The Kentucky teens who staged a car accident for laughs say MTV's Jackass show isn't to blame.

        I'm glad to hear it, because I have a certain affection for the Jackass concept. If I had cable, you might even catch me laughing.

        I consulted MTV expert Meghan of Fort Mitchell. Meghan is 13, which means she has a thing for Carson Daly, which means when he's not on, she sometimes watches Jackass.

        “It is a pretty funny show,” she says.

        About half the jokes are “perverted,” prompting Meghan to switch channels. The other half consist of “stupid people doing stupid things.”

        “They like poop,” she says of the show's stars.

The ol' bodily functions
        Here's where we both start giggling. We can't help it. As comedians have always known, there's something funny about poop.

        “It might be that you don't normally see people wearing it, like they do on the show,” Meghan says.

        In one classic of the Jackass ouevre, the stunt guys cover themselves in brown chili, call it “poo” and ask people for hugs. It's the reactions of the innocent bystanders that make Meghan laugh the most.

        For variety, the Jackasses sometimes turn to vomit. One of the guys eats a goldfish, for instance, then pukes it up. The fish lives.

        “That was pretty funny,” Meghan says.

        Funny, gross — they're the same thing to boys and girls of a certain age. Humor related to bodily functions is as old as self-consciousness. It's funny because we all can relate, yet we hope nobody brings it up.

        Once kids discover this, brace yourself. They find it empowering, not to mention hilarious, to embarrass adults. Such humor also helps them deal with their own maturing bodies, experts say.

        Of course, there's nothing funny about the stunt pulled in Northern Kentucky recently. Teen-agers hitting a friend with their car so he can fly over the hood are behaving self-destructively, not humorously. But in the absence of more proof, I'm reluctant to jump on Jackass.

Hey, look at Chaucer
        To chastise MTV for being silly and gross is to condemn the child's sense of humor. And we adults shouldn't kid ourselves: There's a reason Austin Powers movies are so popular, and it's not because the characters do their business in private.

        Today's entertainment industry is drawing on a long tradition. Geoffrey Chaucer anticipated MTV about seven centuries ago, when he dropped a fart joke into Canterbury Tales.

        Yesterday's generation grew up with the gross-out humor of Mad magazine and the whimsical art of Shel Silverstein, who drew boys picking their noses.

        Today's kids love — and their parents buy — books with titles like Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants.

        Smart teachers are using the gross to interest kids in science. And some companies are researching what disgusts young people the most — a field informally known as “grossology.”

        In 1997, Doyle Research Associates of Chicago interviewed 9- to 12-year olds for ideas on products that would appeal to them.

        Among the candidates: Drinks that smell like raw sewage but taste great, and candy shaped like hearts, brains and intestines.

        Hee hee. The kid in me loves it.

       Karen Samples can be reached at (859) 578-5584 or ksamples@enquirer.com.

Racial balance of police debated
Shirey closer to losing job
Bush nominates Indian Hill friend
City balks at deal to end profiling suit
Safety is king after proms
Bengals say deal costs $4M
SAMPLES: 'Jackass' stunts
Hospital plans move to I-75
Schools' gain is loss for others
Amended suit cites suicide
Break-in attempt leaves 1 man dead
GOP has no Lucas opponent
Help earns honors
HOWARD: Neighborhoods
Louisville activist says riots rejuvenated his anti-racism fight
Man sought for questions in killing
MCNUTT: Keep it Straight
Mother pleads guilty to teen sex
Nicotine 'cigalettes' aimed at smokers
NKU considers disciplining prof
Patton praises eastern Kentucky
Plea confesses theft in office
Police say man was mailing drugs
Principal acts as schools boss
Republican taking on Rouse
Safety day takes on added urgency
Teens accused of taking police gun
Villa Hills workers settle
Kentucky News Briefs
Tristate A.M. Report