is it?
"I have people you can call (for proof)," McGraw chuckled by phone from Boulder (not one of the 50 funniest cities, FYI). HuRL's serious mission is to publish "outstanding peer reviewed research work" in scholarly journals — no, not MAD magazine — and to "encourage a broader audience to have a conversation about humor."
“It’s a valuable thing within society that’s understudied,” McGraw said.
The idea for ranking cities emerged from McGraw and co-author Joel Warner's work on a new book, "The Humor Code: A Global Search for What Makes Things Funny." Using the algorithm, HuRL researchers spent nine months collecting and analyzing data from the 50 most populated U.S. cities. They began with "objective" measures (number of comedy clubs per square mile, traveling comedians' ratings of audiences there, frequency of visits to comedy websites, etc.). Then, 900 residents in each of the top 10 cities that emerged were surveyed on more "subjective" factors, such as preference for funny friends, movies and TV shows, funniest workplace environments — even their responses to a "need for levity" test.
The "Humor Code" authors described the rankings as "perhaps (the) most controversial question" they took on. A Miami comedian, stung by his town's No. 48 ranking, has already penned a rebuttal, McGraw said. Meanwhile, the timing of last week's reports about a campaign to build a Museum of American Humor in, ahem, New York seems a mite suspicious and rather desperate, no?
Whereas Atlantans pretty much are enjoying the rest of the country finally being let in on the joke.
Pretty much.
"The only thing that makes me mad is that this professor thinks it's surprising we're so funny," said Chuck Reece, a partner in Atlanta tech company Kredible and the editor of "The Bitter Southerner" website. "I can't find the humor in that. If I could, I wouldn't be running something called 'The Bitter Southerner!'"
Southerners are great storytellers, Reece says, including non-natives who absorb the culture. And he says that automatically makes us funnier.
“All stories are built like jokes,” he said. “The ‘Once upon a time’ part is just ‘A guy walks into a bar … .’”
Meanwhile, a ranking of America’s funniest cities is no joke to the folks at HuRL. To hear McGraw tell it, humor’s practically on a par with good schools and low crime when it comes to identifying the best places to live.
"Humor provides a nice escape from a world that's stressful and uncertain," he said, "but more than that, it can help people cope with that painful and uncertain world."
Maybe they oughta try that in the uncertain world of — snicker! — sixth place New York.
