Chicago is America's funniest city 
 
 Chicago is seriously funny. 
 
 A new study by the University of Colorado at Boulder ranks Chicago as America’s funniest city, beating out laugh riots Boston and Atlanta to claim the top spot. Researchers hailed Chicagoans for their witty banter and observational humor, specifically citing the local penchant for poking fun at the brutal weather and the CTA. 
 
 “The jokes that Chicagoans do tend to tell often feature deadpan and quick-witted humor, much of it directed at the foibles and frustrations of living in Chicago,” according to the study, which was released Sunday. 
 
 Researchers at the university's Humor Research Lab created an algorithm to evaluate several data sets, including the number of comedy clubs in each city, the number of famous comedians born there, the number of well-known humorist who tweet from there and traveling comedians’ ratings of local audiences. They also considered how frequently residents visit comedy websites. 
 
 They then surveyed more than 900 people living in the top 10 cities as determined by the algorithm. Researchers asked residents about the kinds of funny entertainment they enjoyed, whether they considered humor an important quality in friends and significant others and subjected them to a personality test. They also had participants describe their city’s sense of humor and recount their favorite joke. 
 
 And, despite their funny ranking, it seems Chicagoans are lousy joke tellers. 
 
 “For a place that’s the funniest city in the country, Chicago doesn’t seem to boast a lot of jokes,” the study states. “Many Chicago residents surveyed noted that they could not think of any zingers, since they prefer to mine observational humor from the situations in which they find themselves. Such remarks seem to fit with the city’s professional comedy scene, since the city is known as a mecca for improv and stand-up.” 
 
 Other cities in the Top 10 were: Boston, Atlanta, Washington, Portland, Ore., New York, Los Angeles, Denver, San Francisco and Seattle. Indianapolis, Detroit and Milwaukee were 25th, 34th and 39th respectively. 
 
 The study was led by Peter McGraw, an associate professor of marketing and psychology at CU-Boulder’s Leeds School of Business. The project grew out of McGraw’s new book, “The Humor Code: A Global Search for What Makes Things Funny,” which he co-authored with journalist Joel Warner. 
 
 “The result was a window into the humor profiles of each of the top 10 cities,” said McGraw in a statement provided by the university. “Boston residents balance high-brow intellectualism with drunken rowdiness while Washington, D.C., finds humor in the absurdities of political systems. Portlanders are just plain weird.” 
 
 sstclair@tribune.com 
 
 Twitter @stacystclair ||||| There are 80 million Americans in the Millennial generation, ranging in age from 16 to 32, and despite what you may have heard, some of them are going to show up to vote on November 6th and in subsequent elections. So, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney both want to get their vote. But how do they get it? 
 
 Comedy Central, as it turns out, conducted an extensive research study — along with TRU Insights and Insight Research — to try to figure out the role that humor plays in the U.S. youths' political beliefs and behaviors. Here is what they learned… 
 
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 1. Avoid political hack. Save the joke writers for AARP night. You can’t force funny with young voters. Millennials want a candidate with a genuine sense of humor. Note: unintentional comedy doesn’t count. Two words: Clint Eastwood. 2. Keep foot out of mouth. Don't make light of serious issues, as fun as that is. As much as Millennials love a good laugh, they are fiercely compassionate. They want candidates with solutions, not wisecracks. 3. Take a joke. It's ok for a candidate to make fun of himself. Humor humanizes, and a well-timed joke at one’s own expense shows personality and self-awareness. Just don’t make fun of your opponent, that’s the job of professional comedians 4. Be sharp and smart. An intelligent sense of humor allows you to demonstrate cool confidence without arrogance. More than any other generation, Millennials like a little insight with their humor. 5. Stay up late. Do an interview with a respected late night comedian. They’re a great way to connect with the electorate. Not only will you have a professional host to keep things from stalling, but you'll be allowed to lighten up. No one is expecting you to be in Oval Office mode while you’re on the couch next to Jennifer Aniston and Justin Bieber. 
 
 Take a look at Comedy Central's "Millennials and the 2012 Election" research release, right here. 
 
 Tags: Barack Obama
– Need a laugh? Head to Chicago. A new study finds the Windy City is also the funniest one in the US, according to the Chicago Tribune. "We found humor often has a local flavor," the lead researcher says. "The jokes that get laughs at comedy clubs in Denver seem unlikely to fly with a cartoon editor at the New Yorker." Researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder's Humor Research Lab created an algorithm that looked at, among other things, a city's: number of comedy clubs and comedy radio stations number of famous comedians born there number of "funny tweeters" living there ratings of local audiences by traveling comedians frequency of visits to comedy websites and comedy-related web searches by residents When researchers determined a top 10, they surveyed 900 residents per city, asking them about their feelings on humor and comedic entertainment, their take on the city's sense of humor, and their favorite joke. "The jokes that Chicagoans do tend to tell often feature deadpan and quick-witted humor, much of it directed at the foibles and frustrations of living in Chicago," such as the weather and the transit system, researchers found. "They prefer to mine observational humor from the situations in which they find themselves. Such remarks seem to fit with the city’s professional comedy scene, since the city is known as a mecca for improv and stand-up." The rest of the top 5: Boston, Atlanta, Washington, and Portland. Click for the full top 10 and their complete humor profiles.