Wednesday, September 2, 2015
My Favorite Comedy THeory
If I'm being completely honest, I have never thought deeply about the reasons we find various situations humorous. Laughter is a fascinating form of emotional expression, and I am interested in digging deeper into the subject matter. I now know that here are three main theories of humor, however, the one which I find most convincing is the relief theory. Many awkward situations can lend themselves to nervous laughter. People make jokes to lighten a negative mood. People laugh when they are simply just happy. A great example of this theory is if someone's silly cell phone ringtone went off in the middle of a serious meeting. The people in the meeting would most likely laugh. This is a form of relief. Although this theory resonates with me the most, I do feel that all the comedy theories make sense. We can't exactly pinpoint the reason for our laughter because each situation differs. Every situation lends itself to a different analysis.
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That's a great example. In a sense, there is nothing incongruous about a phone going off during a meeting--if anything it's almost expected at this point. We just like it because it breaks up the flow of the meeting. In a sense I suppose this is incongruous, but it is also just a way of allowing for some relief from meetings more importantly it seems.
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