MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Stop me if you’ve heard this one:

An artist walks into his doctor’s office and flaps his right arm like a chicken wing.

‘‘Doc,’’ he says. ‘‘It hurts when I do that.’’

‘‘Well,’’ says the doctor, ‘‘don’t do that.’’

Jason Guynes didn’t have shtick in mind when he began organizing an exhibit of ‘‘humorous’’ art for Space 301, but he had a few preconceptions.

Guynes, chairman of the visual arts department at the University of South Alabama, put up the artwork for ‘‘No, Seriously: Humor and Happiness in Contemporary Art,’’ which opened July 10 and remains on view through Sept. 6.

He says the submitted artwork didn’t quite fit his idea of what the show would be — but that’s a good thing.

‘‘It’s probably my own take on what I thought of when I saw humorous art,’’ Guynes says, ‘‘that it has to be somewhat narrative. . . . A curator has to divorce himself from those personal preferences (because) this is a sampler of what’s going on in contemporary art.

‘‘The humor is incredibly diverse. Some of it is really subtle and subdued; some of it is over the top, you know. Some of it is totally wacky and insane, and that’s great. It’s just not necessarily what I thought when I picked the show.’’

Each of us harbors his own ideas about what is and isn’t funny — and what is and isn’t art. Consider the classic Monty Python sketch that takes place at the Ministry of Silly Walks, where civil servant John Cleese admonishes would-be silly walker Michael Palin:

‘‘Not really a silly walk . . . is it?’’

Even a Cleese-esque stroll through the vast 301 gallery reveals a range of artwork in several media, from the whimsical to the sublime and occasionally ridiculous. Several works suggest dark undertones, while other pieces evoke the joys of childhood and simpler times.

The largest and most complex artwork in this exhibit is ‘‘Ties’’ by Indiana artist Wendy Calman, who created a 14-foot-high installation that she describes as ‘‘a large, mixed-media kinetic construction incorporating sound and active viewer participation. The work combines aspects of theater, science and visual art.’’

Inspired by a 1987 trip to Tibet, she says the piece ‘‘explores the illusive interrelationships of life and death, as manifested primarily through the symbolism of Eastern religious thought and imagery (with some Judeo-Christian elements), while its form originates from Tibetan temple banners and the ancient monument of Borobudur in Indonesia.

‘‘It also commemorates the death of my father and uses his neckties and other of his personal belongings as relics that add to the symbolism and irony.’’

At the other end of the spectrum, Jacksonville, Fla., artist Mark Creegan describes his work in this show, titled ‘‘Mekalekapeepee,’’ as ‘‘a mash-up of three found YouTube videos looped together in an audiovisual video.’’

‘‘The three original videos are all altered mash-ups of pop cultural elements: Bert and Ernie; Pee-Wee Herman; the movie ’Anchorman.’ I have extended that process by juxtaposing the videos again with each other.’’

Creegan says humor, satire, irony and exaggeration are ‘‘effective means to convey information that is critical and revelatory.’’

Canadian-born Wendy DesChene of Auburn University says humor in art ‘‘is that which acknowledges what we know, but twists it in a subtle or not-so-subtle way so that it is seen under a new, unexpected light.’’

‘‘It is in the tension of the known and the new that creates the place for reaction,’’ she says, ‘‘whether it is a comfortable chuckle or a distorted emotional sneer. As art often is created from places of tensions, humor is but another tool in this arsenal of manipulating thought, recreation of ideas and re-contextualization of our world.’’

Printmaker Katherine Rhodes Fields, visiting assistant professor of art at the University of Mississippi, is a native of Jackson, Miss. In her artist’s statement she writes that ‘‘the pun, as a rhetorical figure of speech and as the images combined with words in my Pun Prints, is intended to create confusion of words and phrases with images within the viewer,’’ Fields says.

‘‘The puns, however, are not intended as an inside joke but rather an opportunity to provide wit amongst ideas that can be stifling.’’

Guynes says some of the most accomplished work in the show, such as a trio of paintings by Matthew Cox, are witty takes on the human condition.

Many pieces allude to other artworks, such as Mobilian Vikki Vahle-Schneider’s ‘‘Bill the Bee Man,’’ a droll take on the Sistine Chapel; Libby Rowe’s ‘‘Jo-Jo the Dog Faced Dog’’; and Gary Chapman’s ‘‘Girl with Puffin’’ and ‘‘Sarah.’’

Chapman, an Ohio native, has lived in Birmingham for 19 years as a professor of painting and drawing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His multimedia pieces have gilded canvases inset into wooden panels.

‘‘Girl with Puffin’’ was created shortly after the artist visited the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Fla., where he was inspired by circus posters.

‘‘The painting is simply a lighthearted play on words and images dealing with the stage in a young girl’s life just before losing her baby fat,’’ he says.

‘‘Sarah’’ was created out of the artist’s appreciation for the model’s striking features, particularly her long neck. The piece also unabashedly references Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha.

Chapman says the exhibit is an opportunity ‘‘to explore the happy occasions and feelings in life, so often overlooked by us artists in our drive to create work with meaning and passion out of a cathartic process.’’

Leslie Sealey (http://www.lesliesealey.com) lives and works in San Marcos, Texas — halfway between Austin and San Antonio, she says — and switched from photography to painting ‘‘because I felt it was a more expressive medium.’’

Sealey is most well-known for her hippo paintings, and both of the works in the ‘‘No, Seriously’’ exhibit were created this year.

‘‘The hippo artwork started a few years ago as a result of a discussion on an Internet art forum,’’ Sealey says. ‘‘We decided that the ’ultimate painting’ would have to contain certain elements … George Washington, a landscape, a body of water and a hippo.

‘‘It was purely in jest, but I made an actual painting with those elements called ’George Washington Astride Hippotenuse.’ It was such a hit that I went on to make more hippo paintings. As a child I was inspired by the artwork of British artist Norman Thelwell and made my own cartoons of horses and ponies.

‘‘The hippos are a fun way to play off of different themes in equestrian art, and I see them as a continuation of the cartoons I made when I was growing up.’’