What is the Humor Project?
In Freestyle’s English class, there is a Humor unit that consists of analyzing humorists, reading Slaughterhouse-Five and creating curated annotations, then writing an essay in which we dive into a humor piece that speaks to us, and finally creating our own work of humor. This project allows students to explore and create their own form of comedy by studying effective humorists and analyzing comedic techniques. We will produce both a rhetorical analysis of humor and an original humor project, such as stand-up, satire, storytelling, or a comedic speech. The project also includes creating a digital media website to showcase our work, inspirations, and reflections on the creative process. Finally, we will gather on May 26th for a humorous celebration where the seniors display their work, and we see whether people laugh at our projects.
My Analyst of Two Humorists
Brandon
Brandon’s humor mainly comes from hyperbole, situational irony, and stereotypes surrounding autism and highly technical programmers. Instead of giving investors a simple business pitch, he becomes completely focused on reading lines of code and explaining technical details no one understands. The humor comes from the contrast between what the audience expects in a professional meeting and Brandon’s inability to recognize the confusion around him. Although his behavior seems socially awkward, the reel also shows that his deep focus and coding talent are actually strengths that helped create the app’s success.
- Hyperbole through extremely technical explanations
- Situational irony because a business pitch turns into a coding lecture
- Plays on stereotypes of programmers and autism
- Humor comes from social awkwardness and investor reactions
- Shows neurodivergent traits as strengths rather than weaknesses
Ling Long
Ling Long’s humor comes from blunt honesty, blue humor, and breaking social expectations. During an important investor meeting, he casually tells everyone their boss is “taking a shit,” immediately creating shock and awkward silence. The comedy works because he ignores professional norms and says exactly what he is thinking without filtering himself. While his behavior seems rude or inappropriate at first, the reel later suggests that his honesty and confidence help break tension and make interactions more genuine.
- Uses blue humor and offensive/taboo language
- Creates situational irony in a formal business setting
- Humor comes from bluntness and lack of social filtering
- Breaks expectations of professionalism
- Shows direct communication styles in neurodivergence
Essay Analysis of a Cluely Reel
Links to the Cluely video I took inspiration from:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DXdBtTfM2ai
Analysis written by me (Shakti Ann Kanyal)
Taking a Shit
In this satirical instagram reel by the start up Cluely, two employees are meant to pitch the business idea to investors as their boss is stuck in the bathroom. These two workers behave in ways that go completely against what viewers would expect in a professional investor meeting. One employee named Lin Long is blunt, inappropriate, and rude, while the other Brandon, is a programmer with autism, and is overly technical. Through the use of blue humor, situational irony, hyperbole, and playing on stereotypes the reel humorously comments on neurodivergence and how society often misunderstands people who communicate in different forms.
As a satirical reel, situation irony is heavily used to shock the audience based on the presumptions that investing meetings are very formal. At the beginning of the video Ling Long and Brandon are meeting the investors. Viewers expect a polished introduction between them and the high profile investors but instead Ling Long tells them their boss is “taking a shit”. This immediately creates an awkward silence and confused glances between the investors’. This use of blue humor shocks the audience as talking about bodily fluids is taboo or offensive in general but especially in a work place where millions of dollars of investments are involved. The audience laughs because Ling Long does not care about the expectations of professionalism and says something outrageous that no one expects. This humor is effective because it comes from the contrast of a serious board room alongside his careless, offensive honesty. Through this irony the reel introduces the idea that neurodivergent people may communicate in a more direct way than society expects, even when society pushes for a certain sense of professionalism.
To push our laughter even further Cluely uses hyperboles and stereotypes to exaggerate different neurodivergent traits for a comedic effect. Brandon, a highly technical programmer with autism, begins to explain the app by reading code line by line. The investors then ask questions about the app and pitch, very confused with what they are seeing, and Brandon ignores them deeply focused on code behind the product and the technical details. This play on people with autism being very technical or niche is humorous because there is a visual of the investors super confused about the code versus Brandon who is unaware of the questions reading each singular line with complete seriousness. The situational irony of a business pitch becoming a dive into advanced code makes the audience laugh because it is very socially awkward. Most people in pitch meetings simplify their business into an elevator pitch, with marketing, explanations of profit, and clear explanations of what their app does, but Brandon does the opposite. Brandon makes a Phd level code lecture that is hard for anyone to understand. His inability to recognize the confusion around him and the looks of confusion on the investors faces creates uncomfortable but super entertaining humor.
