We Star Trek fans
most likely think that there was generally no sense of humor in Vulcans, and
consequently that there were probably no comedy clubs on Vulcan. Oh, but this
is not so, for Vulcans love comedy! It's just that humans do not understand it
as comedy, and generally don't think it's funny. But Vulcans think it's
hilarious! It's just that they only laugh on the inside. But on Vulcan,
purportedly they cram like Vulcan sardines into comedy clubs to hear all the
latest Vulcan comedians.
So, what kind of humor do Vulcans appreciate? Well, from
what I understand, they are a lot like human jokes, using absurdism and
zaniness to humorous effect. But with Vulcans, all their jokes are logic-based,
which means that since everything they do is logical all the time, their comedy
is when a Vulcan does something that is illogical. So their stand-up comedians
just tell a series of little stories about things they do where everything is
illogical, like, for instance, looking for their shoes in the refrigerator. But
then they layer extra comedy in by saying they wanted "cool shoes",
which would make it logical, sort of, to look for such shoes in the
refrigerator. So at first, it seemed illogical, which is silly for Vulcans, but
then they bring it home by creating some non-sequitur that would theoretically
make what they did logical, if it was literal, but it's not. Like shopping for
clothes in the oven, and then saying they were looking for "the hottest
fashions". And while, if they were hot, it would make sense to look for
them in the oven, the fact that they are not literally hot temperature-wise
still makes it illogical, and thus a Vulcan knee-slapper. (<But they call it
something else, since slapping one's knee would be quite the illogical response
to someone's statement. Unless they told you to slap your knee.)
And because human beings are so often emotional and
illogical, Vulcans are in actuality constantly laughing at us right to our
faces, but we aren't aware that their Poker Face is actually their version of a
joyous guffaw.
