Painting and humor are strange bedfellows, sharing many of the same conceptual structures, social pressures and critical possibilities. From Arcimboldo, Hogarth and Daumier, to more recent figures like Jamian Juliano-Villani, Emily Mae Smith, Mark Thomas Gibson and others, artists have employed humor to critique the status quo as well as entertain the viewer. But what is it that makes things funny? Charting a path through some influential theories of humor and some challenging, yes, funny projects, this painting class asks students to explore humor and painting in many of their various guises. Whether in the form of abjection, the grotesque, slapstick, deadpan, irony or satire, this class asks students to take humor quite seriously, analyzing its subtle structures while exploring the materials and debates of painting and making funny work along the way.