From my mom’s side I got a real appreciation for situational humor. They’re loud, crazy, well educated, agnostic, and often drunk farmer’s daughters. If you don’t learn to sit back and laugh at the chaos, you’ll go crazy. Whenever my friends get into a loud, rambunctious argument, you can see me cracking up behind them. Therefore I love The Royal Tenenbaums.
From my Grandpa (the farmer) I grew to like blue collar worker practical jokes. If you trip or drop something or hurt yourself, he’ll wait to see if you’re okay, then (with perfect tone) say “I’ll give it about a six…” He’s the guy that always fills the lull in a conversation with “Have you heard the one about…”
But from my Dad’s side I got the wit and the sarcasm. We play Scrabble and watch the Simpsons, and fight passive aggressiveness with passive aggressiveness. My 5 year old cousin has already learned not to trust anything her Dad says, and gives him the stink eye when he teases her.
Throw in a lifetime of self esteem issues, and you’ve got a fairly wide sense of humor.