Atlanta ranks No. 1 nationwide in its preference for funny movies and funny romantic partners and trails only Portland, Ore., as the home of funny workplaces, HuRL's research revealed. The city also has a unique "humor profile":
“Many Atlanta residents claimed that because of their city’s diversity, much of the humor was racially-oriented,” researchers at the University of Colorado, Boulder’s Humor Research Lab wrote.
That rings true with comedy pros here.
"We may not be the funniest city, but we make jokes other cities may not make," said Matt Thompson, executive producer at Floyd County Productions, an Atlanta-based animation studio.
“I tell people it’s OK to make jokes about race as long as it’s not malicious,” said Marshall Chiles, owner of Atlanta’s Laughing Skull Lounge and comedy clubs in New York and Indianapolis.
“If you were to talk about Atlanta comedy, that would be it,” concurred Mia Jackson, an African-American stand-up comic who lives in Sandy Springs. She sometimes riffs on a true story from a few years ago when she was engaged and a couple sought her out after a show to enthuse about their inexpensive wedding held on a Louisiana plantation.
“People laugh at it here,” Jackson said. “But then I did that same joke in Chicago and it was like they just felt bad for me. People came up to me afterwards and were like, ‘Oh, honey. If you were here, that wouldn’t have happened.’”
