Chicago.
That’s right, the home of the Cubs, Da Bears, and the place where Second City was born is at the top of the charts.
The criterion was put together by the University of Colorado. Let’s be honest: Since the legalization of marijuana, they probably laugh at anything, but stick with me and we’ll see how they came to the conclusion.
The school's Humor Research Lab developed a formula that considered the following:
- number of famous comedians born there
- number of comedy clubs and comedy radio stations
- number of "funny tweeters" living there
- ratings of local audiences by traveling comedians
- frequency of visits to comedy websites and comedy-related Web searches by residents
"We found humor often has a local flavor," lead researcher Peter McGraw told The Chicago Tribune.
The work says it’s that local flavor that leads those who live in the Windy City to poke fun at themselves.
"The jokes that Chicagoans do tend to tell often feature deadpan and quick-witted humor, much of it directed at the foibles and frustrations of living in Chicago," the study states.
"They prefer to mine observational humor from the situations in which they find themselves. Such remarks seem to fit with the city’s professional comedy scene, since the city is known as a mecca for improv and stand-up."
Finishing out the top five were Boston; Atlanta; Washington, D.C.; and Portland.
More here, including the rest of the Top 10.
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