Comedy is far from scientific, but it is, at least, consistent. Many comedians follow the same routine, where they describe an ordinary event in a funny way, point out something about everyday life that most people do not notice, or simply modify the commonplace in order to draw their audience’s attention to what is missing. The first option, describing an ordinary event, is so common among comedians that it no longer makes a comedian stand out in her field. The last two options, on the other hand, involve several aspects of cognitive science, primarily language and vision. Recognizing and refining these aspects can and, in many cases, already have heightened comedy to a new level of relatability and entertainment.
Comedy comes in two flavors;
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One example would be Chris Turner’s joke, “My girlfriend’s family is quite religious. The first time I went to stay with her at her parents’ house, her dad wouldn’t let us sleep together... which is a shame because he’s very attractive.” The joke’s setup implies that the father of Turner’s girlfriend does not want Turner to sleep with his girlfriend before marriage, only to reveal that he was actually referring to sleeping with her father. Just like Groucho Marx’s famous ‘elephant in pajamas’ joke, Turner’s joke misdirects the audience through what cognitive scientists and linguists call structural ambiguity. The members of the audience make the wrong syntax tree when they hear the first part of the joke, then once their mind recognizes the error it rushes to fix it. The realization that they had made the wrong assumption incites laughter from the audience, which leads to success for the …show more content…
Silent movies frequently take advantage of this, such as in Charlie Chaplin’s movie Modern Times where Chaplin attempts to jump into what both the audience and Charlie’s character ‘the Tramp’ assume is a deep lake, only to discover that it is less than a foot deep. The Tramp hits his head on the bottom and stares at it in confusion as he realizes his mistake. Just as with the misdirection, it is the moment when the audience recognizes where their assumptions were wrong that makes this moment entertaining. Of course, there are many other ways to exploit the mind’s assumptions besides those regarding
What is the most common perception held in this country concerning the people and the way they live in the South? The perception most of the country has about life down here in the South is one of slow-paced living, simple-minded people, and stubborn, unwarranted pride. One of the best ways to combat this perception is through the use of humor; Lewis Grizzard was one of the best at this, because he could take the experiences from his own life as well as the lives of others in the South and turn them into humorous semi-fictional stories. He was one of the preeminent fictional authors this country has ever seen because of his ability to connect with people and joke about everyday life in the south, without offending the subjects of those jokes, despite the popular opinion the rest of the country held.
“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)
• Incongruity Theory posits that comedy is derived from the perception of something incongruous violating our mental patterns and expectations. Sunny Prestatyn initially constructs an idyllic image of femininity only to undermine it through coarse sexual innuendo, offensive language, and violent imagery to comedic effect.
According to Aristotle, “Comedy can be any colloquy or performance generally intended to amuse or stimulate laughter”. In modern times, comedy can be found in different forms, such as television, movies, theatres and stand-up comedy.
According to Gazzaniga, Heatherton, and Halpern in Psychological Science, an effective to regulate emotion is through humor (430). Humor allows individuals to distance themselves from negative emotions and can strengthen social connections to others (Gazzaniga, Heatherton, and Halpern 431). In Native American communities, laughter and humor are often utilized to cope with stereotypes imposed upon Native Americans by non-Native people. Illustrations of this occurrence can be found throughout works by Native peoples, such as that by Sherman Alexie. These sources involve Native Americans embracing, rebelling against, and bringing attention to stereotypes about who they are and who the can be, all while using humor to cope with the emotions involved
Humor Humor is when an object or phrase is considered funny or hilarious. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, one of the definitions of humor is, “something that is or is designed to be comical or amusing.” What people find funny differs because there are so many types of humors that can be expressed in different ways. Humor will often lead to laughter, but some people may find a subject amusing while others may find it offensive. It can be making a racial slur or even a Yo Mama joke.
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.
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.
As I started my research about my topic: ethnic humor I really did not have as much background information of what it actually meant. The first thing that came to my mind when I heard about ethnic humor was comedians like George Lopez who focuses a lot of his jokes on the Mexican ethnicity. In addition, thoughts about how people use stereotypes to discriminate a certain group came across my mind as well because some of theses jokes we seek as entertainment. With this in mind, my first thesis statement was are there benefits of racial humor? As I started conducting and gathering up my research I did find a lot of negatives about ethnic humor, but rarely found any as to what are the positives of ethnic humor. Considering this, if I would not change or rearrange my thesis it would had been very difficult to find enough research to inform my audience about ethnic humor.
At stand up comedy clubs, audiences sit comfortably in their chairs with their drinks as the comedian stands on the stage and wittingly delivers joke after joke. Popular comedians include Louis C.K., Kevin Hart, and Amy Schumer. Presumably, many members of the audience would laugh and applaud after each joke. However, there are a few people who do not find the content amusing. So what do they laugh at? How do people predetermine what is funny and what is not? Simply, it is their personality and who they are as a person. If it is an eight year-old boy, he will find humor in passing gas; if they are distraught and overworked students, they will find humor in everything and pretend everything is fine. The type of comedy people appreciate constitutes
a joke or former of comedy can tell the joke as if it were original,
Comedy differs in the mood it approaches and addresses life. It presents situations which deal with common ground of man’s social experience rather than limits of his behaviour – it is not life in the tragic mode, lived at the difficult and perilous limits of the human condition.
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.
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