At first even though I was laughing I was a little upset at the fact that they were making skits of people with autism but then I realized the reel actually suggests that neurodivergent traits can actually become strengths rather than socially unacceptable. Although Ling Long appears to be unprofessional and blunt, this bluntness eventually helped break the tension in the room leading to all of them sharing drinks and laughing. Similarly, Brandon’s obsession with coding and lack of sales technique seems like a flaw but in reality proves his talent in code and the exceptional technical skill he has that created the whole app. Through Brandon and Ling Long, Cluely comments on how society often judges neurodivergent people for behaving differently, rather than focusing on the specific talents they have. This reel implies that society pushes us to fit into a box of expectations, but often those expectations are the ones that limit us. I mean these guys are making millions off their start-up and making funny content. Overall, if you look for it this reel implies that success does not always come from fitting society’s expectations but instead we should focus on our individual strengths even when they appear unusual to others. This perspective made me realize they aren’t making fun of autism to put it down, they are making fun of it for awareness, and to uplift it. Because oftentimes we walk on egg shells with people with autism, when maybe we should be the ones taking notes.
Inspiration
I chose the humorist Cluely because of their Instagram Reels and the way they use uncomfortable, unexpected situations to create comedy while still making a deeper point. What I found most useful about studying Cluely was how they combine blue humor, situational irony, hyperbole, and stereotypes to make audiences laugh while also commenting on social expectations and neurodivergence. Through my essay, I realized their humor is not just random shock value, but a way of showing how people who communicate differently are often misunderstood, even though their differences can actually become strengths.
My Project
My chosen project is a comedic video skit inspired by Cluely’s Instagram Reels. In the skit, my business partner becomes overly technical during a pitch to the point that nobody understands what he is saying, creating awkward, exaggerated humor through situational irony and hyperbole. The project recreates Cluely’s style of blending uncomfortable social situations with comedy while also highlighting different communication styles.
Celebration Video
Here is my celebration video, where I presented it to the senior class and shared my humor inspirations. This was a fun celebration because I watched so many peers’ passion projects and was able to share a piece of myself that Freestyle people may not see.
Humor Script
Shakti Ann: Thank you, Arush, for coming to this meeting. Today we’re gonna talk about finances, our posting schedule, and how we can attract new users.
Arush: NO! What we’re going to talk about tomorrow in the business meeting is a few different things. We’re working on rotating API keys so we don’t get rate-limited, and this will also help us save some money on API generation.
Shakti Ann: What’s a rate key?
Arush: it’s an API key, not a rate key
Shakti Ann: You sound out of key, no we’re talking about our finances.
Interview clip separate:
Shakti Ann: So Arush, well let’s just say he’s technical… I ask him a question and he goes on for 5 minutes about concepts none of us can understand.
Shakti Ann: So what’s with this going to the ocean?
Arush: Insert 5-minute technical explanation (that will then be sped up with sound effects)
Shakti Ann: How long is this all gonna take?
Arush: Uh, this is going to take a few months.
Shakti Ann: To save 5 dollars?! Do we have one user, Arush?
Arush: No….. we dont have any users right now.
Awkward pause
Arush: So we are going to have these cool skits of animals running around, and we’re gonna make AI-generated videos for this. It’s gonna cost about $10,000 to $15,000 a month. So I need a new machine with 64 gigabytes of RAM as well as multiple video outputs.
Shakti Ann: I can get you to the zoo for $15, and you can record some animals running around. We’re not dropping $15,000 to see some animals running around. I just asked the code people to run around. You guys are animals already, you guys don’t even shower, I walk in there it’s like stinky, it’s like I’m entering the monkey farm.
Arush: I shower
Shakti Ann: Get to coding. I’m done with this meeting; I’m gonna talk to the marketing team.
Arush: Oh I replaced the marketing team
Shakti Ann: No, you didn’t
Arush: With agents yeah. Yeah, with my good friend Claude Opus, I’ve got GPT, and oh, Gemini. I told them all to pack their bags and go back to Korea.
Shakti Ann: You would be packing your bags if you weren’t the best coder and hadn’t created the whole app. Just get out, just get out; it’s fine. The door is that way.
Arush: No, my door is actually that way.
Shakti Ann: BRUH!
Behind the Scenes
While creating the skit, we had to constantly go back and forth deciding how extreme to make the jokes so they would stay funny without becoming confusing or excessive. We also had to figure out which jokes audiences would actually understand versus which ones were too much of an inside joke between us. This process helped us better understand comedic timing, exaggeration, and the need for humor to balance shock value with relatability.
Reflection
Before analyzing Cluely’s humor and making my own project, I originally thought the skit was simply making fun of autism and awkward social behavior for shock value. However, after studying the comedic techniques more deeply, I realized the humor was actually bringing awareness to how neurodivergent people are often misunderstood in professional and social settings. The extreme humor, awkwardness, and exaggeration became funny because they exposed real expectations society places on people to act “normal” or professional at all times. I also realized that offensive or uncomfortable jokes can still have a deeper purpose when they are used to highlight truth rather than just insult people. Through writing my essay and creating my own skit, I learned that humor is often most effective when it pushes social boundaries while still revealing something meaningful underneath the comedy. This project changed the way I view extreme humor because I now see how satire and exaggeration can create both laughter and awareness.