The Absurd Humor of Spongebob

The absurdist humor of Spongebob makes the assertions of existentialist philosophy accessible to the masses.

The writers construct jokes based on outrageous or nonsensical words and situations, and by juxtaposing concepts that have no actual relevance to each other. They thus imply that there is no inherent meaning to life and that the universe we inhabit is devoid of order or logic. 

Taking a page out of Albert Camus’ book(s), they choose to embrace the absurdity of existence for what it is and revolting against it by laughing at it in its face, thus emulating the Sisyphean hero that Camus insists is the only viable option for citizens of an absurd universe. 

-Spongebob stops mid-duel to ask Doodlebob to repeat his incomprehensible blathering more slowly, 

-After his head turns into a bowling pin and is “striked” by Doodlebob, Patrick replies with random phrases like “where’s the leak, ma’am?” and “Finland!”

-Squidward travels in a time machine against the backdrop of a black coordinate grid with random images appearing like an eyeball, the number 6, and the word “asparagus,” eventually ending up in a white room with multicolored squares that fade as he touches them,

-Patrick laughs at a bubble shaped like an elephant and calling it a giraffe

-Patrick whistles at a bird and claims he is speaking Italian 

-Patrick tells Spongebob that the inner machinations of his mind are an enigma, while a thought bubble emerges from his mind revealing that the enigma he’s thinking about is a carton of milk spilling over.

Take the many jokes aimed at gender difference, as if implying that the structures and categories which our society relies on to make sense of our existence and imbue it with meaning are a joke, like when Spongebob dresses like Patrick’s wife so they can raise their clam child,  or when Sandy takes off her spacesuit and reveals her bikini, and Patrick exclaims with surprise “Sandy’s a girl?”