"In Living Color" was really funny. Please laugh. Sheepishly.

I never know what to do when we're shown a funny clip in class.

Because senses of humor vary from person to person, laughter can turn into an intensely private matter. I wouldn't laugh at Whose Line Is It Anyway? while watching by myself the same way I would if I watched it with others. (Largely because I fall from the couch to the floor and get an ab workout in the process. At least, I did when the shows were new and not reruns on YouTube.) I would feel slight peer pressure if I showed a solitary reaction around others because I wouldn't know if they thought it was as funny.

The "as funny" factor plays a larger role in a course on race, gender and the media than it generally does on an improv show. The show's subjects can surely be racy, but in a course like this one you're guaranteed to see something that is meant to get laughs but shouldn't be funny. The clip's goal is usually to shock the viewer into laughter by playing to stereotypes, so an ill-fitting laugh is not only frowned upon, but often glared upon.

But a laugh will happen, no matter how hard the student tries to keep it in. And when the laugh enters the rarefied air of the classroom, it will find a partner in crime. At the least, the first one out will give the others the courage to announce their presence and will, if in large enough numbers, make everything more comfortable.

The "In Living Color" clip was the best chance to find that comfort. Yes, some "funny" clips shown in class deserve silent watching, but a guilty-feeling laughter was called for here. It's certainly appropriate with comedians like Jamie Foxx and Jim Carrey leading the skit, basically begging for a well-placed guffaw session from the audience.

Such a clip, both hilarious and outrageous (in a racial AND gender sense), brings everything to the table. Once a student finds that others think the clip is (inappropriately) funny, the discussion can turn to why it's perceived as funny and why people feel guilty laughing about it. This can lead to why we feel guilty, should we feel guilty, should we have laughed in the first place, etc. All of this accomplishes more than would silence, largely because it starts with a frank and honest, "Ha!"

(P.S.: I laughed sheepishly during the clip. ...Okay, it was more of a snicker, because I didn't want it to be too loud. To be completely honest, I laughed more often when I heard others laughing, especially women and black students. They made it for me; right or wrong, I felt that if they thought it was funny, my laughter was acceptable.)