“Every joke has a kernel of truth.” A common saying such as this has numbed us to the reality of what jokes really are. Many comedians allow their outrageously dark thoughts to dictate their routines. Audiences listen waiting to hear ridiculous puns and jokes completely unaware of the twisted messages behind most punch lines. By analyzing comedians Jim Gaffigan, Dane Cook, Maz Jobrani, and Aries Spears through the frame of reference given by Professor Peter McGraw in “What Makes Things Funny,” we will understand the implicit message received through an explicit joke. In order to understand the message being conveyed through humor, we need to explore the science of a joke. When analyzing the explicit message, it is categorized into 1 of 3 options. A joke can be benign, a violation, or a benign violation. Benignity occurs when the subject being discussed is not strongly committed to the norm, psychologically distant, or justifies an alternate explanation. Violations are best described by Professor Peter McGraw, “A violation threatens the way the world should be.” Two specified violations are social norms and moral norms. A benign violation is the perfect mixture of both. Another way to distinguish the message being delivered is by looking at the person presenting the ideas. Comedians have two strategies to deliver their jokes; the first is the Silverman. Sarah Silverman is a standup comedian who entertains the audience with the complete shock of every joke. She makes remarks no one has ever thought… or at least never said out loud. The second is the Seinfeld. Jerry Seinfeld intrigues the audience because his jokes are real life. Jerry’s moments are moments we have all had and he allows us to relate with the joke. Comedians may be d... ... middle of paper ... ...ign by straying from strongly committed norms in the United States. Maz Jobrani has used his knowledge and life experiences to help fight stereotypes and influence thinking. He is a prime example of positive implicit messages being conveyed through an explicit joke. After analyzing Jim Gaffigan, Dane Cook, and Maz Jobrani we see the true genius it takes to be a successful comedian. Through their work, comedians have manipulated minds and infiltrated society’s way of thinking. Humor is a powerful tool and it is important to recognize the way it works so that positive messages can be sent to audiences rather than detrimental ones. Jokes and puns become an intricate cover-up to new thoughts and ideas. Next time we hear a comedian, we can remember the methods used to evaluate a routine and decide if we will support the implicit messages being conveyed by these goofballs.
“Everyone has a sense of humor. If you don't laugh at jokes, you probably laugh at opinions.” Once said an American poet, essayist, and existentialist philosopher Criss Jami, Killosophy. I also believe that humor and laugh play a big role in our lives. However, there are two types of people’s personality; people who understand humor and more open minded, and those who just cannot get it, and that, in my opinion, just makes their live harder. The article, “That’s Not Funny” by Caitlin Flanagan, is talking about college students that are not allowed to joke because of comedians restrictiveness in what they are talking
“Morreall argues that, if we want to answer these questions, we shouldn’t focus on whether the joke happens to trade on a stereotype. Instead, he takes the primary problem with some humor to be that it involves disengaging from things with which we ought to be engaged.” (Morreall, 529)
For example, the comedy shows The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon expresses satirical humor concerning politics. His show also demonstrates political satire by telling jokes and even impersonating political figures for the audience. He creates humor through sarcasm that focuses on real issues. His sarcastic humor causes others to feel more confident in their criticism toward politicians. For example, “Jimmy Fallon expresses his humor about Donald Trump, impersonating his appearance and imitating his voice while talking about politics. He uses his humor by impersonating Donald Trump and his sweeping generalizations with Madea (Rogo).” Jimmy Fallon shows people his views through humor and it creates a sense of community to express their agreeable and disagreeable views. As we discussed some ideas about satirical humor that affects political changes, it was important to reveal their feelings about changes in life and drove them to look upon their society or government more
Steve Almond’s “Funny is the New Deep” talks of the role that comedy has in our current society, and most certainly, it plays a huge role here. Namely, through what Almond [Aristotle?] calls the “comic impulse”, we as a people can speak of topics that would otherwise make many of uncomfortable. Almond deems the comic impulse as the most surefire way to keep heavy situations from becoming too foreboding. The comic impulse itself stems from our ability and unconscious need to defend and thus contend with the feeling of tragedy. As such, instead of rather forcing out humor, he implies that humor is something that is not consciously forced out from an author, but instead is more of a subconscious entity, coming out on its own. Almond emphasizes
Most people would agree that humor makes more of an impression than stern speeches or passages. For example, if someone were to mention the name “Rudy Giuliani” who is the third most famous speaker in our era, most average people would not recognize the man or know of his title. However, if someone were to mention “George Carlin” who was one of the most famous comedians in the 80’s and 90’s before his untimely passing, there would be many a person who would comment on his broad views and humorous remarks that made his points even more valid than the remarks of most present-day politicians. So naturally, when someone writes something humorous as opposed to preachy, yet still tackling a serious
Green, Daniel. "A World Worth Laughing At: Catch-22 and the Humor of Black Humor." Studies
At this time, controversial topics are really hard to talk about without offending someone. Nowadays you could potentially offend someone just by saying one wrong word. But some comedians are able to talk about these controversial topics in a way that doesn’t spark negative backlash. Trevor Noah is a comedian from South Africa who talks about his life during apartheid. In his comedic bits he talks about apartheid and he is able to make fun of it even though he grew up in apartheid. In this essay I will use Trevor Noah’s book, Born a Crime, and one of his stand up bits to show that humor is an effective way to talk about sensitive or serious topics or events.
