I am Tara Boom; I work in cabarets and circuses. I juggle things with my feet and I do a stupid act where I place a popcorn machine atop my head, pour corn kernels into it, plug myself into 420 volts and hope for the best, all while hula hooping and getting creative with dairy-free spread and a salt shaker. OK OK … Now to the rest of it.

I was embarrassingly stumped when I was invited to write this, as funny is so subjective. But the prompt is what I find funny. So, HA! Kiss my butt and welcome to my mind sweet Guardian readers. Take a seat behind my eyes, snuggle up into the couch of my cortex and enjoy (or don’t).

1. Isabella Rossellini has sex as a praying mantis

The best thing about Isabella Rossellini’s Green Porno videos is there’s so many of them! Hilarious, eccentric and heavily stylised. The temptation for this list to be composed entirely of the mating habits of insects recreated through puppetry was unbelievably strong. But my limited self-control prevailed. Also, I fucking adore praying mantises! Like many women I have a lot of rage and there is something very cathartic about watching a female bite the head off a man.

2. Werner Herzog reading AI poetry on This American Life

This segment in a 2024 episode of This American Life contains absolutely terrifying and unsettling poetry written by Chat GPT precursor code-davinci-002 about the experience of being AI. This started playing in my ears as I was passing through Texan airport security machines after I thought it was best to munch down on my remaining magic mushrooms. It is narrated by legendary German film-maker Werner Herzog – do I need to say more? It was harrowing! 10/10, would recommend.

3. Michel Lauziere – Horn

This is the video that changed my life; I was 15 years old and was just starting to perform. Watching Michel Lauziere’s act opened my eyes to the limitless idea of what performance could be. A man in an orange boiler suit strapped with honky horns performs an absurdist musical piece using his body. I love art that makes you question why, and the answer is “Because why not?” I am a big fan of “why not”. If we all did a bit more “why not”, the world would be much more beautiful.

4. Butter sculptures

Not only are these beautiful and impressive pieces of art in such a delicious medium, but the more you learn about butter sculptures the funnier it gets. Did you know there was also a golden age of butter sculpting? No? Well, there was: 1890-1930. It even dates to ancient Tibetan monks. Contemporary butter sculptures are mainly showcased at state fairs across the US, and range from butter recreations of the Last Supper to presidential candidates (who are much more palatable in butter form than reality). The next time you are feeling a little blue, close your eyes and remember that someone right now is carving a life-sized cow out of butter. You are welcome.

5. Australian PM Tony Abbott winks during sex-line worker call on radio show

Oh no. This should not be funny, why am I laughing? Here is the prime minister being caught throwing a wink when on a live radio call with a pensioner with health issues who says she works on a phone sex line to make ends meet. What is it with the men in control of our countries who seem to show complete incapacity to control themselves? Parallels can be made with former New Zealand prime minister John Key pulling ponytails, or even Trump’s pussy-grabbing comments. But why is this funny? Is it the fact these ball sacks have been finally caught doing something disgusting?

6. Kazoo orchestra does Pachelbel’s Canon

Q. What is funnier than one Kazoo?
A. Multiple Kazoos.

Real-time audio from inside my brain.
Truly hits its stride midway.

7. The Furby organ

OK OK, in compiling this list I’ve realised I might have a bit of an affinity with obnoxious sounds and people spending an insane amount of time and effort on the ridiculous. This man is a genius and the harbinger of nightmares. He has dismantled, soldered and reimagined hundreds of Furbys into a monstrosity of an instrument. Building on a wonderfully unpalatable fad toy of the 90s, which I loved and I suspect my family murdered (my older sister remembers surreptitiously removing batteries), the Furby organ brings a whole new meaning to deranged.

8. Flamingos in a bathroom during a hurricane

God I’m a sucker for anthropomorphism. These flamingos look like they’re in a dingy club bathroom swapping lip gloss, gossiping about the hot bartender and doing cocaine off each other’s tail feathers. Yes, this article about how this picture isn’t funny explains why the flamingos in a bathroom are actually canaries in a coalmine in this ol’ climate collapse we are in. But I’m going to argue this is why humour is so important! We have become desensitised and avoidant of bad news, but a hilarious image or joke can lure us in. Laughter is a great tool to knock off the blinders we have so intently strapped to our heads, allowing us to re-engage with our impending doom. Flamingos in a bathroom … hilarious.

9. People trying to sell mirrors

I never realised how hard it is to sell a secondhand mirror. What are you supposed to do? Unless you’re a Photoshop expert or vampire you’re inevitably going to be in the snap. There are many of these mirror threads on the internet and some people get pretty darn creative. Inventive stupidity restores my faith in humans. I like this a lot.

10. Benedict Cumberbatch reads a hilarious letter of apology to a hotel

An apology letter to a hotel. Spoiler alert: it includes sausages, open windows and seagulls. This letter is so descriptive, and you constantly think the story is at its climax, but it keeps going and going. I love the Letters Live YouTube channel. So many incredible stories on here. Some make me cry, such as Tom Hiddleston reading Gerald Durrell’s letter to his future wife Lee McGeorge. And some you just laugh and laugh, like Taika Waititi’s letter about a speeding ticket. The stupidity in the detail is delicious.

• Tara Boom appears in La Clique from 10 October to 17 November at the Sydney Opera House.