I know lots of guys are, but I'm not a fan of the Jackass franchise (There are actually movies, 2 of them!). I really can't see what's funny about a bunch of guys riding shopping carts into four lanes of highway traffic.

OK, the cart in to 4 lanes of traffic was a bit of an exaggeration, but not much of one, and I've probably given the show's producers an idea.

Those of you who read last week's Free on iTunes article might be saying, "Wait a minute, Vern, just last week you were saying how much you liked the Three Stooges, and they are all about stupid physical humor. What's the difference?"

The difference is that The Three Stooges are funny because you know that Moe isn't using a real hammer when he whacks Curly on the noggin. It's like an understanding that you just 'got'; That anvil falling on Larry's foot isn't real, so it's OK to laugh when he hops around and goes, "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!"

Jackass tries to muddy that understanding. At some level I know the stunts are just that, stunts, but stunts for the sake of art, or even a bad movie at least has purpose. When I see the Jackass idiots do their thing for no other reason than to get a laugh another part of me wonders how many times were these people dropped on the head when they were babies? I just don't get it.

So, for me, Three Stooges = funny, Jackass = !funny.

Now, imagine a show that is part Jackass up to the point where the stunts are done, then at that point we get the nod and wink so we know that that car did really send that guy fifty feet into the air.

Human Giants: Mind Explosion is kind of like what I just described, but it's actually funny. The free episode, available this week at the iTunes Store, contains several skits and running gags that range from kinda-make-you-smile humor to the "Oh S*&%!" laugh-out-loud humor.

The skits poke fun at TV magicians, talent agents, and consumers desperate to buy concert tickets. I wound up watching the episode twice and laughed each time.

Check it out.

The humor doesn't stop there. Also available this week on The iTunes Store is a free excerpt from the audiobook, Fired: Tales of Jobs Gone Bad.

The audio book includes recording of stand-up routines and interviews of comedians that talk about the jobs they've had and how they were fired. It's pretty funny stuff.

For you baseball fans, there's a free 28 minute preseason video that offers up all the stats going into the 2007 season. Grab The 2007 MLB.Com Season Preview and get ready to PLAY BALL!

Last, and I can't tell if it's least; you decide, a webisode of the Nickelodeon kid-reality TV show, The Naked Brothers Band.

I've never watched the show and have only read the synopsis on the web and in iTunes, so I don't know if the show is any good, but the webisode, Gopher Love, offered as a free download is STRANGE.

In this episode we meet Michael, dad to Nat and Alex of the kid-rock group The Naked Brothers Band. Michael is single and in this webisode he finds Miss Gopher Park, PA, Betty: Blond, formally educated (high school), and has a passion for imitating gophers. You really have to see her imitation to believe it. It's scary how real she makes it. (She's also just plain scary.)

I can't decide if this is all a put-on or if Miss Gopher Park is the real deal, and I refuse to waste any more good brain cells thinking about it. There are 6 other free webisodes available as free downloads as well. I'm not a fan, but if you are, well, there ya go.

More free downloads at the iTunes Store (with links):