I was at the Renaissance Festival last weekend, and so I did Ren Fest-type things. I ate food on a stick. I made fun of people wearing bad costumes. I bought a sword (yeah!). And I went to see the mud show. Love the mud show.
Naturally, the mud show was exactly the same as last year (mud shows don't change much), except for one line that changes at each show, when one of the actors declares to an audience member "I love you with a love that's illegal in 49 states - thank God for Alabama!" Except, of course, it's not always Alabama. Sometimes it's Tennessee, or Georgia. Because these states are funny, for a variety of reasons, both in rural identity and general amusement factor of its population. Which made me wonder, what's the funniest state?
Let's say you had a generic joke, for which the punchline was "Well, I guess that's the case - unless you're from (name of state)!" Or perhaps one where it was "Well, that's not the way I ever did it - but then, I'm from (name of state)." What would the funniest state to put in that slot? I thought about it for a while, and here's what I've come up with.
1. New Jersey
2. Alabama
3. Minnesota
4. North Dakota
5. Alaska
6. Kentucky
7. Texas
8. Georgia
9. California
10. Tennessee
11. West Virginia
12. Mississippi
13. Vermont
14. Idaho
15. Utah
16. Rhode Island
17. South Dakota
18. Louisiana
19. Florida
20. Virginia
21. South Carolina
22. New York
23. Delaware
24. North Carolina
25. New Hampshire
26. Iowa
27. Arizona
28. Indiana
29. Maine
30. Oklahoma
31. Connecticut
32. Montana
33. Wyoming
34. Arkansas
35. Ohio
36. Wisconsin
37. Nevada
38. Illinois
39. Kansas
40. Massachusetts
41. Maryland
42. Oregon
43. Nebraska
44. Missouri
45. Colorado
46. Michigan
47. Pennsylvania
48. New Mexico
49. Hawaii
50. Washington
Scientific Breakdown: It turned out there was almost nothing funny about Washington. Weird, right? There's a giant differential between North Dakota and South Dakota, because North Dakota turned out to be much funnier, while the Carolinas were much closer together. Arizona got a huge jump on New Mexico, because "Arizona" is so much funnier to say, and New Mexico is really a one-joke state.
Why is Ohio so much funnier than Michigan? I don't know. But it just is.
This was fun. I might do another one.