Humor can come in many different forms. Many people are aware of the blatant humor of slapstick, but it takes a keener mind to notice the subtle detail in sarcasm or satire. In A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift was able to create a piece of literature addressing the faults of the Irish culture while embedding in a humorous essay. Swift’s satire allows for the gravity of the Irish standings to be exploited under the disguise of a proposal for economic benefit.
According to Everything’s an Argument by Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz, “Humor has always played an important role in argument…” (38). Humor itself is something that activates amusement or laughter. Moreover, in popular culture satire is a tool that is used to point out things in our society. Satire opens the minds of people to philosophies they might completely deny, using humor. There are many elements of satire that identify flaws within our society. A couple of satire elements that will be discussed are irony and exaggeration. In addition, a parody is used in popular culture as a way to mock or mimic situation or person.
Psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists study humor because it is a fundamental culture value, but they still can’t determine why certain things make some people laugh and others not. There are “humor quotient” tests that are designed to measure an individual’s sense of humor, but these tests are questionable. These tests aren’t accurate because almost all humor depends on cultural background knowledge and language skills. Not every person in the whole world, or even in one country share the same background knowledge and skills, therefore they cannot have the same type of humor. “The fact remains that individuals vary in their appreciation of humor” (Rappoport 9). Since humor varies from individual to individual, humor lies in the individual. How successful or funny a joke is depends on how the person receives the joke, humor cannot be measured by a statistical
In Alain de Botton’s book, Status Anxiety, he argues that the aim of humorists is not solely entertainment, but also to convey a message that isn’t always okay to state directly. There are many places where his argument can apply. Even with humor, some topics are still too controversial to joke about; However, in most cases, humor can lighten things up and make it easier to discuss topics that otherwise would not be as easy to talk about without heavy arguments. There are many cases that would make his argument true. There are many examples that support his argument, and that help to show the importance of humor in arguing, including cartoons, comics, works of literature, and also when thinking of hosts of television programs.
Humor is more than just amusing entertainment to pass the time. Though jokes and witty banter can be shallow, humor can go deeper than surface level to convey messages to audiences who would otherwise be close-minded about certain ideas. Humor is a great tool to get audiences to change the way they think, feel, and act. In “Saying Goodbye to Yang,” Alexander Weinstein uses humor to criticize some of society’s faults such as the way it has become heavily reliant on technology, racially insensitive, and judgmental.
Humor has been the source of entertainment throughout history. Today humor is practiced in movies, plays, songs, television shows and radio. Humor has brought fame and fortune to those who have mastered its power.
The nature of comedy has always left it somewhat resistant to critical analysis, and to some extent the same can be said for comedic actors. The class-clowns of Hollywood like Will Ferrell are often times constructed as being nothing more than amusing, so they seem lik...
If there is one way to bring a smile to someone’s face, it is laughter. Funny jokes, comical stunts, sarcasm- Every person is different when it comes to what makes them laugh. Some find dry humor comical. Others think sarcasm or joke-filled ranting are the best. ‘Comedy’ is such a broad term, broad enough to allow everyone to find something they find comical. In fact, ‘comedy’ includes a specific type of drama, one where the protagonist is joyful and happy endings are expected. Comedy is like a drug; it allows you to escape reality. When we say the word ‘comedy’ in the present, we are generally referring to a type of performance which provides humor. However, in its broadest sense, comedy has only one purpose: comedy makes people smile and