In reading 'Howl', generally the first thing that pops in to someone's head is not the word "funny". The poems general overtone appears drenched in raw, ugly truths that are meant to shock its reader. Whether to open their eyes to a deformed world or to simply make a point, the striking power of Ginsberg's work at first glance wouldn't at all seem to come across as humorous. Yet, Ginsberg says that his poem has an air of 'comic realism'. In learning this, I went over the poem numerous times, trying my damnedest to see what was supposed to be so funny. Yet try as I did, I never laughed. If there was humor it supposedly lay beneath the dirt and weight of a dark candor. But I suppose that's the point. Often times in life there is a sort of dark humor to reality. It's not normally blatant, or obvious to those who are blind to how screwed up things really are, but to those who see it I suppose it can be seen as funny.
Ginsberg humor I think is on the same level of how satire is meant to be funny. It's elegant, sometimes blatant, words poke fun at the standard of society, at what appears wrong with the world. Many satires, while not as forward, did the same in using language to display an image that mirrored their world back, to show people how ridiculous it was. I think Ginsberg does the same. He flashes it all in vibrant images, the dirt and oppression and struggle, and places it before the readers faces as if to say "Look! Isn't this ridiculous?". I think he does this most of all in the second section, where his pokes break down the grime to show the funny truth of what people have become.
While Ginsberg does also make a few jokes and penis references that would make most people giggle, I believe the real humor of his poem is not really meant to make you laugh. This is not a poem that you giggle at. It's not something that you post up and hope a hundred of you're friends get a kick out of. It's not something to laugh at and then forget. I think it's more of a revealing humor, to show the world he lives in, the standard and norm, it's own absurd nature. The humor is dirty and revealing. It's meant to mock, to make the readers think. So while it isn't obvious and isn't something most would find humorous, it does have a laugh to it, even if it is more of a snickering at society sort of 'ha ha'.
