2014-09-09
Explanation
The Joke
A man tells a woman, "You know, honey, it takes more muscles to frown than to smile!" She responds: "You're not counting the fact that I reflexively clench my anus whenever I fake a smile." In the final panel, the man just says, "Stop it!"
The Humor
The comic takes the common motivational platitude "it takes more muscles to frown than to smile" (which is often used to encourage people to be happier) and completely deflates it. The woman's response turns the saying on its head with an unexpectedly crude observation: that her forced smiles are accompanied by involuntary tension elsewhere, implying that the smiles being requested of her are fake and physically uncomfortable. The joke works because it punctures the patronizing nature of the original platitude -- telling someone to smile more is annoying, and the woman's graphic rebuttal makes the man immediately wish he hadn't brought it up.