A useful thing to remember

[laurashapiro]

Non-geeky people* find me hilarious.

This gives me total whiplash, because my experience among my friends and family is that I am mildly amusing at best, and generally among the least funny people in the room. In fannish spaces, certainly, I'm the one laughing at your amazing wit, not the other way around.

*We used to say "mundanes". There must be a better way to say it now.

Comments

[kass]

I would still say mundanes, I think. Or Muggles?

[laurashapiro]

I remember having a conversation years and years ago with a bunch of fans arguing that "mundanes" is mildly insulting, which I can sort of see. "Muggles" is arguably so as well, I think.

Maybe "the ungeeky" is what I'm looking for.

At any rate, they think I'm a comedian.

[starlady]

Having just come from a dinner where I was getting all the laugh lines (except for the one about the student who didn't realize that the Berlin Wall was an actual wall), I don't think you're the only one in that position.

[laurashapiro]

I suspect not! It's an interesting phenomenon, though. I mean, it's not like I'm trying to be funny; I'm just being me and saying what I say. At work, they laugh like drains. At cons, they smile politely and move on.

[lyorn]

You are probably in that sweet spot. People considered hilarous and witty by geeks are often considered plain weird by the ungeeky, it seems to me.

[laurashapiro]

I hadn't considered that!