Did you hear the one about Waco being one of the funniest places in the country?

Newsweek magazine last week listed “America’s 10 Funniest Cities,” and Waco ranked third, on the heels of Austin and New Orleans.

At first I wondered if this was a joke — a joke on us. Austin and New Orleans both make a nice living off their respective colorful reputations and their life’s-a-party attitudes. You know, “Keep Austin Weird” and “Let the good times roll.”

But Waco?

It’s rare for a national magazine with a noticeable tilt to port to give an attaboy to a mid-sized town — much less a conservative town in “flyover country,” that vast yawn of heartland whose primary function is to hold the continent together so the important cities on the coasts don’t drift into the ocean.

Waco is not only smack-dab in mid-America, but is by far the smallest city on the list. So what gives? Was Newsweek, which recently merged with The Daily Beast website, saying Waco is laughably quaint? Were its trendy New York editors having a laugh at our expense?

Well, no. Far from it, actually.

The Newsweek-Daily Beast list isn’t a collection of laughable cities, but of cities whose residents like to laugh. Compiled by a consumer research firm, it’s a Who’s Who of towns whose residents most enjoy light-hearted movies, comedy acts and sitcoms and “who describe themselves as funny.”

Ranking below Waco on the list were Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Philadelphia and Tallahassee.

Among the many cities that didn’t make the cut were New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington and San Francisco. Important places. They are places that dominate the national image, the national consciousness and the national news.

So, whether we realized it before Newsweek told us, we’re a funny bunch here in Waco.

What does our sense of humor suggest about life here? Quite a bit if you think about it. And what it suggests isn’t bad at all.

It suggests that we get all the juice out of our bubble gum here in River City. That we enjoy life, we enjoy each other and we try not to take ourselves too seriously.

Maybe it explains how a town with such strong religious underpinnings also can be irreverent enough for a young woman to name her new restaurant Fat Ho Burgers. And maybe it explains why Wacoans have lined up outside her restaurant in the ’hood to patronize her establishment.

Maybe it says we’re smart enough to appreciate humor as an important tool to keep life in perspective. Maybe it says we’re not as buttoned-down as, for instance, Dallas or Boston, but we’re not as uptight, either.

And maybe it suggests that we consider our overall quality of life here in River City to be pretty darned nice. Nice enough that we can let our hair down and enjoy a laugh together.

That quality of life was a key reason why Waco did well in another recent survey.

Last December, if you’ll recall, USAA and Military.com ranked Waco first on its list of “Best Places for Military Retirement.” Not only did we get high marks for the medical and commissary facilities available nearby for military retirees, but our community was praised for “a wonderful university campus, lots of amenities and cultural activities.”

So, if you put these two surveys together, what kind of portrait of Waco emerges? A pleasant, user-friendly town with a nice quality of life. A place populated by balanced, grounded folks who enjoy a good laugh.

Waco may not be Heaven, but it’s a dandy little slice of Earth. And that’s no joke.

Donnis Baggett is publisher of the Tribune-Herald . Email him at dbaggett@wacotrib.com.